My timing is screwed

[Dexter Shark]

Was driving to work in the snow this week and barely made it. Limped in at 20 mph, wouldn't go any faster. Popped the hood and there was ice by the aircleaner and carb which i thought was weird since i had been on the road over an hour. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor and then saw that I didn't have a vacuum advance line. It was totally gone? Bought a line and then hooked it up and I still can't go over 20 mph. According to the TSM there are 2 other lines which go on the same T section on each side of the vacuum advance, I don't have any lines. I also noticed that a couple lines in front of the carb are plugged off. Does anyone have any idea what the Previous Owner might have done? Is it possible that I was driving around without a vacuum advance? What do I need to do to get the thing running again?????

[Langdon]

That sounds like the CTO (coolant temp. overide, AKA ported vacum switch). Plastic thingy screwed into the thermostat housing...gives manifold vac. to the advance when cold and ported vac. when warm. No vac. advance alone would not cause the symptom, tho; so I would look for the usual suspects; fuel, air, and spark... :cool:

[oddfire]

Check your fuel filter, same thing happened to me, turned out the fuel filter was a solid block of ice from the crappy gas my company pays for. Good luck.

[oddfire]

Hey Dexter,
I see your from Flint, I used to live in Frankenmuth. GO WINGS !!!

[Dexter Shark]

To check the CTO do I need to drain the radiator or anything? I'm missing a couple of other lines that supposedly go next to the vacuum advance, are they important? The jeep will run, it just won't go faster than 20 mph, so i'm guessing that if it was the fuel filter being frozen it wouldn't run at all. Hopefully it will get warm soon, it is a drag working on it outside in the parking lot. Actually the jeep is only a few miles north of Frankenmuth Oddfire. It died up in Saginaw

[mrclean]

What is it doing at 20 mph? Does it pull to that point and lay down? Lack of vac advance would not cause this prob. And yes, it is possible that you have been driving around with no vac advance. Run it around the block a couple times and then pull the plugs, see if they are fouled. Also, the filter may be just partly frozen, letting only a small amount of fuel through. One other thought, the fuel pump could be dumping on you, check it out. Hope this helps.

[Dexter Shark]

At 20mph it is running real rough. When I rev up the engine in park it just doesn't sound "right". I'm sure that my plugs have been fouled for a while. I'll check it out tomorrow. I might just get it towed home and then I'll deal with it when it gets warm again.