car noob question??
Alright I kinda tweaked the kickdown a little and got it to work!! But now wat I thought was the carb acting up is not the problem. I don't know whats going on once I put the carb on the car turns on and stays on. When I take it to the streets it'll be good for about 15-20 min. Then after driving it'll start acting up when I press on the gas it seems like it cloggs up and wants to die and then all of a sudden it does die. Then I try starting it up again and it cranks and seems like it wants to start but it doesn't. I took off the air filter and it looks like it is squirting gas and I also tried pouring some gas in the carb but it just won't start!! Any ideas wat it can be?? And this was happening with my old carb as well!! Then after letting sit it for a while it starts again?!?!
Last edited by Jeepin; Aug 11, 2012 at 08:48 PM.
If it had started with the prime, I would have suggested a fuel issue.
Try replacing your coil. Your symptoms are identical to what I've experienced a couple of times in the past, an overheating coil.
If you want to be sure first, you'll have to get it to kill again, then check for spark.
Try replacing your coil. Your symptoms are identical to what I've experienced a couple of times in the past, an overheating coil.
If you want to be sure first, you'll have to get it to kill again, then check for spark.
Last edited by Camaro 69; Aug 11, 2012 at 11:57 PM.
Sounds like it's either very rich, or a choke adjustment issue. Pouring gas in it will make things worse if it's either. If it starts up cold and then runs bad when warm, the choke might not be fully opening. Look into the carb in the morning to see if it's closed, then fire it up and let it idle. Once it's warm you should be able to open the throttle slightly while it's running and see the choke move fully open.
You can adjust the choke when it's cold by loosening the screws on the housing and slightly opening the throttle, then turn the housing slowly until the choke is barely closed. Retighten the screws on the choke and start the engine to test it. Also make sure the choke wire has 12v. to it only with the key on!
You can adjust the choke when it's cold by loosening the screws on the housing and slightly opening the throttle, then turn the housing slowly until the choke is barely closed. Retighten the screws on the choke and start the engine to test it. Also make sure the choke wire has 12v. to it only with the key on!
The weird thing is if I just leave the car on without driving it it'll stay on for hours but once I take it out and drive around for a while is when it'll die and not turn on anymore?!?!
Well, your video clearly shows your choke butterfly in the straight up & down (open) position, so it's not that. And when the engine kills, the carb is still squirting gas, so it's not running dry. That narrows it down to three possible scenarios that I can come up with:
1) Your bowl in the carb is overflowing, either from a faulty needle/seat, or a fuel pump that's putting out too much pressure for the carb.
2) The ignition coil is overheating, gradually crapping out and finally killing the engine. Then when it cools off, it works again. It happens.
3) The ignition module in the distributor is doing the same as #2.
1) Your bowl in the carb is overflowing, either from a faulty needle/seat, or a fuel pump that's putting out too much pressure for the carb.
2) The ignition coil is overheating, gradually crapping out and finally killing the engine. Then when it cools off, it works again. It happens.
3) The ignition module in the distributor is doing the same as #2.
I knew there was a #4 lingering in the back of my brain!
If 1-3 check out ok (not flooding/have spark when it kills), then another possibility is a bad intake manifold gasket, or a bad intake to head fitment. This one happened to my nephew. Engine ran fine when cold, then as it warmed up, the engine progressively got worse and worse (no power, *******), to where it would finally stall out. He had a bad match at the heads and intake due to the heads having apparently been shaved (he bought car like that). The intake gaskets were juuuuust sealing when cold, but as the engine heated, and things started to expand, the intake gaskets started to leak from the valley side. That kind of a leak is tricky to detect. A shave and a haircut on the intake took care of the mis-match problem.
For kicks, check to make sure your intake bolts are torqued down well. We already know your carb wasn't.
If 1-3 check out ok (not flooding/have spark when it kills), then another possibility is a bad intake manifold gasket, or a bad intake to head fitment. This one happened to my nephew. Engine ran fine when cold, then as it warmed up, the engine progressively got worse and worse (no power, *******), to where it would finally stall out. He had a bad match at the heads and intake due to the heads having apparently been shaved (he bought car like that). The intake gaskets were juuuuust sealing when cold, but as the engine heated, and things started to expand, the intake gaskets started to leak from the valley side. That kind of a leak is tricky to detect. A shave and a haircut on the intake took care of the mis-match problem.
For kicks, check to make sure your intake bolts are torqued down well. We already know your carb wasn't.
End seals are notorious on SBC for leaking, or even sucking out of place. I've gotten where I toss all the end seals and just use Permatex Ultra Black to seal both ends. Never had a leak since I stopped using the end seals.
If you read the directions in some Felpro sets they actually say to toss the end gaskets. Not using them is actually part of my way of doing things because its all I know. Thank you to you older fellas for figuring that out for us.


