Car Dies After Starting (Electrical, Fueling, or Carb?)

[69sport]

Hey all, I have a 318 69 sport satellite that I had running pretty well after 20 years of sitting in a barn. I recently tried to lean the carb out a bit but it kept getting worse as I tried to fix it to the point I reset everything on the carb. I could get it to idle for a few minutes then it randomly stumbles and dies like it's not getting enough fuel. I pulled the spark plugs to clean them and it was clear the car was rich but the problem continued. It's now at the point where I can get the car to start only when the ignition is in the start position, once I let go it stumbles and dies like it's not getting enough fuel. I had an issue a few months ago where the car wouldn't start when it was hot and I thought it was the ignition switch so I pulled it out and cleaned it up but the no-start when hot continued until a few days later when it somehow resolved itself. The inline fuel filters were replaced in September 22'. I checked the one closest to the carb and it's not clogged, the one closest to the gas tank I'm not sure but I doubt that's the issue. I'm not sure if this is a carb, fueling, or ignition issue. I'm leaning towards ignition because the car runs when I keep it in the start position so maybe the spark plugs aren't getting enough voltage?

Let me know if anyone has some suggestions.

Some info on the car
Carb: Holley 600cfm 1850 vacuum secondaries, Carb rebuilt in April 23', 5/64 holes drilled in throttle plates on primaries and secondaries
Air gap intake manifold installed in April 23'
318 engine with 340 heads
MSD blaster coil and electronic ignition (from 1981)
Hemi street performance cam
Plug Wires are from 1977 (I know, I need new ones)
Vacuum was about 8in Hg at idle in gear before problems occurred
mechanical advance of about 12 degrees

 

[Don Frelier]

Ballast resistor and bulkhead connector are 2 places to check.
Check power to the coil with key in run position.

 

[Don67Satellite]

I'd suspect a faulty ballast resistor, if it starts and shuts off after the key is released.

 

[Ron H]

Ballast resistor and bulkhead connector are 2 places to check.
Check power to the coil with key in run position.

Yep - often it's ballast or ignition switch; when I had this condition, the BH ignition wire was loose causing it to fry the insulation requiring replacing the connector (later the skanky BH). Other is since the car sat so long, carb could be well gunked up, jets, floats, pump, etc. Might get away with a good cleaning running a cleaner through it such as seafoam, otherwise no luck, I'd take top off and look at the bowls/floats. If gummed up a rebuild or new carb..

 

[Sixpactogo]

I too vote for replacing the ballast resistor first. If that cures the problem of shut down in run position but the engine still sputters and shuts down after a minute or two, then I would suspect the fuel sock in the gas tank is plugged. If that is the case, you will need to drop the tank and clean it plus get a new sock for the send unit. 20 years in a barn tends to have that effect quite regularly. Good luck getting it healed up.

 

[1danc]

Standard ballast resistor issue - always keep a spare in the glove box !

 

[dadsbee]

Takes 30 seconds or less to rule out the ballast. Just jumper it side to side and turn the key.

 

[69sport]

Ballast resistor and bulkhead connector are 2 places to check.
Check power to the coil with key in run position.

I replaced the ballast resistor and that didn’t work, I’m going to install the new ignition switch tonight and if that doesn’t work then I must have some big problems

 

[Ron H]

Just reminding of the hassle I had after finding the ballast and ignition switch were good. Check your wiring connections, they might look tight, like my ignition wire appeared. Looks aren't everything. When I went to the BH connection a buddy was at the key trying to start it. I pushed on the harness and started fine. On closer look, that wire showed heat damage and would lose a solid connection causing the car to stall until replacing the connection.

 

[Don Frelier]

I replaced the ballast resistor and that didn’t work, I’m going to install the new ignition switch tonight and if that doesn’t work then I must have some big problems

I did make 3 suggestions, not just 1.

