Car Quits At Speed :( stressed

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pilotsf

pilotsf

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I asked similar questions last week.
I changed plugs / wires. Cap rotor is fine. Cleaned carb.
The car runs and starts great. Tonight on the way home on the freeway at 50mph the car just stops. Like the key was turned of. Tried to start. No luck. Pulled over waited. Started and ran great. About a hour later , the same thing at a stop light.
I need this car for my pregnant gf. Please help.
Ignition switch in column? Ign box ? Carb? Coil? Switch in pic ?
Any direction wound be great.

72 Plymouth scamp
318 2 brl carb
Stock electronic ignition
Automatic

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....sounds like the ignition box ....I'm thinkin that because it sounds like something that will quit working because of heat building-up and then the cool down lets it start back up again and right now I cannot think of anything else that would do that, maybe a coil but that would be a long shot, usually a coil would not act like that, they usually degrade slowly and do not come back. Maybe magnetic pickup in the distributor is another thought. (Im sure you have checked the important electrical connections)
 
Thanks for the quick response. I checked the wires. The coil is pretty new. The distributer is something that is not new. About 5 years old rebuilt. Not a column ignition problem? Balast resistor. ? I just don't know where to start. The box is fairly new. When I go to start it back up after the stall. It acts like it wants to start but just won't. Then after a while it will.

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Every mfgr's ignition control box in that era had a temperature related intermittent failure. Gets hot and quits, cools and works again for a while.
I think I read "it looks good". A dead man can look good.
In a few cases one might find the gel coat melted from the back of the box. Those die and stay dead.
 
bigus1949 said:
check fuel pump pressure. may be running outta gas at carb
Click to expand...


X2...you need to put a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel line and see where it is at when you stall out....should be around 5-7 for mechanical pump....sounds like it is starving for gas.... The other possibility is ignition box or coil which was already mentioned....I think you will find your problem somewhere in these solutions
 
Thank you. The box is the orange box. I put it in about a 6 months ago from mp. Ill put another one in. Also a previous poster mentioned the magnetic pick up in the distributer. That part is at least 5/6 years old. Are those available like the protonics? Coil is also 6 months old.

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X3 on fuel delivery. Vapor locked fuel line? Steel line too close to engine block or exhaust pipe? It will "boil" the fuel into vapor. The real time to diagnose is exactly when it stops. Immediately pull the air cleaner and pull back on the carb linkage and see if fuel "squirts" into the carb. If not, try using a (little bit) of engine starting fluid when it quits. If it's a fuel problem it will start or try to start right back up.

If its the ecu it will not. Change the ballast resister and ecu when it quits. You could even mount an extra ecu on on the firewall and just switch the plug on the side of the road.

A friend of mine took his show car to the Rod Run at Daytona and had a problem like yours. He replaced the ecu twice and it would start, then next time NOT start. A bad ground on the ECU to firewall might do it. My friend got POed and replaced it ALL. ECU, Ballast resistor and Dizzy. It's already been suggested but an intermittent problem in the distributor pickup will stop it dead in it's tracks when it shorts out, and then work fine later. Remember, the vacuum advance keeps that pickup moving around inside the dizzy and it could get up against the shaft if not adjusted properly.

Here's another idea on the fuel end: something large floating in the fuel tank! I once heard of a practical joke where you put condoms in a persons gas tank! They float around, then get sucked into the fuel pickup. When that happens, fuel delivery stops, engine dies! After the engine stops, suction stops, condoms fall back into tank and car starts. The "joke" was that it's almost impossible to diagnose.
Any large item in the tank could do that.
 
Great. Luckily the box and resistor is not to expensive. My vac advance is not working. I Also like your idea about magnetic pick up getting shorted out. I'm going to try that first or a new dizzy. It's the oldest part in the link.
Thank you.

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pilotsf said:
Thank you. The box is the orange box. I put it in about a 6 months ago from mp. Ill put another one in. Also a previous poster mentioned the magnetic pick up in the distributer. That part is at least 5/6 years old. Are those available like the protonics? Coil is also 6 months old.

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Click to expand...

The orange box from mp is a pile of crap. Get it off even if it isn't the problem now because it will be a problem soon enough.

Does the car start right back up? Or does the car have to sit for like 20 min before it starts again? Hard to tell not being there to see it in person.

If it's a fuel issue you would think it would buck or something before it died.

I've had a couple cars over the years do what it sounds like yours is doing and it was the magnetic pick up in the distributor. It's a cheap repair. Napa used to carry the pickup. That orange box is always suspect too.
 
Yeah. It just dies. No stumble or notice. Like some one turns the key off. (I Still have lights and power). It did it last night after running like 10 min. So wasn't to hot on the box. I've changed :
Resistor , plugs , cap , rotor , orange box. The magnetic pick up is next I guess. Condenser wire is broken too ? When it starts back up it's like 2 - 5 min. she wants to start but can't. Wait and all good again.Sound like the pick up. ?

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YOU CANNOT just sit there and wish it will start

YOU CANNOT just sit there and look at it

YOU NEED to learn to troubleshoot and to check some things

Since this is obviously an ongoing trouble, arm yourself so that you can DEAL with it.

