i was driving and then all of the sudden my car stumbled a bit and died while i was giving it gas and in 3rd. Now the car sits and tries to start but wont actually start up. Someone told me i need a new alternator. its an 84 with a 305. when i put the key in the check engine light comes on (i think its supposed to) then when i turn the key the brake light, choke, and check engine lights come on and the car just sits there cranking. any ideas? gosh, if it wasnt for bad luck i wouldnt have any luck at all..........

 

Not sure how an alternator is going to help you. It is either fuel or ignition related, sounds to me like its fuel related. I would check to see if your getting fuel and if not either the fuel pump or fuel filter is probably the problem. If you are getting fuel, then best to check ignition.

 

I have an 84' and about 2 years ago driving through New Mexico about 75 MPH or so car stumble then died. Tried to restart until my battery died it kept trying to start but wouldn't. My timing chain was the problem from the sounds of it you've got the same problem

 

have you tried trouble shooting? have fuel? have fire? have compression? that's the big 3. if you have them you're a long way towards getting it to run.

 

ignition control module...in the disttributer under the cap..if you arent getting good fire have it tested..

 

Is your lights dimmer at all then normal? When my battery drained, the lights were on but WAY dimmer. My guess is fuel related though.

 

3 ingredients are required for an engine to run: compression, fuel & air in reasonable proportions, spark at the right time. All you have to do is figure out which one went away.

Squirt some starting fluid, or pour some gas, into the carb. If it starts, it's fuel-related.

If it doesn't start, pull a spark plug; lay it on the engine with the metal part of the plug touching a casting; and have somebody crank the engine. If you don't see spark, ..... there's no spark. You have an ignition problem. Most likely culprit is the module.

If you see fuel and spark, but it doesn't start, most likely it's the timing gears. Sounds scary, but really isn't. Chaning the gears & chain is about a 3-hour job for a novice, parts will be $50 or less.

Don't turn the distributor, or otherwise mess with any adjustments. Something broke. Adjusting things won't fix it; and will just create more work for yourself, because you'll have to undo whatever "adjusting" you do.

My money would be on the ignition module if I was the betting kind.

 

Monday night on the way home from work, I was stopped at a red light. It turned green, I gave it some gas and it died. It moved enough first that I was able to pull over to the side, but it wouldn't start.

Opened the hood, didn't see anything wrong. Disconnected and reconnected the coil/distributor power wire (just because), got back in and it fired right up. Must have been a little corrosion/dirt/moisture build-up on that connection.

That was the first time in 4-1/2 years/38k miles that the car had died or not started for me. Half of that time it was stock.

 

it was a bad electrical to the fuel pump. lol i knew it would be something stupid.