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72 charger

72 charger

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Hey all, for the past few years Ive been trying on and off to solve a problem Ive been having where my car,(72 charger with a 69 383, 727 torque flight) tends to stall out when sitting in a drive gear and the car is warm. Ive tried a few different things, new torque converter, new carb(holley 750), new plugs, mopar performance electronic ignition, has reman alternator, wrapped fuel lines in heat shield thinking vapor lock etc. etc. More recently as Ive had time to drive it or tinker with it Ive noticed the ammeter jumps around when its in gear and idling its actually in the discharge area of the gauge. Ive also noticed it seems the ammeter never goes into the charging portion of the gauge unless I'm up to speed. That being said I'm assuming its an electrical issue. I did have a guy check the amperage it was drawing etc several years back and according to him he said it was normal but I dont know what the numbers were and how he even did it. Looking for suggestions on what to check and where to go from here. Thinking maybe ignition system or charging system but not sure what to look for from here. Thanks in advance.
 
Coils go bad when they get hot sometimes. I don't know about ammeter gauges because mine is long gone, but what does a voltmeter/multimeter tell you in the same circumstance? What does a multimeter tell you when its hooked to your coil and ignition power supply. Your cars ignition should run on battery power alone, but perhaps you have an intermitent short somwhere
Could your carb be overheating and boiling fuel out of the jets and causing an over rich condition? Or boiling out the fuel in your accel pump so it squirts dry. A carb swap wouldn't solve problems like that.
 
Does it start right up after it stalls or do you have to wait until it completely cools down before it will start again?

If you have to wait till it completely cools down, it could be the coil or more so it could be the electronic pickup in the distributor. They both, when hot, can show their weakness.

The second a engine stalls and it won't start again, you need to pop the hood and see if the coil has proper voltage and/or get the air cleaner off, look into the carb, pull back on the throttle and see if you get a good squirt of gas. That's the basics to tell if it's a electrical or fuel problem. Throwing parts at it won't always solve your problem.

In your description, it sounds like your rpm could be adjusted a bit higher so it doesn't stall when in gear. But none of us are there to confirm what's acually taking place.
 
72 charger said:
Ive noticed the ammeter jumps around when its in gear and idling its actually in the discharge area of the gauge.
Click to expand...
A couple possibles there...but, first thing I'd check is, if the wire connections at the gauge are tight. Sounds like they could be loose, or poor contact. Next would be wiring itself, both under the dash, firewall, and under the hood.
 
The first thing you need to check is the back of the ammeter. Sounds like you have a corrosion issue in the wires. This is a common problem and if you dont address it the whole dash could go up in flames. As the wires heat up they become less efficient and can cause the car to cut out or die due to lack of voltage.

Here is a good write up about the ammeter and how to fix the issue.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
 
Last edited:
I will have to check and see whether or not when it stalls if there's still fuel in the carb. I honestly cant remember whether or not it will start right back up I believe so but Ive gotten good at avoiding the stall out by popping it into neutral or feathering the throttle. From that point Ill look at electrical if theres still fuel in carb. If so where to look? check voltage at coil and battery?
 
From your symptoms described, I would say its unlikely electrical related, and probably fuel/carb related. How hot is your carb getting?
 
miller said:
Have you checked carb float levels?
Click to expand...
Yes and no they were checked when carb was installed but that was at least 2 years ago. But I had a holly 650 on before that we adjusted and still had same issue.
 
furryfrog said:
From your symptoms described, I would say its unlikely electrical related, and probably fuel/carb related. How hot is your carb getting?
Click to expand...
Not sure, and I’m not sure I agree. I will be letting it stall out and see if I can see fuel squirt in carb after to confirm. What could it be fuel related? The hard lines I have wrapped in heat shield and the rubber lines are stainless braided over rubber. I guess the carb could be getting hot but I don’t see how it could be running hotter than any other car. I also am pretty sure I can start the car right back up after it stalls meaning there’s fuel still in the bowls but again I’d have to confirm, just want some more things to look into
 
Wrapping fuel lines rarely does enough, most of the heat conducts into the carb from the intake manifold, a good start would be an insulating carb spacer.You are not running out of fuel, you engine is going rich and stalling out. The fuel is boiling in your float bowls and puking out your main jets, that's why it's only happening when your ideling, your not burning enough fuel to bring in more colder fuel to prevent boiling. The only way I ended up solving my boiling fuel in my carb problem was installing a return line, an insulating spacer wasn't enough, but my car has high under hood temps and I could only fit a thin insulating spacer because of hood clearance. This issue is common, lots of threads related to overheating carbs. Holleys are more prone because of the large amount of fuel in the float bowls, compared to a q jet for example, which has a tiny float bowl and the fuel doesn't sit around as long.
Nothing your mentioning makes me think its electrical, if your car wouldn't restart, or ran like crap after it restarted, or your hitting a bump when your car stalls, perhaps.
 
72 charger said:
the rubber lines are stainless braided over rubber.
Click to expand...
Okay...just thinking outloud, tossing out ideas. Fuel/carb related.
The 'rubber' fuel lines you have...do you know if their fuel injection rated? Suppose it's different rubber compound, but I was told to use a Gates fuel injection hose. Other hose gets eaten up, in the inside, from the lousy fuel. Puts trash in the carb, and clogs up the works.

Intake manifold. Iron or aluminum? Mine is aluminum (crossram), and runs a little cooler than iron, not as much heat transfer to the carbs. I also used a so-called insulator base gasket (Edelbrock) on each carb. That's all!
Only problem I have, is if it sits for awhile, have to pump the gas pedal 2 times, to re-fire it off. Otherwise, once warm, just turn the key.

Your looking at 'something' that can be fairly simple, or not, and irritating. Got a temp gun, to check things?
 
Here is my two cents.all that has been recommended are all valid diagnosis.what have found is the common starting point is your engine timing.start with setting your total advance at 34 degrees.test drive if it runs better bump it up two degrees but do not go past 40 degrees total timing and this usalĺly solves the problem. Then readjust carbs. I just went through the same problem with a 56 Buick special with 3 deuces.
 
Ok so here's what Ive found. Pretty much checking fuel off the list. Ran car let it die went right to carb and hit throttle saw fuel squirt in. Also car started right back up so fuel is still in carbs when it dies. Took some voltage readings as well. Coil voltage is 3.8 across positive and negative when car was in park and idling. Dropped down to 2.7ish when was in gear and given gas. Voltage at battery across the positive and negative was 14.4 when car we put into gear and slowly dropped to 11.9 as it sat idling in gear. Car also wouldn't die until we put lights and blower motor on, again leading me to believe electrical. Just not sure what to do from this point any suggestions? I was told the coil should have 12 volts at start up then 6v when running. And battery should have 13.5 at all times when running
 
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