I was pulling out of a turn and everything was fine. I went from first, to second, to third. A few moments after I put it into third I hear an incredibly loud pop. The first thing that came to my mind was omg I blew out third gear. Then I look at the tach and notice that my engine is dead. Luckily I was only going around 45 mph so I was able to slow down in time at the next stop light and try to start it back up. It took multiple tries to get it going again but after 4 or so it cranked back up and I started moving along. I shift through first, second, and carefully into third to check on the gear. The gear was fine. As I was pulling into another stop light I hear the engine starting to bog down and die with more loud popping. As I stop it dies. I try to start it back up again and after a while it started on up. I was taking a left turn at a stop light and thank to god it didnt die in the intersection but it did die shortly after. At this point I knew I had to pull of the road. So I pull into a mall parking lot. Shortly after it died again however I did get a chance to look at the oil and temp. Temp was around 150 and oil pressure was around 65 which is where it ran normally before. I pop open the hood and I did not see any smoke. None of the headers were red hot and I did not smell any smoke. I took of the filter to look at the carb and did not see anything out of place or broken. I pull on the gas to make sure that nothing was clogged in the carb and it wasnt. However I did see a small puff of white come out of one of the barrels right after I pump a little gas into it. So I try to start it back up again and it starts barely and dies after a few seconds.

Please help me with this problem. If you need more info just ask and I will provide it best I can. I have a feeling I blew a cylinder....

It sounds like a fuel problem to me. I think that if you blew a cylinder it would either smoke and miss not just die.When did you last change your fuel filter? What kind of fuel system are you running??

Fuel filter was changed a few months ago. I dont know exactly what kind of fuel system it is but I do have a 4150 double pumper holley carb if that helps. Everything seems intact with the fuel delivery around the carb. What gets me is that it cranks up and runs for a few seconds and then just dies...

As far a fuel I use 91 octane always. I also use that red octane boost that you can get from the gas stations just to help the fuel some. I wouldnt think that it would make that much of a difference but maybe theres an unbalance in the fuel because of it? I put a whole thing in every time I fill up...

If it were me I would pull the valve covers and inspect the valve train. Possible broken spring, may be something to look for.

Don't discount an ignition issue. Maybe the rotor or cap is shorting, maybe wet from condensation from setting for a while?

Well it did rain slightly. But I wouldnt think that would be the culprit. I really doubt a spring could break so easily. The motor has less than 5000 mileso on it and it was professionally built up.

Alex,
Dont make this more complicated than it needs to be. It sounds like you are either losing fuel or ignition. When it cuts off again, pull the sight plug out of the front carburetor bowl and see if there is any fuel in it. If it starts and runs for a few minutes, it sounds like a fuel system problem. The puff of white smoke is just vapors from you opening the throttle, perfectly normal.

Thanks Bilk for the insight I was just really worried about it cause this has never happened before. Where is the sight plug exactly?

It doesnt run for a few minutes but maybe for 4-5 seconds... It doesnt die rough but just starts slowing down until it bogs down and dies.

Bogging down and not rough sounds like flooding to me, maybe a stuck float or bad needle/seat.

I have basic tools in the trunk of the car. What is the first thing I should do?

I had the same problem in a '65 Mustang once; it turned out to be a bad coil wire going from the coil to the distributor. Just a thought...

I dont think its a coil problem. They are practically brand new. I am thinking that I might be running really lean because lately ive have been having problems with it dieing too easily when I start to move.

I would really like to get this worked out and get running again. The last thing I wanna do is call a tow truck and have him tow me home for 17 miles...

If you bent or broke some push rods it will pop. Pull a valve cover and look at your push rods, even if there broke you can get them out without taking the head off. Try wiggling a few of them see if there really loose.

If thats the problem roll them on a pane of glass to see how many are bent.

Rob

Check the big vacuum hose to the brake booster, be sure it didn't pop out of the booster or carb, creating a major vacuum leak. That's happened to me before.
BillL

I dont understand what you mean by rolling them on a pane of glass. But I will check the push rods.

Alright I will do that. It could be a vacuum leak somewhere as wel. I really hope its not the push rods. Where all should I check for the vacuum leak?

is the choke, close'n

are the throddle blades close'n all the way..

try starting it.. holding the choke open..

the choke might be "flap'n in the breeze" so to speak..
and close'n and killing it..
it dies. vacuum come off the choke..
you press the gas pedal, sets the choke to open.. it starts.. and engine vacuum, closes the choke again... and it bogs and slowly dies...
I'll bet on the choke.. spring(that controls it open/closed) isn't working..
and the choke is closing when it wants .. a mile down the road or a few feet..

