My car is running way too cool. Driving in the city during the day my temp stays between 100* and 120*. The thermostat Is new and is rated at 180*. The car had been running great but today it has started running really bad. Its fine from a take-off but at about 1500 rpm to 3500 rpm it stutters and surges. The specs are in the sig and my timming is 22*adv at idle and 36* at 3000. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

 

the car running cold shouldnt effect the performance to drastically.


the reason cars run crappy in when they first start up, is becuz the intake manifold is cold, and the gas condenses inside of it, forming drops of gas instead of a fine mist.
thats why after just a couple minutes, the car will run just fine, becuz the intake gets hot, from a combination of coolant going through it, and engine heat.

Iwoud check the gauge and make sure its functioning properly.
chances are, the problem is related to spark or fuel delivery.

my car doesent run ****ty unless its 40 degrees or colder, and then only on startup and only for a few seconds.

 

Are you sure the thermostat is working properly?

 

Are you sure your guage is accurate?

 

The gauge is a Summit unit and is brand new. I think it is fine because I have gotten the motor to 200* twice by idling for about 20 min with the fan off. The problem is if I so much as drive at 5 mph with the fan off it runs at about 100*. I think my new thermostat my be stuck open. I also think the poor running may be a blockage in one of the jets. Enough flow at low rpm but not enough past 1500 rpm until the secondaries open. This would explain why it happend so suddenly. Thanks for the replys. Any other views?

 

that sound mor elike a fried plug wire, id check that first, same thing happened to me yesterday and i looked at my wires and one was fried, the spark was jumping through the wire to my headers instead of going to the plugs , also check the coil , cap, rotor, and plugs, ....thats your best bet, ...a car running cold wouldnt effect its performance after the initial warm up. especially during the rpm ranges your car is messing up in, ...does you car perform better after 3500 rpm? if so then its definatly your plugs or somthing to that nature.

 

The whole ignition system is new and there is no burnt plug wires, that was the first thing I checked. A buddy of mine is a Holley Tech and we spent last night working on it. He said he thinks there is some junk in the metering block and I should rebuild the carb. I suspect the carb because it is the only used part. As for it running so cold, I haven't figured that out yet. Thanks for the help.

 

sounds resonable, yank that carb off and rebuild that ****!

 

Your carb may be running lean. Surging is a common symptom of a lean condition. Try one size larger on the main jets before tearing down the carb. It might just save you some grief

My car just went through the "cold sweats" routine, too. It turned out that my rad cap had lost some of its ability to hold 15 lbs. of pressure. They're only about $5, so its a cheap fix.

 

another reason is b/c the cold comustion area saps heat from the gas going boom which in turn willl reduce the pressure build up inside the cyl which means less performance

rotary motors suck in the cold b/c of there surface area

 

I believe you are right Sitting Bull, I suspect the rad cap is dead and won't hold pressure. That I will find out tomorrow. I was way too busy to check it today. I don't believe the jetting is the problem because it ran fine for 3 days. I drove to my parents house and it was fine. I get in it to leave and its running horrible. I won't be able to rebuild the carb until after the holiday but if I find anything unusual like small living creatures in it I will post it.

 

replace ur ignition module. that might be the reason for the surges and the stuttering. i know becuz i spent about 300bucks be fore replacing that which was only 25 bucks for my car

 

That is VERY unusual!

Normally (if I may use that word) a module just kicks the bucket, period.

 

well my moduale didnt just kick the bucket, actually it hasnt , i still have the one that was bad in my room. it still works its just when it acts up where i would get the sputtering and all that fun stuff the car would run like royal crap.

when i put the brand spanking new one in all those problems went away and i havent had any problems with it for about 3 months now.

 

Well I found that my rad cap was bad. It would only hold a few pounds so I bought a new one. I took the bowls off my carb and found a bug sticking out of one of the main jets. I run an air cleaner so I have no idea how it got there. I haven't put the carb back on and went for a drive yet so I'm not sure either problem is fixed but I'm sure a bug in the jet wasn't helping any.

 

That's too cool!!! I've never heard of a carb with a bug. I've seen all sorts of crap in them, but never that... probably got in there while the carb was sitting around, in its box or whatever. As easy as it is to rebuild a Holley, you should have that handled in no time.

 

Kinda funny isn't it? Well I went and put the new rad cap and carb on to go for a drive and make sure it was fixed and my NEW water pump just blew! Tell me it gets better than this! I spent 8 months building this car and I've gotten to drive it for 3 days.

 

almost sounds like my friends brother and his 71 chevelle. he got a custom made 427 pushin alittle over 500 ft tq. and the first night he had it out at his local car show and was leaving he was racing a older camaro with alot of power becuz he had big ol slicks on the back and the camaro kicked a rock up thru his window and then his gaskets on the water pump blew.