Yesterday my car kept stalling out at idle speed. I took it home and it got worse and would not fire up. I took the carburator apart, replaced the power vavle which I already knew was blown. That helped nothing(I didn't think it would, but it needed to be replaced anyway). Check fuel at the carb inlet- 7psi. Fuel filter is good. Plugs and wires were just changed 3 months ago. The car would crank, but not fire up. Today, I replaced the cap, rotor, and coil. Now, the car will start and run for about 1-2 seconds, and then cut out.

What should I do?

By the way, I am running a Holley 600 e-choke, vac sec w/ a GM vaccum advance distributor, no ECM if that makes a difference.

Thanks

 

Hmmm, in the "old days" we'd say ballast resistor. But, that can't be the case now.

Have you checked the voltage to the distributor? You might not be getting a good 12 volts to it in the "run" position, but might be in the "start" position.

That's about all that comes to mind.

 

Yep, I got 12.6V on the distributor at startup. I'm trying to look over things to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious.

 

Timing? Ignition module?

 

Timing was set at 8*, do non-cc distributors have ignition modules(excuse my ignorance)?

 

They do, in the same spot as the CC ones, just with fewer pins.

 

An engine needs 3 things to run: fuel & air in reasonable proportions; spark at about the right time; and compression.

All you have to do is figure out which one is missing. Total piece of cake.

One can reasonably assume that you don't have compression for 1 or 2 seconds, and it then goes away. So rule that one out.

That leaves you with fuel/air, and spark.

Pour a little gas into the intake, and have someone try to start the car. When it starts, pour in a little more gas. If the car runs for a second or 2 and dies even while pouring in gas, then it's not a fuel problem, since adding fuel doesn't fix it.

That leaves you with spark. If it's spark, it could be the pickup coil in the dist, the module, the coil, the rotor, or the dist cap. Instinct tells me it's none of those things though, because they don't work for a couple of seconds and then quit.

Timing won't cause this. Put it back where it belongs, and leave it alone until you figure out what broke.

It is possible that you have a stripped timing gear; which will cause the cam to turn much more slowly with respect to the crank's rotation than it should. If that has happened, then here's what it will act like. You just spin the motor over continuously with the starter; the engine will spin like it has no compression at all for a few seconds; then spit back out of the carb, maybe set it on fire; then get very hard to turn, and sound like the timing is WAY too far advanced; then start to attempt to run; then peter out; then start firing in the exhaust (it'll make poofing sounds in the exhaust as the fuel gets lit); then start seeming as if it has no compression; and repeat the whole cycle. If it acts like that, proceed directly to removing the timing cover.

Leave the ignition timing (distributor twiddling) alone. All you'll accomplish by doing that, is to create more work that you'll have to do after you actually repair whatever is wrong with it.

 

Nice RB, I'll inject with the backwoods ry this first and see what happens since your not out anything but time:

If you know your getting juice to the distributor, and know your getting fire to the plugs, and you know your getting fuel TO to carb and this is happeneing....pull the carb off.

Remove the front bowl/metering block and back bowl/metering block/plate. Take ouot the needle and seat in the front bowl and be sure nothing is hanging it up-does'nt take much and give it a good cleaning with carb cleaner/brake cleaner. Same with metering blocks. Douse them with brake clean/carb cleaner and using an air hose start to blow out all the passages-all the little holes. Do this for both fornt and rear associated carb parts. Then get onto the main body-douse and blast with air. It's possible there's small debris stuck in the wrong spots that are allowing fuel to maybe seep through to build up enough for the car to run for a few seconds then quit running.

Try the thourgh carb cleaning/blowing out all the orfices and report results back before we start talking about really in depth possiblites. Also be sure to reset you float to the right spot.

 

I'll pull the fuel bowls tomorrow and see if that helps. I know I'm getting fuel to the carb because I did a pressures test at the carb inlet and have 7 psi. Maybe it is something in the fuel bowl. I did notice last time I had the fuel bowl off that at the bottom of the bowl there was a rusty color. Maybe some of that stuff got clogged up in other parts of the carb. I'll let you know what happens...thanks for all the input guys.

BTW...the engine doesn't slowly die out or anything...it just shuts off as if I turned the key off...that is why I was thinking the distributor might have something to do with it.

 

Today I took the fuel bowl out and cleaned the needle and seat...still nothing. Then, I replaced the ignition module and BOOM it started up and ran. Idle is smooth, The only problem I'm having now is that the car is really weak and will barely go above 2000 RPMs and when I gun it there is a small backfire. Could this be because of the module I bought. My distributor came out of a 70-somthing chevy pickup. The module I ordered was for my 85 Z28. The brand was GP Sorenson and it was only $12.83. I saw the AC Delco module cost like $56! Should I take the GP back and get an AC Delco one? Would this help?

Thanks for all the input guys...you're the best

 

If you bought a 85 module and put it in a 70-anything distributor, then you have a computer-controlled module, and a non-computer distributor. That won't work right.

Go back and get the right module for the dist. The module does not care what sheet metal it's wrapped in. Identify it by the parts, not the sheet metal.

 

The new module looks exactly the same as the old one. The problem I have is that I don't know what year or model truck that my distributor came out of. Would any pre-1980 V8 ignition module be ok? Is the cheap brand ok or should I splurge on an AC Delco?

 

How many pins are on your new module?

 

It's a 4-pin module like the old one. My mechanic told me that all the 4-pin modules are pretty much the same...