lately, the 83 has been acting up, backfires much more than usual, sometimes, when it backfires the car hesitates, and jerks. Also there is a dramatic loss in power. The other day i found some oil/gas on the inside of the air cleaner lid. it worries me, anyone know whats going on.

On a side note, what should i premix my car with, how much, and what grade?


Thanks in advance ~Matt

 

Sounds like backfiring through the carb is depositing fuel/oil mixture on the inside of the lid.

 

what causes this, the engine or the carb, or the timing?

 

It could be a number of things: your timing could be way off (your distributer could have slipped), you've got tons of carbon in your engine (carbon heats up really well, and could pre-ignite the mixture before the intake port is closed), or perhaps serious backpressure causing reversion in a big way, and igniting your intake mixture. I'm sure there are others, just can think of them at the moment.

backfiring in this sense is bad, don't let your engine tear itself apart..... don't drive it till the problem is found.

I'm guessing that it could be your cats are clogged, but make sure to check your ingition, as this is the most probible cause for pre-ignition. Check your timing first and foremost. It will be obvious if your distributer shifted somehow. Then check your plugs.

 

i just removed the cats last week

how much do timeing lights go for

could this be a sympton of blown seal?

 

Timing lights go for $20 on up. Good investment, I recomend you get one.

Id doubt its a blown seal, but I suppose its possible.....

 

thanks pal, you've been real helpfull