1985 Ford Escort mk3 Popular - welding time again!

[blackpopracing]

I don't know your exact engine so a quick search shows 10 or 12 degrees for a CVH engine.
4 degrees seems far too little to me so try 10 degrees and see how it runs.

[cjhillman]

Mar 2, 2023 23:07:24 GMT blackpopracing said:

You gap them on the cam lobe to set the gap.
Once that is done you put the paper in and turn the crank to 4 degrees (that sounds very little advance to me) and then turn the dizzy till it just starts to release the paper, correct.

Cheers for that I’ll get the tippex out and give it a go tomorrow. Yeah not sure why it’s set at 4. In 2017/18 a garage near my folks did the points and timing. Once I get it running right maybe it’s something I could play with

[blackpopracing]

PS, set timing to 10 degrees - 4 is far too little and it will run really badly at that.

[steveg]

Just been reading through some of your last posts. Lots of cars got their ignition timing changed to compensate for unleaded fuel. Another thought was if the cam timing was correct or even if it had been corrected from when the ignition timing was last set.

[cjhillman]

Its running lovely again now! Before I changed the timing and got too deep in I checked the points gap which was at 0.030mm then replaced the condensor with the old one which fit the square plastic hole in the distributor much better (the "new" one was falling out). Cap back on and it fired up!!!

I then re gapped it to the larger 0.050mm as stated in the Haynes, fired up again then I took it out for a drive to get up to temp. Stopped and put the timing gun on it. It was at TDC or slightly more advanced than that/not BTDC. Then I came back home, loosened the distributor and timed it back to 4 or their abouts. It seems to fluctuate around 4-6 a little but this isnt anything new. The idle never seems 100 constant. 

From the Haynes the OHV 1.1 engine should be timed at 6 BTDC. I'm not sure with modern fuel what that would look like now. Its not really pinging at this timing but in a low gear you can just about hear something.

My guessing on why its timed at 4 BTDC is the mechanic that took it for an MOT a few years ago had to turn the idle up to stop it stalling. Then a year(s) later when I gave it to them for a points swap, they timed it up to the idle it was then set at. Also I remember it pinging at lot when I tried to adjust the timing around this time (It had an air leak and I didnt know) so maybe 4 was seen as a happy medium by them.

[steveg]

I assumed it was CVH engine so my comment about cam timing wasn't a lot of help ! I had a nearly new Renault 5 that didn't like having the standard advance setting. Renault actually supplied a little t piece that went into the vacuum line to the advance canister. It caused a small leak so you didn't get so much advance.

I'm having all sorts of trouble getting good quality parts for my 106, hopefully Ford stuff is a little better. I fitted an Aldon Igniter and Luminition system which worked quite well and got rid of the points on my Triumph and Mini.

Sounds like you have it all fixed for now though so that good.

[blackpopracing]

Did you check the timing with the vacuum hose to the dizzy disconnected and plugged? Disconnect at dizzy end and push a small bolt in it temporarily.
If you didn't it will still be too retarded.
I'd still set it at 6 degrees, the octane rating of modern fuel is plenty good enough.

[cjhillman]

Yeah I checked it with the advance tube off and plugged the end going into the Carb with a 10mm bolt. I will try 6 degrees and bring the revs down a bit. Theres not Rev counter on this car so I'll just have to note where it was on the timing gun read out.

I plan on checking the tappets soon as I've got a new rocker cover gasket and air filter. Once I've done that I'll probably go back to the timing and idle speed then. Also I need to swap that fuel filter to after the fuel pump.

[cjhillman]

Found myself a new O ring for the OHV oil pump. It'll be nice to have a leak free car for once. Just wondering if I should also order an oil pump gasket and take the pump off to check the tolerances? I know it says to ditch the oil filter but I'm sure I can get away with reusing that right, it'll have only done 100 miles on the new filter. If not I might just stick the O ring in there.

[fiestaholic]

You don't need to remove the oil pump to change the o ring just remove the 3 10mm bolts on the back of the pump cover have a tray handy to catch the oil replace o ring replace cover job done the pump cover only fits one way round

[cjhillman]

Mar 12, 2023 0:56:11 GMT fiestaholic said:

You don't need to remove the oil pump to change the o ring just remove the 3 10mm bolts on the back of the pump cover have a tray handy to catch the oil replace o ring replace cover job done the pump cover only fits one way round

Cheers. I was just looking in the Haynes and it explains it fairly well. Looks a simple job, wasnt sure if it was easier to take the unit out the car but i'll give it a go this week. My O ring seems the same both sides. Is completely round, no flat side unless I've been sold the wrong thing?

[blackpopracing]

Round is normal, they go flat with age and being squashed.

[cjhillman]

O ring has been on for a couple of weeks. All good there. Had a weird one today, was running a bit rough so I looked under the bonnet and noticed the king lead was coming off. It seems to have burnt the contact/lead off!! I managed to push it back in and drive home better than before... any ideas how thats happend? Can't believe it runs like this!

[blackpopracing]

New leads time.

[cjhillman]

I havent had much time for the Escort recently or money so, still no new plug/king leads. I did decide to pull my finger out and do the tappets though. Its the last part of this full service I've been slowly carrying out and the last time I did this I found it quite confusing so I was not looking that forward to it.

Here is a clip of the Car pre Tappets... It was sounding so loud noisy. I had a few comments of people around town who stopped to admire the car last month haha, so definitely time to get this last job done.




