1979 Ford F250 351M No Power

This 79 F250 was brought in for a lack of power. The engine was recently rebuilt and it has a HEI distributor in it. Problem appears to have been incorrectly adjusted ignition timing.

[@RK-kn1ud]

I'm impressed, Phil. Not too often you run into somebody who can troubleshoot modern electrical problems but can still recite how a vacuum/mechanical advanced distributor works. Usually it's one or the other.

[@Terminxman]

dude a mechanical distributor is not that complicated.

[@PhillipBailey]

In this area unless you are a tech in his 50s you won't have much experience with distributors or carbs. All those cars are long rusted away.

[@ces4399]

I love good endings to troubleshooting problems. 👍🏽

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

Its running good now! Don't see too many of those old trucks. A buddy just sold a 1979 F150 s/c 2wd last week. Was a project truck. We both probably wont see another for a while.

[@garymahon1955]

Good video sir. I have an 83 F150 4.9 6 cyl, that today, really started losing power and finally quit. Had towed, Will be checking a lot of things. Thanks for the info!

[@PhillipBailey]

That's a completely different engine from this. Is it still using a carburetor?

[@garymahon1955]

@@PhillipBailey Yes

[@garymahon1955]

I thought the principles the same. Im a 70 yo shade tree lifetime learner, but not much good at electrical. I saw other videos i m learning from . I think my old coil is bad.

[@PhillipBailey]

Maybe fuel pump failure

[@FullFaithRepair]

Nice to see you working on the old girl, I'm sure that was a fun change of pace for you!

[@warrenmcelroy4718]

I hope you were just joking when you said 351 “Michigan”…. Please tell me you were joking

[@BuzzLOLOL]

Yeah, it's a 351Midland

[@warrenmcelroy4718]

@@BuzzLOLOL 🤣🤣

[@murf77donnelly33]

Lol 351 modified

[@Jsf445]

It's M for more compression please. Since they came with like 7.5 to 1😂😂😂

[@BUILTFORDTOUGH79]

Whomever owned this truck had NO CLUE what they were doing. I like to time not only with a light, but also a vacuum gauge. Also noticed it was running hot. Oil pressure looked great though!

[@Thief400]

A little old school fun, back to the basics !

[@steevestgermain2965]

Best truck ever ❤

[@microgamer54]

"351 mIcHiGaN" well educated man there

[@davidarmstrong1021]

351 Modified no Michigan

[@PhillipBailey]

Wasn't there a 351 Windsor and a 351 Michigan built engines.

[@microgamer54]

@@PhillipBailey no There's no such thing as a 351 Michigan the 351m is a modified 400 so it's 351 modified

[@PhillipBailey]

@@microgamer54 www.onallcylinders.com/2018/01/19/whats-difference-ford-351-windsor-cleveland-modified-engine/ tomato or Tomato it's all good.

[@davidarmstrong1021]

@@PhillipBailey There a 351 Cleveland, 351 Windsor, and 351modified/400.

[@bryancondrey6457]

335's love timing

[@thebaldmechanichardatheari1124]

That’s in my wheelhouse. Lol. Had the same timing light. Sounds good.

[@Jack-ns5mn]

Used to own one of those. 7.9 compression ratio and two barrel carb doesn't make much power and burns a lot of gas.

[@garymahon1955]

I tested fuel pump. Thanks. coil is very old and i tested and itslooking weak.

[@danman9017]

boy that give lot of memory back ,but that dura spark is good system .only problem i have seen is the 2 wire plug on the module

[@iangoolsby]

What did you end up setting the initial timing to?

[@PhillipBailey]

I believe it was set to 10 degrees before TDC

[@jordanboulay3780]

any can bus related tsbs for this truck?

[@PhillipBailey]

The closest thing to Can on this truck was the tomato soup can used for a vacuum reservoir.

[@apocolypse11]

If this guy just made timing videos his channel will grow. To many old idiots think they know what there doing because there old.

[@PhillipBailey]

@apocolypse11 thanks but I'm old too...

[@robperkins2674]

Timing and vacuum is what I’d check

[@codyreynolds6333]

Mine started running like crap i rebuilt the carb thinking it was that cause just all of a sudden started poping and losing power on hills thats didnt do it what would cause that i bought another engine just incase but if its good i cant find my exact issues and fixes i didnt do anything other then drove it next day just started running bad dizzy is good all that idk what to try before swaping it

[@PhillipBailey]

It could be dozens of things, spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor, ignition coil, pickup, ignition module, timing controls, carb and finally internal engine mechanical. An ignition scope would be useful if you can find a shop with one and some one who knows how to use it. Parts swapping is time consuming and expensive. You need an old school diagnosis. The new techs won't be able to plug a scan tool into it...

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

yep, mines is doing the same. ran like a top for 5 years. ran like shit one day. limped it home and rebuilt the carburetor. Didn't change how it ran.

[@treydogg77]

Pardon my southern French, but who rebuilds a 351 engine from ground up paints it slick and can’t set the damn timing on it?

[@PhillipBailey]

Customer paid different people to do the work...

[@rickyjohnson9508]

Look at that temp gauge on the bottom right corner of the dash. Wont last long at that temp

[@11TruthAssassin]

Great engine ! Decent amount of torque off the line I recently bought a 77 dual barrel But I'd like to make it breath better When I bought it The air intake hose that goes from the engine to grill is missing What do you recommend? Also if I change the exhaust should I go Glass packs? Full exhaust and headers ? It's a daily driver So. Needs to be economical

[@JB-dk3qc]

4bbl, headers, duel exhaust and aftermarket ignition is all you'll need.

[@warrenmcelroy4718]

Haha you’re expecting a 351M to be economical??🤣👏🏿🤦🏾‍♂️

[@HVVYMETAL]

​@@warrenmcelroy4718 😂 yeah, mine gets about 5-6 mpg. I was thinking of doing a fule injection swap.

[@warrenmcelroy4718]

@@HVVYMETAL definitely a wise move if you’re wanting to stick with the original engine, cant go wrong there. The 76 Hiboy I bought in High School got 6mpg and with the fuel gauge not working it was a bit sketchy. I had a shortened broom handle I kept with the truck to stick down in the tank as a fuel gauge but mostly I just tried to make sure to keep gas In it. For the most part it’d put $30 every single day to go to school, then work and usually a little running around which doesn’t sound too awful bad but this was about 25 years ago hahaha.

[@HVVYMETAL]

@Warren McElroy lol yeah, gas was 1.04 then. Gauge in my rear tank doesn't work either.

[@markkelly8714]

My 351 M run over 200,000 with little repairs

[@mitchellmerrill8459]

I would give it a super tune. I have all the tools to work on it. Like a timing light. Set the choke. Be good to put a 4 barrel intake & carb . Duel exhaust. Make it run real nice 🎉 10:26

[@CarlosBaez-gp7js]

Muy bueno pero traducir en español

[@RobertCline-ql4sy]

Would you sell it??)

[@PhillipBailey]

It's not mine

[@markcole6475]

Irritates me when people use those junk Chinese HEI units ….so simple to run a stock ford distributor with an aftermarket ignition set up! Which is far superior! Appears the timing is way way off if the distributor isn’t causing the problem

[@PhillipBailey]

I agree. He should have kept the stock duraspark system. There was nothing wrong with it. Whoever put in the HEI setup probably used the original ballast resistance wire for power as well.

[@rvbzero7]

I got my 31 4 cyl LONG STROKE idling at 200. Sounds like a horse gallop. And its awesome

[@Thief400]

A little old school fun, back to the basics !