I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Let me start off by saying I'm Back!! I had to sell my IROC at the end of last year and have since been getting re-organized. I bought an 84 T/A today. It's got a SB 400 & Turbo 350. Motor has mild cam, Edelbrock Air Gap Intake, Holly 750 carb. Tranny is stock except B&M shifter. I drove this car for literally 10 mins and now it won't start. I got on the interstate to drive it home and it started to get into the higher RPM's. It started to get pretty up there, like ok c'mon and shift now. I thought I might have had it in 2nd instead of Drive. So I tapped the shifter and it went into Neutral. I tried to put it back into Drive but I went down to 2nd on accident RPM's got a little higher and I came to a slow. When I pulled over the car shut off. Luckily my friend was following me so we tried to start it. First it turned over and started for .2 secs then shut right back off. After that it just kept turning over. We put jumper cables on it and let it sit for about 15 mins. Gave it a few cranks and it started right up. Drove it MAYBE 100 feet and it died again. This time we let it charge longer. Bout a half hour later it started up, warmed up & idled great. Soon as I close the hood and shut my door it shuts off and won't start again. I let it sit for about 5 mins and cranked it over, it started again for about .2 secs and shut right off. Now it won't start. It turns over no problem for the first few secs then just sounds like the battery is drained. All of my lights, horn etc works. It just won't start/stay on. WTF is wrong??

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I would be check supply fuel 1st.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

You said sounds like battery is drained - so it's a starting/electrical issue and not fuel related (yet) - but the lights and everything work, so I'd check all the grounds and make sure they have good contacts

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

It's getting fuel no problem. It was already night time and I had limited light but I checked all of the wires I could see with my phone light. Also when I first started driving it and after it died the final time I could smell something. Kinda smelled like if you crossed negative & positive wires. But no smoke and only for a few secs then it was gone. It was hard to pin point where it was coming from. Somewhere on the passenger side from the battery area to the header/starter area...

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Damn... That sucks... I would check all your fuses. Could it be your alt? Could be running on the battery, then when the charge runs out it dies?

Did you test drive it before you bought it? Also, The shift issue could be a whole another problem as well.

Also? Does it have rear end gears? Cause a 4.11 gear with a th400 would give you a high RPM on the freeway.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Alt, Starter & Battery are all new.

I'm stupid and an impulse buyer, so no, I didn't test drive it. The shifting thing shoulda just messed up the tranny if anything, I wasn't at enough RPM's to hurt the motor like say with a Manual going from 4th to 2nd.

Lastly, I believe it has stock gears, not sure what they are yet as I haven't decoded the VIN.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

If it is an 84 and came stock with a manual, It could have 3.73 causing high rpms in 3rd gear... and the no start... has to be a ground of some sort or connection issue if the Alt Starter and battery are all new.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I'll check the title and decode the VIN before I go work on it in the AM. I'll check all of grounds/wires as well. Thanks for all of the help guys!! If anybody else has some input please throw it out there. It could be the one thing I'm missing.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I'm about to go back to the car now, so I'll let you all know what it was. Oh and I decoded the VIN. It was an Auto LG4 from the factory so it should have 3.23s. But I'm not 100% if the last owner changed the gears or not. I'll check all of the grounds and the Alt, Starter, Battery again as well as the Voltage Regulator. Thanks again for all of the input.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I'm having similar problems as the OP but I'm not going to go into too much detail and jack the thread , but could you please tell me where the voltage regulator is located and how do I test it. Any help will be appreciated.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

