Surging idle

[rwhite65]

I just put Windsor SR Aluminum's on the car this spring. Thought the engine might be surging a little at idle, but ran great. Thought maybe that was the new combos way of idling, didn't think much more of it.

Was driving the car about a month ago and I noticed a slight hesitation in the throttle, under part throttle with a load on the car (usually in od, around 40 mph. Couple days later, it is more pronounced. By the time I got it home, the car was back firing under any kind of a load. I have been redoing a house so it got parked.

Just went out and fired it up, starts right off the bat. Good fuel moving thru the see thru fuel filter.....bout 7 psi at idle fuel pressure. Just put new plugs and wires in it this year. After it warms up, dang
thing still surges real bad, maybe even worse than when cold. Put my vacuum gauge on it, and it idles back and forth pretty consistently right around 11-14, but every once in a while will surge down to 10 and right back to 15, then it will even out around 13 for a few, then start the process all over.

If I crack the throttle, I am getting a slight back fire thru the carb. Oil looks good, no smoke to speak of...and haven't checked the coolant yet, I tried spraying carb cleaner around the intake and carb gaskets, cant find any leak.

A buddy suggested I readjust my valves, seeings as the problem appears to get worse once the car is warmed up. He thinks I set them to tight since I went about 3/4 of a turn instead of the usual 1/2. I am gonna check my intake bolts, but after that I am really not sure where I am gonna go with it at the moment. I am open to suggestions.

fairly fresh 5.0 roller, all blue perma fel pro gaskets, a holley that was just dialed in and rebuilt last year for the old combo, TFS-1 cam

Thanks,
Ryan

[rwhite65]

not power valve and the intake has been re-torqued and it had some bolts that needed quite a bit

[rwhite65]

So I thought I had it figured out, now I am not sure. However, I think I am chasing it down.

Decided to pull a plug, found that is was very black wit oil....dang it. This torques me off, cause I still have the plugs I ran in the E7TE's and they still look like new after two seasons....

Only three months old....maybe 1,000 miles.


So then I pulled all the rest I can easily get to, all are black....


Just before peeps say it is a Ring or the short block.....negative....all 8 old plugs looked like this after two seasons of driving before my head swap


So I was hoping it was intake gasket leak from hell, but doubt that even though I used the wrong washers on my intake. I am wondering if my freshly prepped heads by a local and reputable racing machine shop....dropped the ball and didn't really check my valve guides. To top it off, my neighbor came over and told me he has noticed a light smoke when I fire the car up here lately.

any opinions? I am trying to figure out where I should go with this before I pull the heads for no reason. I already yanked the intake and I don't see any issues with leaks there.

On a side note, right before I pulled it down, the problem was more pronounced even during a cold start up. I also checked the valve train, adjusted nicely already.
thanks,
Ryan

[goodyear1984]

you should do a compression test and see if u have a valve seat thats not true and are u sure ur push rods are the right size?also if u set the timming a few degrees higher does it go away?

[rwhite65]

Don't know if the push rods are right, but I checked them myself when I ordered them, the right way. Car ran fine for 3 months, so I don't think that is it.

Can't check the other two things until I put the intake back on it

[rwhite65]

Just FYI, it was the Accel plugs. All is back and well again.