Car died for 20 min after a few bouts of hard acceleration

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Thanks for the replies everyone. Late one at work tonight (and all this week).

I’ve ordered feeler gauges and will look to pick up one of halifaxhofs books once pay day comes around.

This weekend, I’ll definitely get around to some testing to see what (if anything) I can figure out. I will keep the forum updated as I go about it.
 
Mattbearpig said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Late one at work tonight (and all this week).

I’ve ordered feeler gauges and will look to pick up one of halifaxhofs books once pay day comes around.

This weekend, I’ll definitely get around to some testing to see what (if anything) I can figure out. I will keep the forum updated as I go about it.
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Glad you got the feeler gauges comin....but here's a tip if you find yourself without any non magnetic gauges and need some. Regular printing paper is around .002" thick. Just keep folding until you get the thickness you need.
 
Fuel delivered to the carb doesn't guarantee that the fuel system is ok. There could be water in the fuel, wrong float level, leaking n/seat etc.
 
Mattbearpig said:
Okay everyone, apologies for the late reply on this... I've been busy with life (work) and also trying to diagnose/figure out this issue.

For those wondering; it is a Holley 4150; 650 CFM 4bbl double pumper.

The ignition has been converted to electric. It looks like it is one of the original style ignition systems with the brown distributor top. I cannot find any "Mopar" logos on it or anything like that but it looks like the pro-form system that can be found online.

The coil is an "accel super stock" coil.

Since I originally posted, I dropped the gas tank and was able to put in a new gasket between the sending unit and the tank, which seems to have fixed my leak issue.

I also replaced some of the fuel line and insulated the portions that I could.

I also tested the coil, ballast resistor, and checked the spark plugs.... all appear to be within working specs. Furthermore, the coil isn't hot when the car dies.

I am still getting an issue where the car dies randomly (either at idle or while driving) and is hard to restart. It seems to take less time now between restarts but the issue is still occurring. Due to this, I am fearful to take the car anywhere for longer than a 5 minute drive around the block for fear of being stranded... I am hoping that some of the information provided helps because I am pretty stumped.
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Have you done this when it is dead? Only way to find it. I would bet on the Cardone Mopar orange ecu.
 
halifaxhops said:
Have you done this when it is dead? Only way to find it. I would bet on the Cardone Mopar orange ecu.
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Do you mean the testing of the coil, ballast resistor, etc?

I tested them out of the car, completely disconnected from the rest of the system. I havent tested when the car dies... It is weird in that the car will die but then within 5-10 minutes it will restart and seemingly have no issues.

It seems to be more pervasive when it is cold outside.

It also sometimes just completely randomly dies without any warning and other times it seems to sputter. When it sputters and I give it gas it will keep the car running but often dies if I take the foot off the gas.

I really wish I could provide a video or a better explanation, but I usually don't get any good indication of when it is going to occur. I guess I could film a "cold start" and show you all how it idles and that may help?

I will test the ecu/ lok for ground this weekend when given some free time. Work has and will continue to eat me alive this week.
 
I don't recall if you did this but the simple test I do for spark is have a spare spark plug with an alligator clip wire. When the engine stalls/won't start, simply pull any plug wire and attach it to the spare spark plug. Attach one end of the alligator clip wire to the plug ground strap and the other end to a GOOD engine ground. Crank the engine and see if you have spark in your spare spark plug. You either do or do not and if you do have spark, you'll know spark is not the issue. If no spark, then do the same when the engine cools enough to start and you will be well on your way to figuring out the root cause of the no start condition.
 
You’re going to have to do some quick diagnostics when the car quits. Is it getting fuel? Is their spark? If not where is there no voltage? I would check grounds too. I have seen bad grounds when hot. Can’t hurt.
 
I would check for spark immediately after it dies...then spray some carb cleaner down the throat if you have spark see if it fires. How about a phenolic spacer? is the gas boiling off in the carb? Oops just read a few posts yea what they said...does sound like fuel and youd know if you are cranking and have spark but no fire up... :thumbsup:
 
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quick check when its dead unplug dist and should have (been a long time) think 1/4 volt a/c cranking
then use a heat gun on the pick-up coil get it up to 200 deg and see if it still has voltage
no (or different ) ballast resistor need 12v all the time
 
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