The voltage regulator is in the alternator. And, Stavie87Iroc, how did it go with checking everything? It sounds like the electrical connections between your battery and the starter are bad, especially when you said it smelled like burnt wires.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I actually just got home. 8 hours later...lol :totopic: So I get back to the car, bitch started right up. Man I was mad. Anyways, I got it running and hopped on I-4, drove about 2 exits and psssshhhhh my upper radiator hose popped off the radiator. No biggie. Went up to the next exit, got coolant and some oil cause it was low & let the car cool down a bit. Tightened up all the hoses and topped everything off. Started right up. Drove about 10 miles and I started to loose power. I had it floored but nothing, I looked back at my buddy and he's telling me to pull over, car's smoking a little. Pull over then pshhhhhhhh ****ing lower radiator hose blew in half where it connects to the water pump. Oh & btw NONE of the gauges in this car work except for the gas gauge. I'm assuming it overheated and I hope I didn't blow the head gaskets or worse. I tried to see if the oil had water on it via the dipstick but the consistency still felt like oil. There weren't any bubbles or anything either so I'm hoping I caught it early enough. I towed it back to my house and I'm gonna start fishing around in the AM before work tomorrow. Soooo, any ideas on to what went wrong other than what I know so far?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Well, overheating will do that too. It's happened to me before when I've had bad radiators in two different cars. I made the mistake of assuming that all your fluids were all good. Make sure you check all your water hoses and I would change the thermostat too. Replace oil and filter, and make a detailed inspection of all cables, hoses, belt, etc. Looks like this dude you bought the car from, didn't maintain it very well.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Yeah when I filled the radiator with water it was like a nasty rust. I'm gonna flush it and change the fluids next weekend. Along with that I'll most likely be buying a new lower hose since it's busted in half and pull out the thermostat. Once all that's done I'll have to see WHY it's overheating.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Ok guys so I really think I blew my engine :-/ When I pull the dipstick its got a nasty burnt smell like oil, gas & gaskets. You can get near the car and smell it. It hasn't been turned on/over since I brought it home last Sat. The oil doesn't have a chocolate milkshake color, just black. Any advice?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

If you think it is blown do a compression check in all cylinders... That would clarify that and it isn't too hard to do.

Is it leaking oil at all? If there isn't water in the oil, then I would change ALL the fluids... and keep an eye on them... New fluid isn't too expensive and it is always better safe than sorry. Can't hurt.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Yes, it is leaking oil. Well it was when it broke on the Interstate and the night I brought it home. I messed with it on Thurs and it wasn't leaking anymore. I got under the car and it looks like the oil filter and a couple of the rear oil pan bolts aren't all the way tight. No biggie. Also, I was toying around with the plugs/wires to make sure they were all ok & tell me how the 2nd & 3rd spark plug on the driver's side were barely even threaded in!! It looks like time for new plugs & wires anyways. I think I have to take my headers off to take the 1st & 4th plugs out and on both sides. There's no room whatsoever to get a ratchet or even a wrench behind the headers.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Try an open end wrench... :) Alot easier than pulling the headers.

Sounds like you need to do a full tune-up asap!

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I wasn't having any luck using either end of the wrench. I'll be back at it shortly though. So we shall see.

A tune-up is a very, very rough outline of what I need haha.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

*****UPDATE*****

Did the compression test today. Motor is fine, I just need to change the plugs, wires & oil. Something is up with the shifter/tranny though. I did the compression test, hooked everything up and started it up. Ran no problem. As soon as I put it in gear the idle dropped (of course) and it died. Had to jump start it to get it running again. This happened about 3 times over the course of an hour or so. After that I finally got it right and into gear. I was driving it around the block and it felt like it was stuck in first. Messed with and jiggled the shifter and got it into 2nd then finally Drive. After a few times around the block I was attempting to back it into the driveway. Tried to throw it into reverse and nothing. Messed with/jiggled the shifter again and it went into Neutral but the shifter was in the Park position. Finally kept messing with it and was able to get it into reverse and it died backing into the driveway and wouldn't start again. I'm getting EXTREMELY frustrated with this car & am at the point to where I almost want to just sell it and get something else. Any advice??

