Engine cuts out after 3 to 4 seconds of medium acceration

[Zymurgy]

A shot in the dark here, but have you had the coil tested? Have you pulled any of the plugs? What do they look like? Vacuum advance checked out?

I wondered about that possibility it is so consistent it feels like a fuel starved car. I have an older chrome coil that was working fine when I removed it. I could throw it on and see. At this point I will try anything to take it off the list of possibilities. Thanks.

 

[rexus31]

I wondered about that possibility it is so consistent it feels like a fuel starved car. I have an older chrome coil that was working fine when I removed it. I could throw it on and see. At this point I will try anything to take it off the list of possibilities. Thanks.

I read somewhere, 90% of carb issues are ignition related. It's worth a shot.

 

[300Nutter]

I have nothing of value to add, but I was thinking ignition problem parading as a fuel issue, too. Have seen it before.

On fuel problems, time is the enemy of all fuel systems. And my experience is that cars that are driven less have more of them. One you get it sorted, on any car built before mid-1980s, I would just avoid regular ethanol usage.
Only if you have to.

Not everyone has the option of non-ethanol, depending on where you live, but there are still a handful of "non-ethanol" gas stations around here.

This web site use to list most of them across the USA

http://www.buyrealgas.com

 

[blackmamba]

Well, let me throw my Hat in the ring on this one. First as you change Throttle Positions your Carb goes from Idle Circuit Jets to Main Circuit Jets. It sounds like you're running your Float Bowls dry when the mains come in. Recheck your Float Bowl height per spec's. Yes it matters! Oh and just for grins, did you change or clean your jets? They can get put back in the wrong place! Idle Jets and Main Jets it happened to me lol!

 

[Zymurgy]

1st I changed the coil ran the same.

2nd removed the gas cap, ran worse.

3rd I am hoping this is it. I removed the sendng unit and it is missing the sock. Is it also an extention of the sending unit along with being a filter? I have about 4 to 5 gallons in the tank. It was getting late and I didn't have more gas to pour in tank.




New unit

 

[blackmamba]

WOW! Thats a clean filter! Did you try to push some air through it? Yeah the sock is missing but that's not the problem. I thought that was the old one lol! I never asked what type of ignition your running?

 

[Zymurgy]

WOW! Thats a clean filter! Did you try to push some air through it? Yeah the sock is missing but that's not the problem. I thought that was the old one lol! I never asked what type of ignition your running?

Yes the tube is completely unrestricted. It is possible that the sock is clogged lying in the bottom of the tank, but I didn't here it fall off when I was removing it.

Here is my current ignition. All stock: ignition wires, plugs, cap and rotor are new. The original points and condenser

 

[Big_John]

The sock might be stuck to the bottom of the tank and you pulled the tube out of it.

 

[blackmamba]

Just for grins, change your condenser! Trust me, remember these are Mopars. I'm using the old trouble shooting method taught to me by my mentor. FUEL, ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL. We need to look at each one and eliminate what we know to be working properly.

 

[CanCritter]

enshure fuel lines aren't getting cooked..ie to close to heat sources ie manifold ect...gas will perculate and give you numourous symtoms..one of which is fuel filter type issues..had this issue once in another vehicle and took me good week to sort it out..anyway food for thought and something to rule out...

 

[Ripinator]

A shot in the dark here, but have you had the coil tested? Have you pulled any of the plugs? What do they look like? Vacuum advance checked out?

Me too on this suggestion, Rexus. . . I've seen more than my fair share of bad coils masked by supposed fuel delivery problems.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Recently I went through much of this. Car sputtered and popped under load so bad it couldn't be driven.
1. Fuel pump, no difference.
2. Fuel sender sock, no difference.
3. Coil, no difference.

It was getting fuel, and a spark, we were baffled.

Next was to check the plugs, pulled one out, there was the problem, big block plugs in a small block.

