Engine problem dont know where to start...

[toofun]

Well here is the deal. I have a 350 motor with an edelbrock carb. The carb has an electric choke on it. It is a th 350 automatic mated to it. This motor would start right up and I ran into a problem recently. I took it to get it aligned. Started to drive it home and it died when I got off the throttle at a light. Tried to restart and it would not turn over. I got a jump start from the wife and started to drive it home. On the return voyage I felt the car starting to feel like it was sputtering. so I tried to keep the RPMS up and it died and while coasting to a stop it backfired..UGH. I pulled over waited a couple of minutes and got another jump from the wife. I was able to get it home and parked it for a couple of weeks. Then today I tried to start it. It was not starting( I fully charged the battery the day before) It would turn over but did not start. Just for the hell of it, I pulled the distributor cap, checked the wires and plugs and everything was fine except the distributor seemed to be off a bit. So I set the timing at 10 before TDC and put the distributor at number 1 on the compression stroke. Bam it started right up. I tighened down the distributor let the car warm up and idle and backed out of the garage. All was well until I put it into drive and turned the wheel, it started to die so I put it in neutral and let the motor run. Put it back in reverse and then in drive and it started to puke and sputter like it was going to die. The motor continued to do this at this point no matter what I did after that. If I put it in neutral it would run and puke and sputter, if I put it in drive same thing, in reverse same thing. I had to rev it just to get it back into the garage and once It was in the garage in park, it continued to run like crap. I thought maybe the idle was too low so i turned it up a tad and tried to put the car in reverse again. Once I did the car continued to run like crap and when it went into park again it still ran like crap. I shut the car off and when I tried to restart it it was a very hard start again. I know this is alot but I dont for the life of me know where to start to diagnose this problem. Anyone have any ideas???? Really need your help. Sorry so long but want to be thorough... Thanks In advance!

Mark
TOOFUN

[6'9"Witha69]

My thought at the onset of your story was timing. The fact that resetting it made it work and then it screwed u[ again means to me that
Counterweights are sticking
A spring is broken or worn out
The vac advance isn't working properly (very likely considering the in and out of drive scenarios)
The shaft is worn really bad
Could also be cap and rotor related.

All in all it comes down to the distributor in one way or another.

[toofun]

I pulled the cap yesterday and it looked like it was new. I will pull the whole distributor out today and have a look at it. Is there anything I should look for in particular that could be causing this problem?

Also, I had a thought that maybe it could be a skip in the timing chain? Maybe it is skipping when I put a load on it going into drive? I am not driving it this all happened in my driveway.

One other thought that I had is that it could be my torque converter? But if this was the case how would I know if the converter was bad?

Mark
TOOFUN

[megaladon6]

i'd figure out why the battery isn't charging first. the electronics might need a full 13v to funtion correctly.

[HILROD]

If the battery and charging system are good try this. Start the car and cheeck the timing with a light. If it stays rock steady at idle, rev it up and hold the RPMS as stedy as you can. Check the timing at a few different speeds. If it is steady or real close the timing chain should be O.K. If it moves around look into the chain.

[Mommy Wagon]

How old is your distributor?

Is the timing moving around, and requiring constant adjusting?

How old is your camshaft?

is it an HEI ignition? If so how old are your internals?

Have you popped your valvecovers and looked for a broken pushrod or collapsed lifer?

[Scott Parkhurst]

it really sounds like a vacuum leak to me.

[Mommy Wagon]

I am not discounting the vacuum theroy, but typically, a vacuum leak doesn't create a no start condition where a boost assists in start up.

Without being there to perform some electrical system diagnostostics, or to inspect for vacuum leaks, it's difficult to diagnose.

toofun, what inspections have you performed thus far?

[toofun]

Well here is what I have done so far....
1. I checked all of the connections by taking them off, cleaning them, checking all the wires and reconnecting them. Everything looks OK.

2. I took off the distributor cap and inspected it. It looks BRAND NEW. All of the plug wires are good as well with no burns in the insulation or breaks...

3. I put a FULL CHARGE on the battery and reconnected it into the car. I started the motor up and as usual, it ran fine( see my original post on more info on that..)

4. I checked all of the vacuum lines to the brake booster, to the distributor advance, to the PCV, and to the transmission modulator. All of them are solid with no cracks or splits.

5. So I started the engine and let it run for a minute or two, then I disconnected the Positive battery terminal and the motor died...

The Alternator looks brand new. There is a sticker still on it that says it is a remanufactured alternator but I am assuming that it is no good cause I was told that the alternator should run the engine when the battery is disconnected? I have taken it out of the car and am bringing it to my local autozone to have them test it. Am I right in assuming that the alternator is bad if the engine dies upon pulling the positive battery cable upon startup?

Mark
TOOFUN

[Boyd]

Removed post - didn't want to hi-jack Mark's thread.

[toofun]

Well again I am not an expert either but I may be able to help you out. Seems like I read somewhere that if there is NO CHANGE in your idle or vacuum when you turn the needles in or out you may have blown your power valve in your carb. Unless you have a check ball in it backfiring especially through the carb is a big cause of blown power valves in carbs. Check your powervalve. Again not an expert but someone may be able to chime in for you...

Mark
TOOFUN

[Boyd]

Thanks Mark. Have you checked your alt. yet?

[david's71]

get a voltmeter and check the voltage at the battery with the engine running.
The cap may look new but that is decieving. try a cap replacement.

[Mommy Wagon]

Do you have a volt meter or ammeter gauge?

If so is it original?

An electrical system failure can be linked here occasionally. Usually it is a burnt diode.

By pass the gauge if you have one, or read voltage in versus out.

[camaroguy]

If it ran fine right up until you got it aligned, I would guess it is a vacuum leak as well. Something happened while it was getting worked on at that shop. Just a guess, but thats where I would start.

[toofun]

But wouldnt a vacuum leak be evident upon startup too? This happens when the car is put into gear. Also as I stated above the car dies when I disconnect the positive battery terminal while it is running...

Mark
TOOFUN

[hotrdblder]

Sounds like the alternator was charging sporadically, so once it was driven alittle battery died as the coil was pulling power from it then the alt crapped out. Makes sense as now motor dies when battery is disconnected because there no power, get the alternator checked and rebuilt

[David Pozzi]

Check that the choke is opening up, it sounds like it isn't. Something as simple as the wrong air cleaner can hang it up, or lack of power to the choke.

Often the wire running to the choke is connected to the ignition circuit, if so it can affect ignition voltage. Try tying the choke open and disconnecting the choke wire, don't let it touch ground.

You may have an alternator problem. When running at a slightly high idle, a volt meter across the battery terminals should show 14 to 14.5 volts.

Here's a handy list of voltages:

STATE OF CHARGE ----VOLTS engine off.
100%---------12.66
75%----------12.45
50%----------12.24
25%----------12.06
0%-----------11.89

You haven't answered the question, - what type of ignition do you have?
David

[toofun]

Sorry about that... I have an HEI with an MSD 6AL box tied into it

Mark
TOOFUN

[6'9"Witha69]

Sorry about that... I have an HEI with an MSD 6AL box tied into it

Mark
TOOFUN

If the MSD doesn't get at least 12 volts it acts up a LOT. I vibrated the nut on the back of my alt. for the charge wire once while on the freeway and thought I either had a huge carb problem or my engine was gonna explode. Tightened it up so it didn't make sporratic contact and all was well.