74 Duster w/318

[Millerrk]

Hello all, Need some help.
I have a 1974 Duster with a 318. Just recently I started having problems with it.
Problem: when in neutral it idles great, and will hold higher rpm's with no problem, but when put in gear and start driving it wants to stall and will die. When it dies it is very hard to restart. Any suggestions on where to start? Am thinking electrical but want ideas before I start replacing things.

Thank you.

 

[1970Duster]

Auto or manual?

 

[Millerrk]

3 speed manual.

 

[rumblefish360]

It could be a carb. problem in the main feed. The idle works off of the small rectangle slots in the primary bbl.'s. Whe. You push the gas pedal down to go, the butterflies open up to expose the main fees circuit, the slight higher up hole in the venturi's.

If it is electrical, check all connections everywhere, clean, reinstall.

 

[backfire]

could be any number of problems. check to see if your choke is stuck closed.

 

[backfire]

it should have electronic ignition unless someone changed it in which case the points might be bad. could also be bad gas

 

[Millerrk]

Gas is good, choke works good. It is weird because it only happens when driving.

 

[Dartnut]

Rebuild the carburetor.
It's not electrical if it still starts.
Probably a bad needle and seat, something got in there.
Change the fuel filter while you're at it.

 

[j par]

I would agree that the carburetor is the problem. If a little bit of trash is in the flot needle, or a vacuum leak?

 

[Millerrk]

Thank you for all the ideas. I have rebuilt the carb, everything came out clean. I am wondering if the problem could be my ignition control module overheating. Is there a way to check that?

 

[grumpuscreature]

When idling in neutral, what happens when you snap the throttle open???

 

[Millerrk]

She revs up and purrs. With the hood up it runs great for 45-50 min. Then all if a sudden she starts to hesitate, and tgen just dies. Have to wait a little bit before she will start again.

 

[412 Stroker]

what is your timing set at??

 

[Millerrk]

I am at about 7degrees before TDC.

 

[412 Stroker]

I am at about 7degrees before TDC.

I am thinking your not advanced enough, what is total timing?? should be about 33-35-38, initial should be approx. 11-12, but you really have to know what is total and go from there.

 

[Millerrk]

I have no way of measuring total timing as my scale only shows 10 degrees before and after. Water pump is in way of checking total. I have set timing to about 10 degrees before TDC at 700 rpm. Still runs great for about 45 min. Then there is a noticeable drop on rpms but stays running for another 15 min or so then dies.

 

[gtsdude]

After it dies an you try and start it what does it do? Just spin over? Try and fire at all?

 

[mguner]

Try a different coil also... Make sure your ballast resistor is working and not bypassed.

 

[Millerrk]

It tries to fire and start. But doesn't catch.

 

[Millerrk]

I have changed ballast resistor, and coil.

 

[Millerrk]

Now that spring is here I am dying to get my girl on the road...Any new ideas or suggestions?

 

[OL DODGE]

My 73 318 2bbl would never run properly, and i spent many hours playing with timing, i rebuilt the carb,bought all the pricey choke parts. One day i just decided to take the top end of the engine apart and found the heat crossover running thru the intake to be 100% carboned shut. So I decided to take the front of the engine apart and found the timing chain was worn pretty bad. Moral here being that sometimes an engine's difficulties are more than just one thing. Needless to say the engine now runs much better. I could've tried to tried for the rest of my life to tune it out the way it was before and never had it right.