'66 Charger. Starts up, immediately dies. Won't start again.

[jmbass98]

'66 Charger. 361, 3spd auto. Points ignition. Replacement Cardone distributor (thinking this or something to do w/ distributor / firing order might be an issue, last thing I can think of). New harnesses. New battery cable. Good battery. New coil. Tested ohms, all good (ballast too). Edelbrock 1411 w/ matching intake.

Car will start with pumping throttle. It will stay on if I hold the throttle down (shaky engine). The second I let the throttle off to near-idle, it will die, and struggle hard to start up again (usually does not have a successful second start up). Adjusting timing, fuel, idle, etc. does not seem to have any affect on whether or not it will start up again, or even stay on the first time at idle.

Good fuel squirt at the carburetor, fuel in the filter, etc.. Don't think it's fuel. Fresh gas. I've replaced everything that I can think of, other than the spark plugs and distributor. I am unsure how to deep troubleshoot exactly what is failing. Gone through so many coils.

This is all the case even with the car jumped by my other vehicle. I'm really out of ideas. Going to reset to TDC, replace distributor and spark plugs, and try again when there's sun. If that doesn't remedy this. Then I'm lost.

 

[70chall440]

Sounds like a fuel engine not an electrical issue since it is starting. It also sounds a lot like a massive vacuum leak or a fuel delivery problem (think messed up carb).

 

[slimt]

Is the carb rebuilt? A diaphram worn out maybe? Do you smell fuel. ? Is there fuel squirting in the carb when the throttle is being pumped?

worn out carb gasket? Hard vacuum lines?

 

[Don Frelier]

Shaking is usually due to "not firing on all 8".
Check your firing order.
1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 counter clockwise.
Put the balancer at 10 degrees before top dead center and check were the rotor is pointed.
If it's opposite cylinder 1 then you need to rotate the crank one more revolution.

If that checks out then I would start pulling plugs.
You may just have a few fouled flooded plugs.

 

[jmbass98]

So gonna drop a new distributor in, reset the firing order, and regasket my intake manifold. Then I'll check back.

Edit: And new plugs.

 

[Don Frelier]

Troubleshooting is one thing at a time.
That's 4 changes at once.
I like to know what the problem was rather than "just get it running". You don't learn as much that way.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Sounds carb related to me. Needle & seat? Float adjustment?

 

[Don Frelier]

There have been a few cases of people having bad condensors.
Like everything these days new parts quality is lousy.

Have you done a compression test?
If you have multiple bad cylinders nothing on your list will make it run right.

 

[RedBeard]

I can second on the bad condenser issue. I had similar problems with my 383. Replaced the crappy foreign condenser with a USA one I found in a parts store storage room. Then a firing order issue or even a spark plug issue. Check the firing order and pull each plug for fouling/gap (unless you gapped and put in new plugs). Also check the connection with the plugs, may not be completely set on the plug. Then check our carb. Adjust the two fuel screws for your engine (mine was almost 2 and a half turns out from fully turned in) and then for vacuum leaks.

 

[Maxrat]

Have you rechecked the firing order yet? Is the rotor tip pointing at the #1 ignition wire on the cap with #1 piston all the way up on the compression stroke? You need that knowledge to begin installing ignition wires counter clockwise using the firing order. Take all the spark plugs out, disconnect the battery, plug the #1 cylinder spark plug hole with your finger, turn the crank with a wrench until you feel compression on your finger. Then you'll know you're on the compression stroke. use a flashlight or other method to ensure the piston came all the way up. Now you know you're at top dead center on the compression stroke.

 

[jmbass98]

So.. just redid the firing order. Everything is good there. Noticed when adjusting the carb that turning the idle mixture all the way in had pretty much zero affect on how much fuel was coming out. Car still died after 4-5 minutes of a rough idle. Idle got worse as the car was on for longer. Smooth ish on start before death. Then could not get the car to start. Wouldn't even kick unless I had the pedal all the way to the floor while cranking. Got backfire out of the intake / carb so I stopped that.

Thoughts on those symptoms? Still going to put the stock 2 barrel intake / carb on just to remove that as a possible issue.

 

[Don Frelier]

Where is the choke plate when starting and after running?
I'm thinking the idle speed screw is cranked way up to get it to run.
The timing may need to be advanced or the float is sunk.
Could be one or two or three things that need to be corrected.
Maybe a YouTube video would be beneficial

 

[jmbass98]

So you think it is not running on idle circuit and timing is too retarded?

Now that I looked at it... Choke was left close. Not hooked up, so psure it stays that way even when warming up... Probably one of the issues lol.

 

[Don Frelier]

Well a stuck closed choke would explain much of it

 

[jmbass98]

So I set the choke fully open just by default to avoid it being stuck closed after warming up. Adjusted idle because throttle blades had most of the transfer slots showing, so that's set properly now (I think). Still getting fuel.

Car will kick and kick and kick but it won't start... Occasionally get a loud "pop" from the carburetor when cranking. Pumping the throttle heavily gets it to kick quite a bit, like it wants to start but it won't quite get there.

Any ideas?

 

[Don Frelier]

The choke should be closed when cranking. As soon as it fires it should open about a pencil width then slowly open from there over the next couple minutes.
What is the temperature?

 

[padam]

Check ignition timing, if it's way off, possible timing chain jumped.

 

[jmbass98]

Around 40 degrees F. Car has been sitting in a no-run state for a few months now. Just checked plugs and they are fouled, pitch black. Going to replace them and try again.

 

[Don Frelier]

40 degrees you need a working choke.
You can just hit the plugs with a propane torch and burn off the black.

 

[jmbass98]

No torch available... But many sets of new spark plugs and a gapping tool.

Will fix choke.

Plugs look like this. Would that explain some of the rough idle symptoms I mentioned in original post?