Well, I've been working on that 85 Dodge Ram with the 225 SL6, that I bought at an auction.

The vaccum advance does not work. The truck seems to run fine without it. Autozone did not have any in stock.

What does the vaccum advance do? Why does the truck seem to run fine without it?

The one thing that I did notice, is that it clunks into gear when it is cold.

So should I hurry find a vaccum advance? Does the vacuum advance have anything to do with how the idle acts while it is cold?

Thanks,
Patrick



spg@bluegrass.net

Patrick,

The vacuum advance is there to improve economy under light load cruising conditions. It is not active at idle or WOT.

Unless the diaphragm in the advance pot is leaking it should not have an impact on your idle. Easy way to check is disconnect the line and plug it. If the idle improves leave it plugged until you get a new advance.


Hot-Rod 6
dave.clement@motorola.com

The vacuum advance pulls-in more timing advance when you first step on the gas and at light throttle cruze. With-out this the truck may seem a bit sluggish on acceleration and will not get good gas milage at highway speed.
DD

I was plugged yesterday before I started messing around with it. I did notice today that it was a bit sluggish from a red light.

AutoZone did not have it.
Advance Auto did not have it.
Called the Dodge dealer in town and he said that they don't make it anymore.

It is called "Control Distributer Vacuum, Part #3755061"

How many other parts are just not being made any longer for this engine?

So if I can't find one how can I get the good results with power and gas milage without it?

I don't mind driving slow, but my 15 year old son wants to put his foot into it.

Patrick



psg@bluegrass.net

Patrick,

Make a junk yard run and either get the whole distributor or just take the vacuum advance pot. There is a number stamped on the arm that connects to the point plate. Look for one with the same number. It should be something like 8.5, 7.0, etc

Dave


Hot-Rod 6
dave.clement@motorola.com

Hey Dave,

Well, this morning I let it warm up for about 2 minutes. It clunked into gear.

After work I let it warm up for about three minutes.....clunk.

Stopped on the way out of the parking lot to show it to a freind. Opened the hood, it was still Idling high. We talked over the high idle for a few minutes then he opened the door, hit the accelerator and it idled down. When I left it did not clunk into grear.

So do you think it needs a 5 minute warm up every morning?

thanks,
Patrick


psg@bluegrass.net

None of these is an appropriate place to find much in the way of mechanical parts for your car. Advance/Checker/Kragen/Schuck/Pep Boys/Autozone type places are great for picking up cheap oil and spark plugs, fuzzy dice and turn signal bulbs, but that's it. Find and patronise your local NAPA store! They will have a new vacuum advance for you in their Echlin electrical line. Order by application, not by original Chrysler part number. Remember that all of the vacuum advance pods from any Chrysler-built Slant-6 distributor, points or electronic, will fit your distributor, so you have a HUGE selection from which to choose, good not only for assuring availability, but also for dialling-in the amount of advance you want!

DS



redbear@vrx.net

Looked it up in the phone book.....we have a NAPA Auto Parts store here. Thanks, I'll try them tommorrow.

Patrick


psg@bluegrass.net

Item#: ECHVC3034

Price: $ 15.69
tax and shipping not included

Usually ships within 3 to 5 days.

Attributes:
Attributes: Vacuum Advance Control
# of Hose Connectors: 1 Connector

Did a search of their web site and found this one.

Nothing came up for my truck. So I tood your advice and chose another vehicle with a SL6. Came up with this: Item#: ECHVC3034

Thanks
Patrick


psg@bluegrass.net

That'll work. Advance starts at 7" of vacuum.

There are MANY others. Get into the Echlin Ignition and Electrical Parts Application Guide for Vehicles Up To 1974 when you get to the store. Also use the chart on pp. 778 to 780 of the Echlin Ignition and Electrical Buyer's Guide to compare different advance pods' specs. Remember that the number stamped on the pod arm is the max advance in *distributor* degrees; double the number for crankshaft degrees.

(The advantage of going to the shop is that you can paw through the books and dig up what you want, instead of having a dumb computer server spit out only one part number that may not do what you want.)

DS

redbear@vrx.net

1985 Dodge Ram slant 6 trucks did not use a distributor with vacuum or mechanical advance. They use a ESA computer (electronic spark advance). Soooo....... someone had installed a distributor with advance and disconnected the ESA computer and installed the other parts to make it regular electronic ignition, or someone swaped in a different engine, or some backyard mechanic who did not know what they were doing has tampered under the hood. Better do some investigating and find you what you really have. I think the 1985 trucks still had the ESA computer mounted on the side of the air cleaner. If it's not there, look for it inside the fender immediately to the left of the battery. (assuming the battery is still in its original location.)

I saw a 1986 slant 6 truck in the salvage yard where some unknowing person removed the temperature sensor for the ESA computer and installed a aftermarket mechanical temperature gauge in the hole. This would cause the engine computer to run in "cold" mode forever and cause all sorts of driveability problems. That probably explains all the other weird tampering I noticed on that engine too.

cfield@ll.net

LOL, that was good............I'll check it out.

Patrick

psg@bluegrass.net

None of these is an appropriate place to find much in the way of mechanical parts for your car. Advance/Checker/Kragen/Schuck/Pep Boys/Autozone type places are great for picking up cheap oil and spark plugs, fuzzy dice and turn signal bulbs, but that's it. Find and patronise your local NAPA store! They will have a new vacuum advance for you in their Echlin electrical line. Order by application, not by original Chrysler part number. Remember that all of the vacuum advance pods from any Chrysler-built Slant-6 distributor, points or electronic, will fit your distributor, so you have a HUGE selection from which to choose, good not only for assuring availability, but also for dialling-in the amount of advance you want!

DS



redbear@vrx.net

Patric,
Here's a picture of what that ESA computer mounted on the side of the air cleaner looks like.

<A HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 7172992</A>

Does your truck have that? Or it might be inside the fender just to the left of the battery which I know 1986-7 had it there. I'm not sure which year they changed the location.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1857172992
cfield@ll.net

hey,
well i recently changed over to the older style electronic ignition in my 87 and i know for a fact that 85 was the change over year they were kinda half and half that year but 86 they were all by the battery. if anyone needs a computer i have one here and its for sale, its only a month old and it still has 6months worrenty i'm askin 50usd for it (it was 223 cdn new)

Justin


slantsickness@hotmail.com