NEXT TIME it stops be prepared.

You have a shop manual?

You have a multimeter?

You have a test lamp?

Bag of Radio Shack clip leads?

Any spare ignition parts?

Spark tester?

Jump out and pull the air filter. HAVE A FLASHLIGHT with you if needed. Look down the carb. Choke open? Work the throttle. Accelerator pump squirt? Should be!!!!!

RIG you spark tester so you can see the spark.

CHECK for spark TWO different ways

A......Crank the engine by jumpering the starter relay. Any spark?

B.....Crank the engine BY USING THE KEY. This engages the "bypass" circuit. Any spark?


IF IF IF it quits let's say twice, three times, and ALWAYS immediately has spark but seems to be fuel, THEN..............

Spend the time and money to "rig" a temporary fuel pressure gauge. Now you can monitor fuel pressure and SEE what it's doing.

This is THIS IS troubleshooting 101. THIS IS the accumulation of experience and knowledge

THIS IS what we did before Al Gore invented the www

COMPRESSION.................has to have enough engine compression, and not burning so much oil / coolant / other that the plugs are fouled

SPARK...............................Good hot spark and at the right time

FUEL................................Just the right amount of good clean fresh fuel



Read your shop manual. READ about how to test fuel pumps, and SUSPECT and WONDER and QUESTION and CHECK and RE-CHECK. Is the vent system plugged? IS the tank developing a vacuum? Is the tank pickup sock plugged? Is the tank to feedline connector hose collapsing? Is the line to pump connector collapsing? Is the pump going bad? Is the filter plugged? Is there something wrong in the carburetor? IS IT GETTING fuel???
 
Its easy to eliminate the possibility of fuel starvation. Run it until it stops then prime carb with a small amount of fuel. If it starts and then dies, try it again. If it starts and dies again, your problem is fuel starvation. If it doesn't try to start, start trouble shooting for an electrical/ignition issue which is most likely your problem. Listen to what 67DART273 is saying, he knows his stuff.

Good luck,

Russ
 
Yep. It's getting fuel. I'm changing the magnetic pick up now. Ran fine all day today. So no trouble shooting yet. Everything is pointing to ignition. You guys are great. Thanks for all the awesome help !!!!

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I had similar issues with my 1968 Barracuda when I first bought it from a classic car dealer. I thought it was the ignition, but it turned out to be a fuel issue.

The fuel filter was completely clogged. It was the weight of a baseball, when a new filter weighs nothing. However, the car still ran like crap.

I rebuilt the 2bbl carburetor for the 318 engine, and holy crap, the engine came alive. I unintentionally laid down a strip of rubber when I stepped on the gas pedal.

Do not discount the fuel system. A carb rebuild kit should be $30 or less, but they may be hard to get locally depending on where you live. There are always online parts stores that carry the rebuild kit. Remember to get carb cleaner, I recommend at least 2 spray cans, and rubber/latex gloves. You do not want that carb cleaner on your skin. An air compressor is also important, since you want to use the compressed air to blow out any debris that the carb cleaner will loosen up.

Edit: Never mind. I see where you said you cleaned the carb. Was it just an external cleaning, or did you take out the carb and rebuild it?

Good luck.
 
Funny, I had the same situation. Inside of the gas tank was flaking rust. The sock was dry rotted and gone. It would suck rust up the fuel line and fill up the steel fuel filter (which we couldn't see in). It would choke it out. When you stopped, the rust would settle down on the bottom of the fuel filter and it would run until it clogged up again. It took one of those clear glass filter to see it occurring and figure out what was happening. Fix was a new gas tank after we tried to clean it all out and found pin holes in the bottom. Now I'm ok with the old style steel fuel filter.
 
when it stalls out spray a LITTLE starting fluid into carb if it starts right up and stalls its a fuel problem. if nothing happens its ign related ,quickest way to test when you have no help!
 
rob_robinson87 said:
Funny, I had the same situation. Inside of the gas tank was flaking rust. The sock was dry rotted and gone. It would suck rust up the fuel line and fill up the steel fuel filter (which we couldn't see in). It would choke it out. When you stopped, the rust would settle down on the bottom of the fuel filter and it would run until it clogged up again. It took one of those clear glass filter to see it occurring and figure out what was happening. Fix was a new gas tank after we tried to clean it all out and found pin holes in the bottom. Now I'm ok with the old style steel fuel filter.
Click to expand...

I had the very same condition in a 63 "Love Bug" VW
When we can kill the battery trying to restart, raise the hood, attach cables and fire it right up... my quarter bet is on electrical fault.
 
Years ago I had a 66 Charger do the same thing.My issue was at the bulk head connector on the firewall.If I remember right it was a big red wire that was the issue.So you may want to check the wiring on both sides of the bulk head.Next time it dies wiggle the wires in that area and see if it starts up.
 
I had the exact same intermitant problem with my duster. If I wiggled some wires around, it started back up. Turned out to be a short in the distributor pickup plug, on the car side. I rewired it, and never had the problem again.

Odd, but symptoms were exactly like yours.
 
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