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Sound like the shifter linkage needs to be adjusted, not really a big deal. I'm not sure how to but someone who knows will chime in soon. For the starting issues, how are the battery cables and the ground connections where the negative cable connects to the block? You say the alternators new, but how many amps is it? If you have several accessories and a 400 then a factory alt might not be up to the task. Chances are it's wiring though, the wiring has to have been at least slightly altered for the 400 and whoever did it probably screwed something up. For the gauges you probably have a bad/worn connection on the printed circuit paper/board on the back of the instrument cluster, however the speedo is cable driven so the cable or speedo head might be bad.
Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the car? And what is the condition of the body? A 400sb is a beastly motor and with a nice body you've got yourself one hell of a car. I wouldn't sell it, you can do soooooo much with that 400.
Good luck
Alex
BTW: do you KNOW that it is really a 400?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

nvm lol i cant rememeber for sure ive seen th-400's have a mounted cable on the tranny pan one up by the carb next to throttle linkage lol i cant remember for sure just check those two locations xD

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

The battery cables & ground connections are good although I did find a loose ground from the firewall that should connect to the block after I backed it in. No idea how many amps the Alt is. The only accessory I have is power steering. The only thing pulling juice from the battery is the starter, I don't even have a radio lol. As for the gauges I planned on replacing them all anyways so no big deal. The speedo is cable driven. I found it about half way out of the tranny. It doesn't feed in correctly. I paid $1200 for it. The body is decent, just has a crappy Maaco paint job, the front right fender needs a couple of dings/dents pulled out and it needs a new front bumper cover because I broke it when towing the car home. To tell you the truth, I don't know if it really is a 400. I tried to find the block casting numbers but have NO IDEA where they are. I got under the car and looked on the driver's side & nothing. I attempted to look on the passenger side but the jack started falling and let's just say that was the end of the day...


The cable is tranny mounted. On a side note I wish I knew why the person changed the tranny to a Turbo 350. I mean the car was a stock auto, why downgrade and lose Overdrive??

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Did you get it fixed? What was the problem?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

sorry I posted in the wrong thread.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I haven't done anything to it this past week or so. I looked under the hood one last time before work this morning and noticed I had some vacuum lines crammed/hidden behind my brake booster. There's only one hose connected to a "T" fitting where there should be 3. That one hose goes somewhere behind the motor & to the tranny I suspect. Nevertheless, I turned the car on and while my stepdad held his thumbs over where the 2 other vacuum hoses should go, I put the car in gear and it actually went in without stalling. Idle dropped a bit like a normal auto car does. I've got the next 2 days off so I'll be tinkering with it. My old neighbor owns a shop around the corner and I'm gonna take it up there in the AM to see what else is wrong for sure. I'll post an update either tomorrow night or Sat night to let y'all know what I find...

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Looks to me like you found the source of your problem. Vacuum leaks will do it. Make sure you check all your vacuum hoses while you're at it. Keep us posted!

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Went through the car again today. One of the vacuum lines went from the tranny modulator to the back of the intake. Another branched off the top of the intake to somewhere else and the 3rd one I couldn't find anywhere so I just capped it off. Car is idling beautifully now and even goes into gear without stalling!! :nod: Now I gotta find out about it getting hot. I drove it around the block several times and it got to about 180 then I let it idle in the driveway because it was leaking a puddle of water right in the center of the radiator. Looks like the bottom radiator hose wasn't tight enough so I'm assuming it all leaked in the radiator support and dripped out there. Right before I shut it off I noticed that the temp shot up to 210. I'm running strait water temporarily & have no thermostat. What's the ballpark temp that you guys are running?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I'm glad you found where the vacuum hoses go. Make sure you check that radiator very well. They're expensive, trust me, I know :( In regards to the temperature, when the car idles it's normal to get a little warmer but you NEED a good quality thermostat and antifreeze. It has nothing to do with the weather, it lubricates as well as help to maintain a steady temperature. I use a 180* thermostat myself, some prefer it a little cooler (160*). The hotter it runs, the better for the "emissions guys", the cooler it runs, the better for the performance of the car. But the thermostat and freezer are very important for the car to run properly and for lubrication of water pump and other components, as well as prevent rust. Going back to the subject, my car runs about 200 average.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I have a radiator compression tester that I'm going to use tomorrow, I don't know how many PSI it should normally hold, but I pumped it to 16lbs just to start and it held up fine. I think I'll go with the 160* Stat myself as when I do get to driving its going to be around town and ridiculous stop lights. A friend of mine recommended using something called Subzero in place of antifreeze. Maybe it's just a brand like Prestone. Any thoughts? If anything I'll up it to a 2 core Summit radiator soon...