The big block plugs are shorter than the small block ones and we could see carbon buildup in the plug holes (that was probably worse before we puled the plugs)
Got new plugs and a tap, cleaned up the threads and put the new plugs in and the problem was gone.


Alan

 

[Wildaugust]

When you say it dies, do you mean it feels as if a switch has been "turned off" or does it die down quickly over a few seconds?

I'll relate a couple of things that have happened to me over the years, if you think that they could be things worth checking or may help you. Here are three separate problems that I've had in the past.

1. Car would start and run fine, then without warning, after several minutes or longer, especially at a stop, engine would suddenly quit. I found the fix was to remove the distributor cap and clean the point gap with a piece of paper towel or similar. Seems a piece of grit or something was getting into the point gap.

2. Engine would run fine and then begin running poorly or sometimes quit. Problem turned out to be the wire that connects the points distributor to the Negative (-) side of coil. There was a break in the wire inside the insulation. When advance plate moved, sometimes it caused electrical contact to be lost.

3. Internal fault in Ballast Resistor. I had one replacement ballast resistor on one vehicle where the internal connections in the resistor were loose. I could wiggle the terminals! Changed resistor and problem was solved.

If I was having the problem that you're having, I would check for some simple issues like these before replacing any parts. I would check for voltage or continuity with a multi-meter, while carefully moving the ignition coil/distributor wiring harness around to see if you may have a broken wire somewhere that is momentarily losing contact.

I hope this may be of some help.

Also, I thought I'd mention that when I was having issues with the clogged "sock" in my tank, my engine didn't just up and die, but rather run okay for several minutes, but then it would die down quickly over a period of 10 to 15 seconds. Then it would quit completely and I would have to wait at least ten minutes before I could start it again. Then the whole scenario would repeat itself.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Years ago when still on points I had a sputtering condition/cutting out sometimes stalling and it was the points not grounding properly. I thought the gap was too small and when I went to adjust found the screw was loose.

 

[Ripinator]

Years ago when still on points I had a sputtering condition/cutting out sometimes stalling and it was the points not grounding properly. I thought the gap was too small and when I went to adjust found the screw was loose.

So . . . You had a screw loose ?

 

[mr. fix it]

oh dear here we go....:icon_rolleyes::icon_rolleyes::icon_rolleyes::icon_rolleyes:

 

[cm23uoc]

Points are not what they used to be Quality wise. I only use perfectly preserved NOS.

 

[saylor]

some worthless, unsolicited comments:
unhook fuel line @ carb and run fuel pump. check flow. if you got good flow of gas to carb, OK.
a carb can handle ~7psi with no regulator. I have a mr. gasket cheapo pump and no regulator - 18ft of fuel line to go thru is a a good regulator. if u get a holley pump you WILL need a regulator.
some carbs DO have a filter at/inside the fuel inlet.
there is supposed to be a plastic cylinder thingy at the end of your sending unit pickup tube that the sock goes over. but I don't think that's the issue. sucking the loose sock up into your pickup tube MAY be an issue.
as stated, fuel pumps PUSH fuel. the point to take from that fact is that it combats vapor lock - the fluid is under positive pressure and cannot expand such to go to vapor as easily. again if you unhook fuel line @ carb and push good fuel, I say OK on that.

I think its your carb. like was said, float bowl, or main jet has a cheeto stuck in it or something. the carb is running dry or too low on fuel to feed the beast.

can you swap carbs?

- saylor

 

[Zymurgy]

Thanks for all the input. To clarify the cut out, the initial time it is dead no sputter then it will coast and come back to life. This is when it seems to miss as it comes back. If I let it coast to a shop under idle. I can drive about any distance at 25-30 mph.

I don't have another carb to compare. The floats were adjusted to factory spec they were a little off. After it was professionally rebuilt it drove exactly the same as before.

 

[commando1]

Points are not what they used to be Quality wise. I only use perfectly preserved NOS.

But then they are not NOS anymore. Shame.....
Using NOS points while the whole world is looking for one to display in their trunk assortments at the car shows.