Help Please!!!! engine wont run

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zinser72

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I have a "72 Duster 318 4 speed. I did a very mild build of 318 with ported heads, .430/ 270 dur cam, holley 650 and street dominator intake. I converted it to an electronic ignition using a mopar performance kit with the orange box. I put 3,000 miles on the engine last summer and another 500 on this year with no issues. I was just accelerating from a stop sign shifting at about 3000 and going into 3rd i got an oil light and the car backfired a few times and died as soon as I put the clutch in. I took the distributor out and also the oil drive shaft and inspected the gears and everything else finding nothing wrong. I used a primer shaft and spun the oil pump and got good pressure. I put it all back together and tried to start it again and it sounded aweful. It sounded like a bunch of pops rather than the engine actually running and took about half throttle to keep it alive so I shut it down immediately but I had oil pressure. I thought maybe i sheared a key for the timing chain but I just took that apart today and everything looks fine. I'm stumped here and would appreciate any help :banghead:. At this point I'm thinking electrical issue. Could something trip the oil light and mess up the ignition?? Sorry for the lengthy post, i just wanted to give all the info i could
 
Glad to hear you had oil press. on the restart. Half way through my first thought was you had broken a cam.
Let me think on it and if i can add something to help i will.

Welcome to the site......
 
zinser72 said:
I thought maybe i sheared a key for the timing chain but I just took that apart today and everything looks fine.
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did you verify it is still in time? did you check which cylinder the rotor was on when you had the cover off at true TDC?
 
I'll assume when the Dist. was out you did a good visual inspection for anything obvious and shaft wobble. I've seen something as simple as a cracked rotor cause similar issues.
 
shaft bushing was replaced and is still tight from rebuild, all cylinders have good compression (120-130 psi cranking with starter), chain did not jump a tooth and keys are in good shape. everything checks out fine but it will not run. I've tried adjusting the timing either way and it doesn't help. I have verified that the dist is in right finding TDC on compression on #1 cyl. I dont think its a valve spring problem but how could i tell? It has stock 360 springs i think, they are dual coils but the inner coil isnt a spring, its a flat piece coiled up if you know what i mean. could it be that one of the coils broke on a spring so everything still checks out turning it over by hand? But the way it runs it doesn't sound like a problem with just one cylinder, It sounds much more "tinty" and has no rumble. Almost sounds like timing is way retarded but I really dont have much experience working on these engines yet. im only 18 years old trying to put a car together, thanks for the responses so far but i still cant find an issue
 
I also did look over the distributor really well and everything still looks new and is not worn, only has 3500 miles on it since new. I just think it has to be something simple that broke because everything was working great right up until it didn't. Would a fried ballast resistor, bad coil, or fried ignition box do this? Im not too familiar with how the electronic ignition works
 
I had somewhat of the same problem with my 64 Belvedere...ran like crap and acted like nothing was right. I thought it was fuel related and was mentioning it to an old school mechanic buddy of mine. He told me it was the condenser in the ignition system. I was highly doubtful but they are cheep so I replaced it and much to my surprise thats exactly what it was. Something to do with overloading the system as the condenser is like a voltage sponge to soak up the voltage in a points system.

Now, I know you have the electronic ignition conversion, but the reason I bring up my example is that I suspect one of your ignition components to be the cause. I assume you don't have extras of any of the three ignition items that may be questionable?? It would be nice to replace them one by one to eliminate their involvement without having to buy all three new until the problem was diagnosed.

Oh, where is 67dart273 Del?? I hope he chimes in, he is very knowledgeable about Chrysler ignition!! Geof
 
I had a cam and lifters wipe out before and it did the same thing you explained. I was cruising along, and it suddenly rattled, backfired, lost oil pressure and shut down. After I got it back home, tried to start it. got oil press back, but it was only to the gauge. Long story short, it punched a hole in the bottom of one lifter and it lost oil pressure from that lifter on and the valves would not open,thus keeping it from running.
I say that you check your valves to see if they are opening by rotating the engine over and watch the rockers. maybe pull the lifters out to check. Best of luck. Hope you figure it out soon.
 
Thanks for the input, I will take a really good look at the cam and lifters tomorrow. anyone have an idea on where to start troubleshooting the ignition? I don't have money for the trial and error method so are there ways to check the components individually? my plugs, wires, cap and rotor are good for sure. Can something go bad in the distributor, box, or coil to cause this?
 
tonight i looked at all the lifters and everything checked out fine. I pulled the timing chain off and the cam spins freely but when i grab on the crank it spins with quite a bit of resistance (i think it's too tight) and at one point it tightens up a little bit and makes a slight squeek. Does this make any sense at all for being the cause of my issues? At this point I'm fearing the worst and hoping someone has comforting words :???:. Is there any hope I can keep the engine in the car and keep her on the road? I can't afford to do major engine work with college approaching and I really don't want to roll the car outside for the next 4 or more years
 
zinser72 said:
tonight i looked at all the lifters and everything checked out fine. I pulled the timing chain off and the cam spins freely but when i grab on the crank it spins with quite a bit of resistance (i think it's too tight) and at one point it tightens up a little bit and makes a slight squeek. Does this make any sense at all for being the cause of my issues? At this point I'm fearing the worst and hoping someone has comforting words :???:. Is there any hope I can keep the engine in the car and keep her on the road? I can't afford to do major engine work with college approaching and I really don't want to roll the car outside for the next 4 or more years
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If you haven't already i would drain the oil and inspect it really well for signs of metal or flakes that could indicate a bearing failure. Could also pull the filter and cut it open and see what's in there. Fingers crossed your not having a catastropic failure.....
 
Squeek? Usually is a spun bearing. If it were mine, I would pull the motor and disassemble for inspection and repair. If you don't find anything wrong (I doubt)
at least you'll feel good about knowing everything is correct. tmm
 
if all the plugs are out and you have no valve train hooked up/the chain is off, and you are getting and tight spot with a squeek, it isnt looking good. ask me how i know. if you want to know for sure take the heads off and pull the oil pump drive. it should spin freely /easily without a bind
 
I think you are looking way to deep into this. It sounds simple to me, like the first resonse says, replace the timing chain. Your engine jumped time, causing it to quit and the oil light came on. The engine may have sounded like it was still turning over because it is a manual trans and it was basically trying to pop start itself. It most likely died before you pushed the clutch in. It popped/backfired because your timing went off and it was sparking at the wrong point in combination with the engine being turned over and not actually running allowed some raw fuel to be dumped in, compressed and ignited.
 
I looked closely at the timing chain and everything checked out. It still looks new and the marks were lined up so it didnt jump a tooth. both keys are fine for the gears and chain isnt too loose so I don't think thats the issue, I wish it was. what is normal for chain tension? anyone have a measurement for slack in chain? mine has about 3/8" or so, I think that's fine
 
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