I didn't take any pictures of the job but there is a load of video on my GoPro which will go into a longer service youtube video at some point.

If anyone doesnt know the tappets are set by getting valves 7&8 to where they are "rocking" then adjust valves one and two. You then follow a specific order in the manual for all 4 sets of valves. On all sets of the valves the Inlet valves seem have too big a gap and I slacked off the exhaust valve on number one slightly, it was ok but maybe just slightly too tight.

After this, a new rocker cover gasket only using grease rather than silicone which worked out really well. Fired it up and it was way quiter just like the last time I did the tappets but... its revealed a new noise. I think I've heard this before but the engine was so noisy It must have hidden it. I thought it might have been something to do with the distributor. That bad king lead didnt help so I replaced it with the Bosch one off the Capri. I also took the cap off and check the rotor arm. Put it all together and it still doing it a bit. Also this next video was a s soon as I finished the tappets job yesterday. Sod law I came out the house, drove it down to my garage, opened the bonnet and it wasnt doing it so... any ideas?

You cant really hear it around the front of the engine, especially gearbox front so I'm guessing it coming from the rear or side where the pulleys are. I tried using a long metal pole to my ear but could only hear the alternator going around.

[cjhillman]

Theres been a lot of action going on with this little Car recently. Regarding the tappets... it still sounds a bit wrong to me. Theres an odd tick going on. I took the rocker cover off again and went through all the tappets again. on cylinders 1 & 2 I slackened off the rockers a little to see if that helped as these we're quite out origionaly... didnt do much. Took these photos of the valves as they all look ok. I guess it could be something else maybe?














As I was away for a week and dropped the Car at my folks (where my spare clutch was). Seen as it was at the top of its travel for a bit my Dad dropped it off at their local old school garage for a new clutch. £120 later and I'm very happy. Found that clutch for £20 in London.

Drove back up north lovely and ran around for a few days just great. Then I took the king lead off (if you remember I was borrowing it off the Capri). Once I put it back on, it ran like curse word. Any acceleration seemed to make it buck and fart around. I checked the points gap again and the conection on the condenser which seemed to sort it. Then it went bad again. Ended up driving from Manchester to Derby and back like that for work. A new set of Bosch plug leads seems to have sorted that! Although the new king lead seems to just slot in the coil or distributor depending on which way round you have it. Not sure what to do with that yet...

Also looking for a new Bosch condenser as I don't trust the Intermotor ones.


Now onto body work.

While at Tatton Park Classic Show I scored a rear bumper for £30 which I havent fitted yet. Also got a new indicator for the drivers side. The neighbours broke my last one... £2 which isnt bad is it!







And lastly I sorted out that arch that I scraped down the Garage.





















Oh I nearly forgot... the brake pedal bush keeps popping out seen as the MOT and then when the clutch was fitted. I think the mechanics stomp on it harder than me. I've pushed it in a few times and tried putting a blob of glue on it but don't think it'll work... I'll pay someone to do this job... really not fond of anything near the clutch ratchet after doing that job.

Annoyingly that sprung washer is the wrong way around.



Lastly here are some shots of it in use. Playing Bearderd Theory Festival in Derby and next to Chatterley Whitfield in Biddulph.

[cjhillman]

I've not used the Escort much lately, been in the Capri or modern one a bit. I forgot how much this stinks of fuel! I've looked for a leak loads of times but cant see a drop on any of the lines, the carb or the lines near the tank... any ideas how to find the problem?

I'm guessing it could be running rich and its getting worse with the newer/better igniton parts? Having the VV Carb I'm not too sure what I should twiddle to change the mixture.

[vulgalour]

It might be the vent tube/filler cap for the fuel tank too, especially if the car is parked in the sun. That's nothing to really be worried about, it means the vent is doing its job. If the smell is a lot stronger near the filler/vent tube exit then that's probably your culprit.

If the smell is persisting while you're driving that would suggest either rich running or a leak somewhere and it might only be showing up when the engine is running. I'd check for any sort of perishing or cracks around the end of pipes and where clamps are, sometimes lines can split and appear dry in those locations until you move them a bit.

Check your bulkhead for any missing or damaged rubber bungs too, that can sometimes let the engine bay fumes into the cabin and that can smell a bit fuelly.

[cjhillman]

I'll double check this all again this week. IF not it might be garage time. Its been like this for a while and I changed all the engine bay fuel lines to try stop. Maybe something isnt clamped down enough.

I'm trying to figure out where the mixture screw is on this. I do have a distant memory of having a twiddle of one of the screws about 10 years ago for some reason so maybe I messed it up back then. Its always had a bit of a stink but now its really bad when you come to a stop with the car running basically.

The other day I tried turning it off an looking all around underneath/ in the engine and giving it a good sniff.. Couldnt see anything. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

One other thing to note was last year when it had a load of welding done, on picking it up the bloke said it stunk of fuel which worried him a bit but putting his hand on top of the tank he couldnt feel anything so cracked on... bit worrying, he does a good job though haha!! maybe it is the vent.

[cjhillman]

Havent had much chance to look at the Petrol smell yet but today I did take it for a decent drive today and noticed it was still doing it when static but didnt seem as bad when it started raining.
I noticed when I started it up and bent down to push the brake pedal bush back in (another job to sort), it smelt a bit under the dash. When I got to my destination and poked my head under the car I did catch a wiff of fuel although still no drops on the floor.

In other news I've made a lamp out of my old indicator ... proper recycling that.