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

You ever figure out the problem?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Nice fixing progress.

Try this out. Awesome radiator and dual fan setup (if needed) for $400. Better than Griffin, Summit and Be Cool. Summit has poor fitment, Griffin has slightly poor fitment and is expensive, and I don't know who uses Be Cool since they're REALLY expensive.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...guys-want.html

Checking out that thread will show you who has it and how well it works.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Sorry about the long response time guys, work's been kickin my A** since the last post. So far I've changed the oil, plugs, rotor & got coolant & 160* Stat. The only thing I haven't changed is the cap & plug wires. When the car is idling in the driveway it sounds good. When I rev it throughout the power band (while still parked) it sounds good. Cruising down the street is a different story. When I'm just cruising around the block and barely pressing the gas it's ok, but when I floor it it misfires like a mother. A buddy of mine said it might be choking out because of how my hood is. My cowl is just riveted onto a stock Firebird hood with a hole cut just big enough for the air breather to fit through. So I pulled the hood off the car & drove it around. It drove a little better when crusing, but same problem when the gas was mashed. I was starting to think the timing was off so I went to reset it & adjust from the beginning. Before I reset it, timing was at 13*. From what I've read 6* is what it should be at for a stock 400. With that said, I have a medium/aggressive cam, Performer RPM intake & Holly 750 carb. With those mods I've read timing should be anywhere from 12*-16* at idle & 32*-36* at full advance. I'm starting to run out of options & I'm about to just throw in the towel & take it to a shop, which I really don't want to do. What do y'all think? :huh:

PS I WAS able to verify that its a sbc 400. It's a "511" block from either a 72 Caprice or Monte Carlo. Stock "882" heads as well...

Thanks & thanks for the link. This site is my go to for everything on this bad boy. I appreciate it.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I'm lost again guys. As I said in my previous post I was going to mess with the timing. I shut the car off & loosened the hold down for the distributor & the car wouldn't start again. I kept messing with it until the battery ran out of juice. The next day I got it all charged back up & it still wouldn't start. So I said screw it. I pulled the distributor out & set the harmonic balancer @ 0* on the timing tab. I was inspecting the gear on the distributor & it was ridiculously jagged. Enough to cut my finger. In that feat I went out & bought myself an MSD Ready To Run Pro Billet distributor & Blaster 2 coil. I've still got the harmonic balancer on 0* & the rotor is facing the #1 cylinder so I should be at TDC. The car turns over, I have fuel & spark. But it won't start. While it's turning over after about 5-10secs the carb backfires & shoots a mist of gas into the air. WTF do I do from this point? :huh: I'm starting to get highly aggravated at this car.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Having the balancer at 0* means your at TDC, but you could be at TDC on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke - you have to be at TDC on the compression stroke. So - try turning the motor one crank either direction and back to TDC, restab the distributor to have the rotor pointing at number 1 plug, and see what happens.

To find TDC on the compresion stroke, most of us take the #1 spark plug out, stick our finger in the hole, and have someone turn the motor until we feel the pressure build in the spark plug hole - this let's you know your on the compression stroke. On the exhaust stroke, the exhaust valve is open and no pressure builds - make sense? Two piston upward strokes for each cylinder, 1) piston rises while valves are closed to "compress" the air/fuel before ignition, and 2) piston rises with exhaust valve open to push out the exhaust gases after the ignition.

So, you could be on the exhaust stroke, which is what most refer to as being 180* off with the distributor. Hope that helps!