Some of those symptons are the same as I had.... maybe it could be any help?

end of the story was that my distrbutor broke down.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232337

Where is the choke on the 4150 double pumper holley?

where Is The Choke On The 4150 Double Pumper Holley?

Have It Towed Home

Also heres another thing. When it runs for a few seconds my freind says that the fuel pressure gauge needle is very erratic and doesnt stay constant. It flickers but when the car is off it reads at 6psi and doesnt flicker.

Have It Towed Home

This is the first time ive had anything with a carb. Sorry that I dont know alot about it but thats kinda why im here to ask questions and learn...

This is the first time ive had anything with a carb. Sorry that I dont know alot about it but thats kinda why im here to ask questions and learn...

i UNDER STAND THAT..
but if you don't know cars that well. it's best to get it home, and learn with it there.. not a mall

i UNDER STAND THAT..
but if you don't know cars that well. it's best to get it home, and learn with it there.. not a mall

Well I would like to atleast try to find the problem. It could be something simple like the brake booster hose or maybe the choke spring needs to be put back into the right position. I wont start taking of the valve covers and checking the rods until I get home but I would like to atleast try a few of the suggestions.

So what would your diagnosis be for this problem?

If it isnt the choke that is...

Not enough info to tell unfortunately. Gas and spark are the first steps. If its a mechanical fuel pump, it might flicker.

When you start it for those few seconds, is there fuel visibly dripping down into the venturi ( the carbs throats) ?

Do you know where the "sight plug" or " float bowl" screws are? Do you have a large blade screwdriver and 9/16th, 5/8th wrench with you? I'm thinking it the needle and seat, or the float setting in the front bowl of the carb. You should see a large nut with a large slotted screw in the top of the fuel bowl. The large screw is like a set screw, the large nut raises and lowers the float bowl. If you separate the two while the car is ruinning, you'll have one BIG gas geyser, so be careful. it's a matter of putting the screwdriver in the set screw, and the wrench on the nut, and turning BOTH at the same time.

As the car has not been started, if you crack one of the fuel bowl or "sight plug" screws, does gas weep out of it?

The choke would be a flap over the two front carb bores, on top of a choke housing. There is an arm that connects to it.

You really shouldn't be learning Holley repair in a parking lot. Cant find a car trailer and bud with truck to ge that thing home?

at the top of the carb..
you'll see a flat metal piece.. that opens and closes over the carbs 2 barrels...
prop it open , and crank... it should start..
with it running.. the "choke" should have spring pressure on it. keeping it from closing..
try to close it with your hand.. shouldn't just close..
if it does.. that be your problem..

I dont understand what you mean by rolling them on a pane of glass. But I will check the push rods.

They will flop around and won't roll real straight.

Well I went over everything you guys told me and then asked some service men from auto zone what it could be and we all came to the conclusion that I need to learn how to tune it properly. All in all it's just really out of tune. I'm gonna be getting towed home and once I get home I need to make a list of all the equipment I need to buy and learn how to use them.

So I was hoping you all could give me some heads up about what all I would need.

I was pulling out of a turn and everything was fine. I went from first, to second, to third. A few moments after I put it into third I hear an incredibly loud pop. The first thing that came to my mind was omg I blew out third gear. Then I look at the tach and notice that my engine is dead. Luckily I was only going around 45 mph so I was able to slow down in time at the next stop light and try to start it back up. It took multiple tries to get it going again but after 4 or so it cranked back up and I started moving along. I shift through first, second, and carefully into third to check on the gear. The gear was fine. As I was pulling into another stop light I hear the engine starting to bog down and die with more loud popping. As I stop it dies. I try to start it back up again and after a while it started on up. I was taking a left turn at a stop light and thank to god it didnt die in the intersection but it did die shortly after. At this point I knew I had to pull of the road. So I pull into a mall parking lot. Shortly after it died again however I did get a chance to look at the oil and temp. Temp was around 150 and oil pressure was around 65 which is where it ran normally before. I pop open the hood and I did not see any smoke. None of the headers were red hot and I did not smell any smoke. I took of the filter to look at the carb and did not see anything out of place or broken. I pull on the gas to make sure that nothing was clogged in the carb and it wasnt. However I did see a small puff of white come out of one of the barrels right after I pump a little gas into it. So I try to start it back up again and it starts barely and dies after a few seconds.

