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Strange symptoms... car dies after start.

jmbass98

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Car has been sitting for a few months. Was sitting low-ish on gas before I parked it. Going to put fresh gas in and check vacuum when I get a chance. Just posting this to hopefully get some more ideas so I can troubleshoot more at once.

Car will start. Sometimes right up, sometimes I need to give it a lot of throttle and it will hiccup and start rough. Usually if I don't keep foot on gas, it will die immediately after starting. When I get it to the point where it will stay on before a spin around a parking lot. Exhaust backfire on hard acceleration. Barely any power, very slow acceleration. No rattling, shaking, vibrating. Engine sounds fine, other than the exhaust backfire. But will not stay on for any amount of time and lacks power.

I mention vacuum because the brake pedal is unusually hard with very little travel... Fluid in the cylinder. Power brakes.

Does anyone have any ideas? Points ignition. New, confirmed working components. Was all working good before parked.
 
Fresh gas is the first thing to go for IMO.
 
If the fresh gas doesn't work, you might want to clean your carburetor. Chances are, that old gas has gummed up the inside of your carb.
 
My car sit for 6 months with the same gas and I never have any problems starting or running it in spring.

Exhaust backfire on hard acceleration. Barely any power, very slow acceleration.
That does not sound like a gas problem to me.
Ignition or valve timing maybe?
 
One of the flags with a ride that will die on giving throttle is a clogged fuel filter an easy replacement, especially if the gas is old and isn’t high quality…such as friggin eth gas. But, as posted, backfiring isn’t a symptom of a clogged filter anyway, as posted above. Check the jets opening throttle to see a good spurt of gas from them. If not, indication of gumming. I’d run some cleaner through it such as seafoam as a start and toss in a fuel additive (I’ve always been a fan of Marvel oil – yeah old school). It wasn’t sitting in an area prone to critters? Check the wires and vac hoses for any evidence of chew down. Would seem unlikely the timing would be thrown off without having been touched; but that’s a common symptom of backfiring and certainly a worthy check. However, this can occur (it has with me) when the carb floats have become sticky due to gum up. Carbs spits out gas and got backfire.

I run eth-free gas every couple tanks and especially before parking it have at least half a tank of that good gas in it. I run the car every few weeks to operating temp and move it 20-30 feet back and forth out of the garage to keep fluids flowing.
 
There's a difference. Low on gas OR full tank. When setting for any length of time, fill up the tank. When tank is low, condensation can occur and you get fuel that is saturated with water. I can fill my tank for 6 months and it will start & run fine. If you have only a few gallons in the bottom of the tank, depending on conditions, you'd be surprised how much water is in there.
 
Air, gasoline and spark, all this three components made a motor run, check the continuous voltage to the coil, check if your coil is not leaking oil, also as Paul said clean your carb, the carbureator have low and high gas circuits in it, the modern gas do not leave residues like the old is a good idea to clean the carb.
 
Fresh gas, clean the carb up, pop the distributor cap off and clean the points. Try those and report back. @coronet68mx Paul will be looking for you...:lol:
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