Piston Slap: No Go Ranchero From Phenolic Failure?

Chew Bacca (no, really) writes:

I have a 1963 Ford Ranchero with the 144 cu in six, it hasn’t run in 8 years, but I recently got the go ahead from my dad to work on it, in addition to changing the oil, oil filter, draining the gas tank, and fuel filter, I replaced the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and ignition coil, and it still won’t spark. I put a charged battery in and the starter works, strong enough to move the car, any suggestions?

Sajeev Answers:

Question is, how did you test for (the lack of) spark? The easiest way is described here. If–since you installed a new coil–the car still cranks but won’t fire up the plugs, I suspect either the distributor or the timing chain is the problem. Many Fords from the 1950s-1980s used a quiet (and suitably craptastic) phenolic material for timing chain gears, and that’s a big problem after 10+ years of use. So even if the engine was rebuilt to factory specs back in the 1980s…

The forums say many Ford I-6s used phenolic timing gears, so I suspect that is indeed your problem. The only way to know for sure? Remove the distributor cap and stare at the rotor while someone else cranks from behind the wheel. And if the rotor has a lot of play when you manually cycle it, that’s even more proof that something went wrong.

Bonus! A Piston Slap Nugget of Wisdom:

Do you love your car enough to keep it forever? Then prepare for screwball problems like the one above: anything can and will go wrong with an old car. And it will drive you mad, unless you are a bona fide expert on your specific make and model: when I was a little younger and somewhat stupider, I had the distinct displeasure of owning a dead Lincoln Continental with this timing chain problem. I drove on that bad set of gears for 5 miles, in first gear at 20mph. Amazingly, the car got me home, only to never start again. One year and many failed self-diagnosis later, I towed the car to a shop (the only one I trust) and got the diagnosis that fixed it.

The shop said it was the timing chain gears, and explained the diagnosis like it was child’s play. Because it was, if I ever bothered to look at that frickin’ rotor! But still, thanks to my wise mechanic, I learned something new that I can now share with everyone at TTAC. And that’s a good thing.

(Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com)