Please help me with this problem. If you need more info just ask and I will provide it best I can. I have a feeling I blew a cylinder....

Did you leave something out of your original post :confused:, everything was fine and then pop it went out of tune or was it running terrible all along, please explain.

I'm wondering if maybe the distributor isn't tightened down properly and has moved a bit.

Coil is dying, stock ones are cheap, that is what I would try first. JMHO.

it hasn't been running terribly. It has seemed a bit sluggish but it never just died while I was going 45. Either way I need to tune it and it would really help if you guys could offer me some brand names for reliable tools that I would need I fully tune the car.

I just got home and it started up and I managed to drive it into the garage without it stalling or dieing. It did sound rough like it wanted to die to didn't. It was running around 600 rpm.

This appears to be getting blown way out of proportion with all these suggestions. Here is what you need to do.....

First, as Leo said, change the coil. If it's not getting 12 volts, it won't run right. If that doesn't fix it's a simple fuel problem. It's either flooding out, or there is a pice of dirt stuck in the needle & seat assemby in one of the bowls, it's a very simple fix.

Now, to know if the carb is flooding, there will be a heavy raw gas smell coming from the carb and from what you said about gas squirting out of the carb into the mian body and white vapor coming out, we can rule out flooding.

Move on...

There probably something stuck in the needle & seat assembly or in the primary metering block in the front. I had this problem with POS Holley on my 69 Charger. I took the front bowl and primary metering block and bam, there was the piece stuck in the one opening for the transfer slot. Removed it, put it back together, problem solved.

Here is what tools you need to pull the front bowl off the carb. Line wrenches to remove the fuel rail. This is ususally a 5/8 and a 1" for the adapter fitting on the carb. A 1/4" drive ratchet with a 5/16" deep socket to remove the front fuel bowl.

Well while I was looking for dirt in the needle assembly and the adapter I only found a few very little things, smaller than a crumb, in the second pump ( the one closest to the distributer ) you could easily see the white specs in the blue background of the adapter. Also the adapter didn't seem to be tightened very well at all. It came loose very easily. How should I go about checking the coil for the voltage?

Check the big vacuum hose to the brake booster, be sure it didn't pop out of the booster or carb, creating a major vacuum leak. That's happened to me before.
BillL

Thats what I would check first. I have had it happen on different ocassions.
Van

Xtreme70SS396 : I'm wondering if maybe the distributor isn't tightened down properly and has moved a bit.

Did you try to turn the distributor by hand? What Xtreme suggested happened to me a couple of months ago. It acted like it was running out of gas. Made it out of the driveway, around the first corner, started to pull a slight grade and... died... very hard restart... ran 1/2 block and died again and wouldn't re-start..

Pulled the aircleaner to check the carb.... rested my hand on the distributor cap.... and it turned,:o I had no tools so I eyeballed it to where it usually sits and it started right up and got me home.

Stupid, cheap, chrome distributor clamps...:mad:

Anyway, its free and takes two seconds to verify.

Good luck!

I have broken 3 springs in the last 5 yrs. Finally have put in a new set. Check compression. If good then, distributor, then coil, then plug wires. If all OK, then a fuel problem.

The loud POP intrigues me. I assume that it was running well before the POP and then went down hill. I would go through everyones suggestions here first and If you still have found nothing I would look into the timing chain. It could have jumped a tooth and retarded the cam timing making for hard starts and bad throttle response with stalling. How many miles are on the engine?
Bill

There's under 3000 miles on the whole drivetrain. I'll check the distributer when I get home. As for the loud pop, a man at auto zone told me that it was just gas built up in the exhaust and when I shifted into third and put pressure on it it ignited and made that pop. He specificaly asked me if I was shifting right before the pop.