 

[mrhemi]

Possible change in direction for you. I recently worked through a similar situation with a marine engine that had been sitting in a barn for 20+ years. While it had all appearances of an ignition problem, it turned out to be the carburetor.
You indicate the Holley carb was recently rebuilt. Does it have phenolic floats in it? Were they replaced when rebuilt? If not, it is possible that they have gradually sunk, causing your appearance of overly rich mixture (wet plugs). The enhanced ignition may fire the plugs in the start mode while the ballast resistor is bypassed, supplying full voltage to the coil.
In my case the carb floats slowly sank until the boat would only start and run at near full throttle. I have an MSD ignition, so it was firing the very wet plugs. We were able to get the boat back to the dock, although it is a bit of a challenge to dock and trailer at 40mph, it's only speed at the time. Replaced the Holley carb floats with brass ones and good to go.
Something to consider if electrical and ignition checks out.

 

[Ron H]

I did make 3 suggestions, not just 1.

Well, as you suggested some easy checks to be made, and the ignition switch can also be TESTED before getting a new one. If the engine will only 'start' when the key is in that position and immediately dies when letting go of the key...it's electrical..

 

[WileERobby]

As accurately stated above, diagnose your electrical. Once you've determined all is ok, you may have stirred up a bunch of nasty in the fuel tank. A car sitting 20 years, first order of business is ensuring NEW, CLEAN fuel is entering the carb.

 

[69sport]

Possible change in direction for you. I recently worked through a similar situation with a marine engine that had been sitting in a barn for 20+ years. While it had all appearances of an ignition problem, it turned out to be the carburetor.
You indicate the Holley carb was recently rebuilt. Does it have phenolic floats in it? Were they replaced when rebuilt? If not, it is possible that they have gradually sunk, causing your appearance of overly rich mixture (wet plugs). The enhanced ignition may fire the plugs in the start mode while the ballast resistor is bypassed, supplying full voltage to the coil.
In my case the carb floats slowly sank until the boat would only start and run at near full throttle. I have an MSD ignition, so it was firing the very wet plugs. We were able to get the boat back to the dock, although it is a bit of a challenge to dock and trailer at 40mph, it's only speed at the time. Replaced the Holley carb floats with brass ones and good to go.
Something to consider if electrical and ignition checks out.

I can confirm now that it’s not the ballast resistor or the ignition switch this is a good suggestion, thank you! I did not switch the floats out when I did a rebuild but when I check my float level from the sight plug it’s good. So is it possible that a problem could occur from the minute between checking the float level and trying to start the car?

 

[69sport]

Well, as you suggested some easy checks to be made, and the ignition switch can also be TESTED before getting a new one. If the engine will only 'start' when the key is in that position and immediately dies when letting go of the key...it's electrical..

I can confirm it’s not the ballast resistor or the ignition switch, I gotta do a deep check on connections but from what I can see everything looks good, is it possible that the old spark plug wires are the problem? They are from 1977

 

[69sport]

Ballast resistor and bulkhead connector are 2 places to check.
Check power to the coil with key in run position.

The power to the coil in the run position is about 2V, is that normal? I’m new to this

 

[Don Frelier]

The power to the coil in the run position is about 2V, is that normal? I’m new to this

NO.
There lies the problem.
You need to pull apart the engine harness plug from the bulkhead through the firewall.
Inspect the terminals and wire condition in there.
You will likely find condition issues.
Do the same test from the run wire where it comes through the firewall if you can locate it.

 

[69sport]

It’s embarrassing to say but after checking through nearly everything and basically installing a whole new electrical ignition I found that the spark plugs were fouled which also lead me to see that my dad installed the external ballast resistor upside down 40 years ago, so the 5 ohms side was going to the coil when it needs to be the 1.5 ohm side going to the coil. So it makes sense why I only had 2 volts at the + on the coil. Incredible the car ran like that for so long but now when the car goes, it goooeessss

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[1danc]

Your plugs probably fouled from lack of a hot spark from the coil to the distributor, double check cap & rotor etc. Glad it's better - happy cruising !

 

[Ron H]

Incredible the car ran like that for so long but now when the car goes, it goooeessss

Dang hey, wish my BR being reversed was the reason my ride won't gooo fast as I'd like, lol.