Running rough when warm

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tomcatx5

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I have a '68 dart w/a '78 360 I recently put back on the road. It seems to run good until it warms up then it sputters and pops and runs like crap. Once it cools off it seems to be running good again. But once it warms up its back to backfire city. My question is I'm wanting to know whether its starving for fuel, or it's not getting spark, or what the hell is going on . I'm running an edelbrock 600 w/electric choke but I don't have the choke wired up. Could this be my problem? Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks everybody for all the help in the past
 
Try adjusting the electric choke. Twist it until the choke is fully open (90°) when the engine is at running temperature. Then when it's cold see if it starts easy or not and make any fine adjustments after that....
 
I have the choke flaps on the carb wired open. Will it make a difference if I adjust the choke? Should I have the choke wired up in order for the carb to function properly?
 
tomcatx5 said:
I have the choke flaps on the carb wired open. Will it make a difference if I adjust the choke? Should I have the choke wired up in order for the carb to function properly?
Click to expand...


No, I just wanted to make sure that the choke flap was not affecting you. If it's wired open, then it shouldn't affect the engine once it is warmed up.


It's easy to hook up. I just use a piggyback connector and jump from the input side of the ballast resistor to the positive side of the electric choke, then ground the negative to the intake. You can't use any wires off of the coil, it won't work right.
 
What is done to the engine?

Did you strip any of the pollution controls off?

Aftermarket intake and carb?

Has anybody done any "extra" wiring under the hood?
 
This time of year in FL you don't need a choke. Compare your cold and warm coil spark, the coil windings may be bad. Make sure your ignition box is getting good power.
 
Yes and yes. I have an edelbrock rpm performer intake and edelbrock 600 carb. I had an electrical fire under the hood about a year ago and I got a wire harness out of a 74 dart and wired it myself. Just the basic wiring, nothing fancy. However, I'm not positive I have the alternator, voltage reg., ballast resistor, starter relay, wired exactly as it should be. It shows about 14 volts during the day and 12 at night and doesn't appear to be draining the battery w/ the headlights on so I'm leaning toward I might have finally gotten it right. It was a nightmare to me to find a diagram that showed all the electrical on the same diagram. I bought a 4 prong ballast resistor but couldn't seem to get it right so I went w/ the 2 prong resistor. Shouldn't I be able to unhook either the pos. or neg. battery cable and the engine continue to run if it's wired right? I can't remember which to unhook but the engine dies when either is disconnected. I know I've read not to do that but I've been told if it doesn't continue to run, it's not wired right. Is that true or not?
 
tomcatx5 said:
Yes and yes. I have an edelbrock rpm performer intake and edelbrock 600 carb. I had an electrical fire under the hood about a year ago and I got a wire harness out of a 74 dart and wired it myself. Just the basic wiring, nothing fancy. However, I'm not positive I have the alternator, voltage reg., ballast resistor, starter relay, wired exactly as it should be. It shows about 14 volts during the day and 12 at night and doesn't appear to be draining the battery w/ the headlights on so I'm leaning toward I might have finally gotten it right. It was a nightmare to me to find a diagram that showed all the electrical on the same diagram. I bought a 4 prong ballast resistor but couldn't seem to get it right so I went w/ the 2 prong resistor. Shouldn't I be able to unhook either the pos. or neg. battery cable and the engine continue to run if it's wired right? I can't remember which to unhook but the engine dies when either is disconnected. I know I've read not to do that but I've been told if it doesn't continue to run, it's not wired right. Is that true or not?
Click to expand...


If the engine dies when you disconnect the battery negative cable, your alternator is not putting out enough electricity to support the engine needs. Does it still die when you have it at say 1500 or 2000 rpm and disconnect the negative.

this could also turn into a mis routed wire issue..... :banghead:
 
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