It did run slightly better when I turned up the idle to around 1000. It didn't die for a few miles but I ran it really slow for those miles and when I took it past 2600 rpm It started dieing and after that I decided I beter call the tow. Hagerty got me a free tow from a great place. I think I killed my e brake as well when I was trying to stop from 45 with all drum brakes. It didn't lock up but I'm pretty sure the ebrake will need replacing because those drum brakes on a dead engine took alotl of pushing with my right foot and when that wasn't working well I thought I'd play it safe and slowly start easing into the e brake

The e-brake just manually activates the rear brake shoes, it is not a separate system. I would say the rear brakes are fine.

hmmmmmmmmm I wonder if your gas tank vent is plugged. This would make it hard for the pump to pull fuel after it has been running a bit. I have seen this condition slowly run worse until it dies and sits for a few mins to get the pressure to equalize. Then it would start and slowly get worse again. But this is a rare problem. Rule out the other guys sugestions first.
Bill

Did you try to see if your distributor shifted its position. Can you grab your distributor and rotate it by hand? Sounds like your timing is off and the loud pop you are hearing is your fuel igniting when your intake valve is open. Check the easy things first. Maybe your timing wasn't correct to begin with. If your timing is off your engine will definately run sluggish. You can get it in the ballpark by the sound of the engine running but you will need a timing light to dial it in.

What kind of distributor do you have? To determine whether the coil is being triggered by the distributor use a test light and ground one end of the light and touch the other end to the negative or - side of the coil (the terminal the distributor wire is connected to). Crank the engine and you should see the light pulsate. If it does the distributor is doing it's job of triggering the coil. Then pull the coil wire from the distributor (leave it in the coil) and hold it close to the fire wall and crank it again. You should see it spark to the fire wall. From the description you describe my first thought would be an eclectronic distributor giving up when it's hot. Mallory Unilite distributors are famous for acting just like what you described. Good luck.

Mark

I tried the distributer and when I try to move it by hand I managed to move it about a cm or so when I lean on it. I weigh a bit under 160. Yes I have a timing light and a dwell meter. I have heard that you have to set your dwell before setting your timing and I don't know how to set dwell but as far timing when it's running it reads at the TDC as I see it from the right side of the engine. I'm about to check the coil now because as I look at the old tach when I just trim the keys it starts flickering and going crazy with the engine off

Where bouts in Missouri are you Alex?
Close to Kansas City by chance?

Bad mistake to think just because something is new it can't be bad...BTDT :(

Im actually in the 64836 area. In Carthage by Joplin. South of Kansas City. Id say its about a two hour maybe hour and 45 minutes drive from Kansas City.

Yes that is true, I just had a very optimistic view about the motor.

I know that there is alot of voltage going through the ignition system and I still need to test the coil. What would be the safest way to do that? Its an MSD ignition. When I take the cover of there is a red wire and yellow wire behind the tach and ignition plug ins.

Sorry about the spelling on some things, alot of my replies are typed out on my phone...

Thought you might be close enough we could help. :(

Been through Carthage many times.
Some of my relation from Miller, MO worked at the casket company and Carthage Marble.

Its fine I'll manage. Once I do it once I'll be able to fix it again later.

While I was checking the timing I noticed that the cars rpm started out at around 630 but after about half a minute climbed up to 750 where it managed to idle away just fine without dieing. But it was really rough when it started up and was trying to idle around 630. Why did it do that? Why didn't it just crank up right to the 750 area.

Maybe too much fuel at start up? :confused:

Check out the Queen City Chevelle Club (http://www.chevelles.net/queencity/)
Lot of really great folks around Springfield, Lebanon, Ozark, Sparta, Kimberling City, Greenfield, Lockwood, Nixa, Elkland. :thumbsup:

How do I adjust how much fuel is used at start up?

I think it was the distributer. I was checking the light while it was running poorly and it was pointing at 2.5 so I moved the distributer counterclockwise until it pointed to 3.1 and the motor ran much better. It didn't die or act sliggish but I'm not sure if it's at it's exactly where it should be. How can I tell where exactly of should be at?

I have read that most small block 350s perform with a 8 * btdc. Should I adjust it to 8?

Eight is better than 3.1. It depends on what cam you have in there. Set it at eight and see how it runs and then advance it some more and see what happens. Do you have the vacuum advance disconnected when you are timing the engine?
If you have vacuum advance suck on the hose while it's running to see if it's working.
Do you have points or electronic ignition? If you have points hook up your dwell meter and see what the dwell is points ignition should be 30 and not fluctuate when revving the engine.
Squiido

a blown cylinder will make a white cloud like the space shuttle plume.
seen quite a brilliant and purposeful one once. :)

Okay so here's the deal so far. I set the fuel level and I set the timing at 3.5 I then let it idle away for a bit and it sounded real good. I thought I had it fixed. Then today I decided to take it for a test drive. I drove for about two or three miles and it ran real smooth and strong. Then once again as I was heading back home I start to hear it pop just a little bit and then it decided to quit on me. I check all the vacuum hoses and they are all where they should be. I checked the distributed and it was where it should be. I ckecked the fuel level and it was where it should be. I was stumped. I got it started again after a while and let it idle. It sounded just fine. I gave it some gas and it sounded just fine. No backfire. There was no unusual sound that I could hear. I'm frustrated and I don't know what else to look at.

