Thread: T bird power

Somebody give me some pointers. When I press the gas pedal I am lacking much power. Other than checking the timing what should I look at?

Okay with power questions and the lack of acceleration first tell me what is under the hood and what size rims you have??

Ok it is the standard v-6 motor 232 I think. It has no pick up at all, I have to cruise to 65 or 75. Seems as if there is no passing gear or anything.

It has 13's on it.

Any help will be appreciated. It also has the overdrive trans in it...

Seems as if the motor gets "choked " up....

Okay, well that v 6 and 13" rims = a gear ratio that should have a lot of get up and go, HOWEVER, when you are rollin on 13" rims crusin at 65 miles and hour your rpm are much higher due to more revolutions from the smaller rims.

Problem Solving; When was the last time it had a proper tune up? Meaning Cap, rotor wires, and do the wires touch the exhuast manifold or each other? If you have a standard carb., in 10 years an aweful lot of junk can clog up the secondary jets or the fuel injection system for that matter.
Is this car juiced, or bagged?
I can help but before you spend a dime lets do a process of elimination first and save money. Lord knows I've spent hundreds of dollars to fine tune my rides when only to find out it was a $10.00 cap all corroded.
What year make model car?
Fuel injection?
Does it miss at a stop light in gear with your foot on the brake?
From a dead stop, when you step on the gas does it have power?
Do you have a problem with the car warming up in the morning?
Lets start here. I will print this off to refer back to when you reply and get going on some problem solving for ya Dennis.

1983 Ford ThunderBird

normal carburator- 2 barrell



Does it miss at a stop light in gear with your foot on the brake?
No not really.. At least I dont think so.

From a dead stop, when you step on the gas does it have power?
NO!!!

Do you have a problem with the car warming up in the morning?
Not Really..

The car has hydraulics on it...

Okay, with the info at hand let's move ahead.
When you tell me that you have no power from a dead stop that takes us to a differrent realm.
First this 83 T-Bird was made and still condidered a "moderate MUSCLE car" and should spin them 13" 100 spokes with no hesitation.
Next in 1983 Ford put a carberator on this model that has serious problems in damp weather. I can e-mail the recall info if you want!

So is your car running in primarily DAMP weather?

Next when was the last full major tune up?

I would suggest before you spend a dime first get a flash light and take the distributor cap off (leave the wires on) and use the flash light to take a look at the six copper metal leads inside the cap. (be careful and replace the cap exactly and make sure the cap is seated properly when you close it.)
You shouls see one of the following 1.)Six Bright clean copper or aluminum leads. or 2.) Dirty, fouled, black leads and sometimes from long wear a carbon build up with black dust every where.

About the carb., I'll wait to hear if your primary weather is damp or not.

What is considered in a major tuneup?

Its most likely been a while.

Wires look fairly new.
Damp weather is not an issue, it could be the hottest day..


What does the torque converter and that type stuff do?

A major tune up imply's the following; Cap, rotor, condensor, plugs, wires, air filter, PCV valve, oil filter, oil, and those little filters attached to the air cleaner.

A torque converter is simply a clutch between the engine and transmission.
The torque converter allows an automatic transmission car to stop at light without the engine stalling. It is like a bee hive with several to 6 or 7 stages that fill with fluid. When the engine RPMs are slow very little fliud is in there that tells the tranny to NOT move, then when the RPMs from the engine are high a lot of fluid is causing the torque converter to spin THUS the tranny gears are engauged.

Now in regards to T-bird with 13" rims! The torque converter is not an issue until highway driving.
You see the gear ratio is with the small rims will only cause you to have initially MORE TORQUE, then run out at higher RPMs.

What about air/fuel mixture? And if so, is this adjustable?

YES, HOWEVER, It's kinda like the cart before the horse anology!
What I mean is the air fuel mixture can NOT be adjusted until AFTER the engine is operating and tuned properly.

Now back to Dennis. Have you had a chance to look at the inside of the distributor cap yet?????