318 wont start...

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72DartCustom

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The 318 in my 72 dart ran fine up until today when it didnt want to start this morning. When I turned the key (cold start) it started and turned over a few times before I gave it a little touch on the gas pedal to help it stay running then a small pop happend under the hood and it died. all it does now is keep turning over and over and acts like it wants to start but wont. It smelled flooded so I waited an hour and tried again, but it still wont start and smelled flooded again without even touching the gas. I thought it was the choke at first and held it open but that wasnt it, It leaves me to think its the timing? and if it is how can the timing suddenly change like that just overnight since I drove it last night?
 
Yeah I checked by putting the exposed metal of the spark plug wire to the manifold and there wasnt any spark.
 
If timing jumped, it would likely spit back, backfire, or at least fire occasionally. With the ignition in the run position, check for power at the coil (multimeter between the positive pole on coil and ground on body). No power, you may have popped the ballast resistor. If you have power, you may have a bad coil.
 
72DartCustom said:
Yeah I checked by putting the exposed metal of the spark plug wire to the manifold and there wasnt any spark.
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If it jumped timing, you would most likely get spark. Check ballast resitior, coil, etc. Do you have a multi-meter?
 
I dont have anything to check what is getting power and what isnt, which is why I just checked by putting the wire to the manifold. I did notice the last few times I started it when the motor would wind down id hear a soft hissing noise that wasnt there before like theres some kind of air leak somewhere. The ballast resistor was replaced when the dist. was less than two years ago, the coil was the only thing that hasnt been replaced because it was tested the same as a new one.
 
If you have a harbor freight nearby, the cheap red digital multimeter is only $4.99, sometimes as low as 1.99. Invaluable for diagnostics like this.
 
Try pulling the center coil wire from the dist and have someone crank it over while you hold the end of the coil wire near the intake manifold to look for spark. This will tell you if you are getting spark out of the coil.

If no spark, chances are your ballast went bad.

If you flood the car while trying to start, there is no need to wait for an hour. Just put the gas pedal to the floor, and hold it there while you keep cranking it. The excess gas will get pulled through the motor until it is lean enough to start. By holding the pedal to the floor, no more gas will get through and the throttle plates will be open allowing any excess gas to evaporate or go through the engine. A flooded engine will be able to be started this way within one to two minutes of cranking. Remember to allow the starter to rest after 30 sec of cranking so you don't burn it out. Keep the pedal to the floor while giving the starter time to rest/cool if necessary.

If you get spark out of the center/main coil wire, put that wire back in the distributor. Gat a spare spark plug and disconnect any other wire from the spark plug and put the spare plug on the wire. Hold the bottom electrode of the spare plug to a ground/intake and look for spark. If you get a good spark, then maybe your timing is off or you are not getting gas.

Check for gas by stroking the gas pedal a few times and looking for gas to squirt down the carburetor.

If you get gas, spark, and air, the engine should start. If you are getting all three and no start, your timing may be too far out, check your distributor. Put the engine at TDC and line up the rotor with that particular spark plug wire on the distributor and try cranking it over. Try advancing the distributor a little at a time until it starts and then reset timing with a timing light when started.

Do you have points or electronic distributor. Could your points have gone bad/ out of adjustment. For electronic distributor check the reluctor gap in the distributor and gap to spec (about .007" - .010" verify spec). I had an electronic dist where the reluctor gap was .030 and it wouldn't start when warm, only cold. after putting reluctor gap to spec it ran fine.

My initial instinct from your information, I would check the ballast resistor.
 
How fresh is the engine? How many miles? Was it rebuilt? How many miles on rebuild? What kind of timing chain? Original or double roller?

The cam gear teeth on the original nylon timing gears chip easily and can then jump timing easy when the engines get over 60k miles. A double roller with metal gears is much more reliable/robust than the cheap single row stock chain.
 
I got pleanty of spark from the coil, just tested it. as for the rest of the stuff you told me to do, its gotten too dark and ill continue tomorrow. but when I tested it from the sparkplug wire, there wasnt any spark. its getting gas as well. ill check the points first thing in the morning.
 
krazykuda said:
How fresh is the engine? How many miles? Was it rebuilt? How many miles on rebuild? What kind of timing chain? Original or double roller?

The cam gear teeth on the original nylon timing gears chip easily and can then jump timing easy when the engines get over 60k miles. A double roller with metal gears is much more reliable/robust than the cheap single row stock chain.
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The motor was rebuilt with about 3K miles. Im not sure whether it has a single roller or double.
 
Just a maybe. My ex-73 dart Sport was doing this to me five years ago. I had a vacum leak once and another time the vacum advance hose was loose and had a leak.Check all your plug wires at the distributor, make sure the terminals are snapping in as sometimes this may become issue. Same at plugs but most of the time at distributor.
 
Well I found out what the problem was after finding out that I did in fact have spark all the way to my plug wires. When I finally decided to take off a spark plug it had a thick wet dark gold color on both sides of the motor covering the spark plugs...
 
It was towed to the shop for further investigation since I dont have the time to mess with it. Its under warranty anyway so all labor and parts are free.
 
Do let us know what the "thick wet dark gold color" turns out to be!
 
I got a call from the shop and the motor had antifreeze throughout the cylinders, although hes not sure where it got in from yet, I should know by tomorrow afternoon or evening. Im assuming thats what was all over the plugs. Worst case senarial ill have a new 318 under the hood, wish I had the extra cash to just put in a 360 instead, but the 318 would be free so lol
 
It was leaking in through the intake manifold. There is something wrong with the manifold and it needs a new one. Im thinking instead of just getting another 2bbl manifold to just upgrade to a 4bbl. I have a used 4bbl carb that ill be asking questions about in another thread.
 
the edelbrock intake manifold, Holley 600cfm 4bbl carb and air cleaner I ordered came in a day or two ago and I finished putting them on the dart. It runs soo much better now, smoother than it ever has, the old manifold must have been cracked for some time because this car never ran as smooth as this. Much nicer with the electric choke.. A LOT more get up and go too..

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