What gets me the most is the fact that it seems to run perfectly and then all of a sudden dies.

I had a bad coil once that ran fine when cold......once it got hot, it would shut off and strugle trying to start again. This happened 6 times in 10 miles, but I managed to get it home. For starters....get that timing set where it needs to be. I would bump it to at least 10 degrees. I have my mild built 355 at 17 initial, 36 total.

What year is the car?
Tell me all about the features it has and everything you have done.

When I got my 68 BBC Vette running, lots of issues...bought it non-running.
Somewhere in the rebuild process, I left the ballast resistor out of the IGN circuit.
Out one evening, and sputter, sputter, pop, pop, and she died!
Wifey brought the tool box, Chilton's and my volt meter. Quick check, had fuel, had spark,,,,,but the meter showed weak coil during a test. Got to the parts house minutes before closing...threw a new coil in by flashlight, got her the 2 miles to the house. Next day, did some research and you bet your britches, the ballast resistor went back in.

I didn't build up the motor. However after doing lots of reading I have come to realize that everything leads to the coil being faulty. Unfortuneatly I do not know how to safely test the HEI coil on my msd ignition. I was hoping someone could give me a link or a heads up on how to do it.

I didn't build up the motor. However after doing lots of reading I have come to realize that everything leads to the coil being faulty. Unfortuneatly I do not know how to safely test the HEI coil on my msd ignition. I was hoping someone could give me a link or a heads up on how to do it.

try the msd web site..

Here is what I would do.

1. Take all of the MSD stuff loose.

2. Tag all of your spark plug wires with numbers 1-8 at the cap.

3. Find or borrow a used a HEI Distributor that you know is good. One with the coil mounted on the top with a vaccuum advance.

4. Pull the cap off of your current distributor and mark where the rotor button is facing. Write a diagram or whatever.

5. Drop the good used HEI Distributor in and make sure that the rotor button is facing the same way as the one you pulled out.

6. Hook up the 12 volt wire on the side of the cap.

7. Make sure the spark plug wires are all in the right firing order.

8. Fire that mother up. You just took out a bunch of variables when you put the known good distributor in.

9. If it still is doing the same thing. Pull the vaccuum line off the distributor's vaccuum advance.

10. Get a known good timing light and then set the timing at 14-16 with a non-dial back light.



If it still running the same way. We will then make sure you have gas at the carb.

1. Pull the suction line off the fuel pump. Grab a 3/8" rubber fuel line hose about 4 or 5 feet long. Stick it in a 5 gallon gas can full of gas. Be safe with this one.

2. Start the engine up. If it runs until you ran out of gas in the can you probably have fuel delivery issues in front of the pump. We just took all your fuel lines, sending unit, fuel strainer out of the loop that could be causing the problem.

If it is still acting up then go to this one.

1. Plug off every vaccuum fitting with a plug except the vaccuum advance. I mean the power brake hose, modulator valve for the trans and anything else.

1. Find a good friend that has a good Holley or Q-jet and put that sucker on there. If your problem goes away you just found out it is probably the carb.


If the problem is still there. I would look for an intake leak possibly. You might want to check the tightness of the intake bolts or possibly the wrong carb to intake gasket.

It helps if you have a few friends that are willing to let you try out a different carb or distributor.

I would advance the timing more and replace the condensor in the distributor. I have seen this cause erratic behavior. Plus its only a couple bucks and one screw to change it.
Bill

From the sounds of it I would have to say your timming chain has slipped or you have a colapsed lifter or something.

Alex- if a carb needle is stuck, try tapping on carb body with a srewdriver handle, small wrench, something that isnt too heavy where the float pivot is. If the needle is stuck closed, that fuel bowl will be low or empty. If the needle is stuck open- that bowl will be pumping out the bowl vent. Sounds like front bowl may be low. If it idles good after tapping on float bowl- needle was stuck . hope this helps.