starts,won`t stay running

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Grampas Toy

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bought a 76 A-body...Ran great for 3 days,,,,but now it starts right up,runs for about 10 seconds then dies?! Previous owner replaced carb,gas tank,pick-up,all gas lines....Horn wire was unhooked,,because it blows when the the key switch is turned on....I installed a electric fuel pump,,,still acts like it`s not getting fuel,replaced carb,still same results... replaced E.C.U box no luck...I`M running out of gas.....

could it be an electrical problem???
Thanks abunch!!! G rampas Toy
 
Change the 'Ballast resistor'... The little 2-3 inch long ceramic thing on the firewall under the hood ussually by the master cylinder with a wire plugged on each end...
 
If it's running for 10 seconds, the problem is not the ballast resistor. Dead ballast resistor = cranks and fires, but quits as soon as you release the key to the "run" position.

Sounds like it may be a choke problem. Is your automatic choke thermostat present, undamaged, and working?
 
You may want to pull the gas tank sending unit and check the condition of the screen on the pickup tube. I have seen them completely missing and the tube clogged from junk in the tank. In my car it clogged the mechanical pump so I knew something was really wrong. The fix was a new tank (cause it was really rusty and full of crap), new pickup/sender unit and clean out/flush the mechanical pump. It's been working great ever since.
 
slantsixdan said:
If it's running for 10 seconds, the problem is not the ballast resistor. Dead ballast resistor = cranks and fires, but quits as soon as you release the key to the "run" position.

Sounds like it may be a choke problem. Is your automatic choke thermostat present, undamaged, and working?
Click to expand...

That was my first thought, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of a combination of bad resistor and dieseling.
 
previous owner replaced ballast resistor...choke looks brand new...with the key on,tester lights-up on one side of this little round gizmo,,comes from there,gos to the thermostat heat choke,,shows no power to the choke....ran hot wire to the choke from the batt.,choke opened ownly about 1/4".....book says it should be lose,feels tight using your finger...

All i did was pull the air cleaner off,just before this happened...


still thankful for all your help,,please don`t give up...would like to get it running before i die.....was going to try starter re-lay next...
 
If the starter operates OK, it's nothing to do with the starter relay.

When it dies, does it seem to be choking? You might try firing it, letting it die, then block the choke open with whatever you can device, wire, rubber band, etc. and see if that changes the symptom
 
67Dart273 said:
If the starter operates OK, it's nothing to do with the starter relay.

When it dies, does it seem to be choking? You might try firing it, letting it die, then block the choke open with whatever you can device, wire, rubber band, etc. and see if that changes the symptom
Click to expand...



did that,,still won`t stay running....thanks for saving $$$ starter relay....Grampas Toy...
 
Grampas Toy said:
choke looks brand new...with the key on,tester lights-up on one side of this little round gizmo,,comes from there,gos to the thermostat heat choke,,shows no power to the choke
Click to expand...

"Little round gizmo" is the choke heater modulator. It sends power to the choke heater for faster choke opening only under certain temperature conditions; you should not see power to the choke wire when just turning on the ignition from cold.

All i did was pull the air cleaner off,just before this happened...
Click to expand...

...which suggests you might have pulled loose one or more vacuum hoses that didn't get reinstalled correctly, creating a vacuum leak and your problem.

was going to try starter re-lay next...
Click to expand...

Don't just throw random-guess parts at it. The starter relay is fine if the engine cranks.

As quickly as you can, get the three books linked in this thread.
 
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