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Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:07 pm

so i am still having issues with my 68 squareback starting rough, today it died on me a few times while driving. i felt power cut out completely for a moment while driving in second, and then again a few minutes later in 4th. And had a really hard time starting up again once we parked. I checked my points for the 10th time, still opening and closing as they should, jiggled the three wires coming from the distributor, made sure all my wires were plugged in, i was able to get the car home (with a very unhappy wife and kids)

so tonight i couldnt get it to start at all, i started messing with the AAR valve, I took off the large hose running from the air cleaner to the top of the AAR valve and it started right up. i noticed a huge difference in the way the car was running. the idle smoothed out (got a little higher) and the car seemed to run well with the line disconnected.. when i got the car, i saw that the two wires that go to the aar valve were disconnected and ziptied up out of the way. i was told by the previous owner (lyndon) that whenever he connected them, the car ran like crap, with them disconnected it ran better. so i took his word for it. he came over the other day and we took the aar valve out and apart and adjusted it. honestly that was the first time i had ever seen an aar valve, this is all pretty new to me. but anyway, i think it is the cause of my rough start issues. this is my daily driver, it gets me to work and back, so i would really like to get this fixed. I also checked the voltage on the two disconnected wires that should be going to the aar valve but arnt, i get a reading on one wire but not much of anything on the other. not exactly sure what i am supposed to be looking for there,
anyway, please help me out guys. i need your expertise

Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:37 am

It sounds like you're confusing the AAR (mechanical type, since you disassembled it), and the TS 1(?), that screws into the case. The Ts-1 senses air temp, and leans out the mixture. With it unplugged, the mixture gets a 10% enrichment across the board.

Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:11 am

I may be calling it the wrong thing.. here is a picture. I plugged these two wires back in and the car seems to be starting and running better but the idle is much higher. Im not sure if its too high or not. I wasnt sure which wire was supposed to connect to which terminal. they were both white and seemed to have the same effect regardless of which terminal they were on. So right now it seems to start and go ok. But I may need to turn the idle down. Just need to read the bently and figure out which screw adjusts the idle.

Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:32 am

Agentwright wrote: I may be calling it the wrong thing.. here is a picture. I plugged these two wires back in and the car seems to be starting and running better but the idle is much higher. Im not sure if its too high or not. I wasnt sure which wire was supposed to connect to which terminal. they were both white and seemed to have the same effect regardless of which terminal they were on. So right now it seems to start and go ok. But I may need to turn the idle down. Just need to read the bently and figure out which screw adjusts the idle.

That's your Temp Sensor 1- make sure those wires don't touch! I'd use a little heat shrink to insulate the two connectors! In 1970, with the "C" system, that sensor got moved to the throttle body.

Idle speed should be 850 plus or minus 50 RPM at full operating temp with the AAR closed and timing at TDC.

Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:44 am

Thanks for clearing that up I will get some shrink tubing on there. Does it matter which wire goes to which terminal on the temp sensor 1?

Sun Jul 20, 2014 12:17 pm

Agentwright wrote: Thanks for clearing that up I will get some shrink tubing on there. Does it matter which wire goes to which terminal on the temp sensor 1?

Technically likely no, but you'll notice the wires have numbers that match the numbers on the sensor tabs so I'd orient them like that no matter what I thought about it. :wink:

Sun Jul 20, 2014 12:33 pm

Also...quit using those cheap red, yellow and blue insulated hardware store crimp on terminals.
1. They are the wrong size
2. They have very poor wire barrel crimp area design for high vibration, resistance sensitive wires in automotive use.
3. They have no real strain relief for the wire.

You can buy the correct terminals from vendors here on line and even the correct crimper for cheap. D-jet efi....and pretty much any efi.....does quite crappy over time with electrical tape and cheap terminals with poor crimps.

Not trying to be a jerk....just being a realist. An intermittant start/stop problem with poor running will have nothing to do with your AAR. Poor running....sure. Stalling with no starting and cutting out....no. The AAR moves to slowly internally for that.

The symptom you are descibing is actually exactly what you get with poor groundwire bundles under the plenum on the case centerline.
The car can run fine for minutes....hours or days.....and then at just the right rpm/vibrational
Level or bump....it can cut out just like someone is turninh off a switch, or one pair of injectors or both pairs.....because thats whats happening. Once it stalls....it may bot start agakn because of poor ground connection....which means no injection.

I mentioned the harness and connector issues because if you have a lot of patchwork and poor connections in your efi harness...there are a few different wires that can cause this symptom though the ground wire bundles either at the case centerline under the plenum, the three wire plug on the distributor and any of the ground wires at each individual injector ug can all cause this due to dealing with the primary grounds for the injectors. Ray

Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:44 pm

I agree those connectors are terrible. I didnt put them on there the car came that way. Please point me in the right direction of where I can get the correct connectors. I need the ones for the three wires going into the distributor and the temp sensor 1 obviously. I need some boots too for my injectors. Thanks for the tips on timing and idle speed

Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:33 pm

raygreenwood wrote:
The symptom you are descibing is actually exactly what you get with poor groundwire bundles under the plenum on the case centerline.
The car can run fine for minutes....hours or days.....and then at just the right rpm/vibrational
Level or bump....it can cut out just like someone is turninh off a switch, or one pair of injectors or both pairs.....because thats whats happening. Once it stalls....it may bot start agakn because of poor ground connection....which means no injection. Ray

Just so you know Ray, 68 (like the OP has) and 69 type 3s had their injector grounds on the tin. A belleville washer will normally fix that issue. :wink:

Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:40 pm

Thanks bob. Im just curious how a bellville washer improves the grounding capabilities at the engine tin..?

Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:51 pm

Agentwright wrote: Thanks bob. Im just curious how a bellville washer improves the grounding capabilities at the engine tin..?

It keeps it from vibrating loose. The teeth bite into both surfaces. :D

Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:05 pm

That makes sense! Thanks