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Yep you are 180* out (on the exhaust stroke) Pull the distributor and aim the rotor shoud aim toward the passenger seat when the distributor drops all the way in.

I'd start with 8* BTDC base timing then you can advance from there and see if it runs better or not. My old vortec headed 350 seemed to like 9* BTDC for a base setting.

What kind of air cleaner do you have? A 14" round 2" element should be plenty. If you have the triangular foam one throw that thing in the trash and get a 14" round air cleaner.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I did the whole pull the 1st plug out deal. I used a screwdriver & it won't go into the hole meaning that the #1 piston is up.

It took me FOREVER to get the rotor aimed at #1 @ 0*. It always either fell facing #8 or in the middle between #1 & #2. Right now I have a round 14" with 4" element.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

If you turned the crank with the distributor out then your out of alignment with the oil pump drive rod. You will have to use a long flat head screw drive to line it up with the slot in the distributor gear so it will drop in correctly.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I think that's what my problem was originally. Scratch what I said about using the screwdriver, I did that with the rotor pointing at #1 & #8 and it didn't change. I'm 99.9% sure that I'm out 180*. I'll have a buddy do the finger test & feel for the compression & see if it starts then.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Aww man somebody beat me too it haha, yeah man just stick your finger over the spark plug hole and wait for the rush of air that will indicate the correct cycle. Just remember to take your time and think about whats going on in the system and you will have it running in no time!

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Thanks for the input. It's been very frustrating. Now all I gotta do is get the battery charged & see if it'll start...

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

You might look into that ground on the back of the block too, I was having alot of weird problems one day like what you were having (engine would run for less than a sec and stall, no power when I would tromp on it, misfires and eventually it just wouldnt start all together...hell it through a code 33!) and it turned out that the grounding braid was coming out of the connector (read still attached). I replaced it with a 4 gauge battery cable and its running PERFECT now.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I actually connected the ground after it stopped running & I had the distributor out lol. I'm hoping to flip the distributor in the morning rain permitting & crossing my fingers that it starts. Once it's running again I have to figure out this misfiring deal.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

You guys were right. I was 180* out. Flipped the distributor around, rewired my coil & it started right up!!. Now the timing is a whole different story. I set it at a base 14* but it started jumping. I understand that at full advance the timing should change, but when the motor went back to idle it had jumped up to 16* & then completely off of the timing tab. As it sits right now it fires right up, idles well & goes through the RPMs smoothly (while in Park, I haven't got to drive it yet). What could cause the timing to jump around like that :huh:

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Either your timing chain is goofy or your distrubuter is doing it. U running Vacuum advance?

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I hope it's not my timing chain but that's what I suspect. And yes, I have a vacuum advance. It was running a little rough while trying to time it with the vacuum plugged up. Soon as I plugged it back in it ran smooth.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

Make sure you set the timing with the vacuum supply from the manifold plugged and the distributer unplugged. You want the vacuum hooked up afterwards. How did you come to a 14* setting? That seems a little high for an initial advance setting.

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

When I was timing it I was doing it wrong. Had both the manifold & distributor vacuum lines plugged. Right now it's sitting at 8*. I finally broke down & am taking it to a shop in the morning. I'm gonna have them go over the timing again, tune the carb a little & tell me whatever else I'm gonna need to have it road ready. I'm most likely gonna have them make a custom true dual exhaust in the next 2 weeks too ::crosses fingers::

Re: I Need Serious Help ASAP
 

I need help again guys. I got the car back from the exhaust shop & drove it to work yesterday & while backing into the parking space it died & wouldn't start again. I left it alone till I got off & it started right up. When I was pulling into my driveway it died again but started right up. The motor was makin a loud noise like either it was really low on oil or like the pistons were getting ready to go through the head. It has enough oil. Also, when I'm driving it feels like it's winding out. I'm in Drive but it feels/sounds like I'm in 2nd. When it died in the driveway it had this burning smell too. Any advice?