Hi All, I drove my 53 Chevy finally after a few months of down time. I can't tell if it is running right by the way the idle sounds? It has a SBC 350 with an RV cam which is giving it some of the lopey sound. I played with the automatic choke and got it fire up first try without needing to crank at all but I didn't touch anything else except to reposition wire looms. Can anyone tell from the youtube videos? I don't know what an engine with a miss sounds like when it has a cam like mine. To my ears I hear an inconsistent idle (ignoring the lopey characteristic). Here is a video with the motor running after driving for about 45 minutes. here is another vid shot right after.
Thank you. Actually 4 months a week from today was the last time it was on the road. Yikes. I finally drove it today for 45 min. The tank I have is about a 15 gallon tank. I went to Chevron and put 89 in it and put half a bottle of Berryman 1 2 3 fuel system cleaner in the tank. Is that probably a good start? I will drive it again and maybe I should on a highway instead of stop and go traffic?
It sounds kind of like it has something in the exhaust. Mice like to make nests in exhaust. I took the pickup that I plow snow with out one day and it was running rough. I saw the dog picking something out of the snow alongside where I plowed. There was dog food everywhere and when I revved the engine, more would come out along with pieces of paper and cardboard. Sometimes a baffle will come loose and rattle. It can block the exhaust. I see in another thread that the engine is running a little warm. A restricted exhaust can cause that too.
Thanks for your advice. The car has been garaged and the little garage it's in won't allow mice to enter. I don't think anything is stuck in the exhaust. It has 22" glasspacks on 2" pipe.
Thanks, how does one diagnose engine misses or problems with idle on a car that sounds like mine? I know it has an RV cam which might make it idle differently. I imagine some modern cars like a honda or toyota with the ultra smooth quiet idle would be easy to diagnose when there is a problem. Does it take a special set of ears for an early sbc 350? This is why I keep posting the vids. I can't tell. I hear stutter in the drive 3 video but I don't know if that is normal or not. I could swear I've heard some 60's corvettes that sound like that but I don't know any better.
don't worry about it. When it goes bad you'll know it. Ya arn't driving the car enough so your ears are looking for trouble.
You are right, I haven't driven it in a while and I've been paranoid with the car trying to close out issues.
There's a few ways. Some aren't very scientific A piece of paper over the exhaust pipe- if the paper "pops" against or gets sucked back into the pipe, she's missing. Put your hand on the engine, a miss Will feel like a dead spot in the vibration. Use plug wire pliers!!! Remove the plug wires one at a time. Each shoukd produce a noticeable drop in rpm. If you find one that produces little or no change its because that cylinder isn't doing any work aka missing.
Awesome thanks I'm going to try these out next time I have the engine running just so I have a feel for what a miss sounds like with a SBC 350 and the cam I have. The wires can be removed one at a time and put back on to the distributor cap instead of at the spark plug correct? Seems to be easy to reach on a SBC 350 with large open space like mine.
Knowing what camshaft it actually is would help. R.V. cam. What is that. Why would the engine builder put a cam from a lumbering Motor home in a passenger car?. Some years ago I had an engine that had worn down one cam lope.This caused a odd idle
Thanks. I don't know but I had heard in another forum that low end torque was an advantage with an R.V cam.
Maybe just me but I always pull the wire at the plug and let it spark at the head. Not comfortable with the spark going astray at the cap.
Check your distributor cap for cracks, carbon can build up on a crack and cause mis fire. I had a crack between 5 and 7 and fought it for a while before finding the carbon laced crack.
Thanks that is good to know. I'm not saying my engine has a misfire. I just don't know what a misfire would sound like with an early SBC 350 that has a different cam in it. I guess I'm going to pull a plug wire at the spark plug and test each one individually so I can get a feel for what it sounds like and put my curiosity to bed.
If its an automatic put it into gear,stand on the brake and bring up the rpms slowly and if its missing you should be able to feel the miss under a load. actually ir sounds pretty good to me. Also check for small vacum leaks around intake area also.
It's hard to tell coming through computer speakers. But nothing sounds particularly awry there. IF the performance seems in question to you, and since you're kind of new to this, take it to someone for a proper tune-up to begin with. Pay attention & learn. You'd be surprised what a little knowledgeable tweaking & tuning can do. p.s.- And don't be too concerned with the 'RV' cam designation. They were designed for low to midrange torque applications and very commonly recommended for street duty/towing. It's just a bump up from stock, with the power where you normally use/need it.
With no baffles, the glasspacks shouldn't plug up. Is it dual exhaust without a crossover? If so, it will sound a little odd because the engine firing order is 18436572 so left, right, right, left, right, left, left, right. As to a garage that mice can't get into, I don't think it exists. I had a service call for a vehicle that wouldn't start. Mice had chewed the coil wire. We had plug wires on the service truck and I used one for the coil wire and got it started. When I told the owner she was certain that there were no mice in her garage. I told her they sometimes nest in the air cleaner. She was standing there when I took the top cover off and the housing was full of cat food, bird seed, chewed paper, leaves and grass. I took the cleaner off and dumped it into her garbage can and there were several live baby mice in it. They seem to be able to get in anywhere.
It idles just fine from the video that I am hearing. Give it a really good run. Is this your first Hot Rod / Custom? Jay
Thanks. Hmmm interesting. The car is in a 1 car garage and there is no vent or other things or cracks on the walls or where the floor meets the walls. There is a gap on the garage door on both sides but it is about 1/2 inch. I suppose very tiny mice could get in.
What I am hearing could just be imagination or could be what it's supposed to sound like it's hard to know because it's my first custom. I put Berryman 1 2 3 fuel system cleaner in the tank and will give it a good drive. It had been sitting for 4 months though I started it up twice.
Good man at least you are honest. The sounds that you are hearing in my opinion are normal. This isn't your daily driver that you drive back and forth to work and put gas into. It takes a special bred to drive a hot rod or custom. Your new to the scene so don't over analyze the sounds that you hear. If you are going to get serious about this lifestyle and since you are new to this I would recommend hooking up with some guys that are like minded and that maybe can teach you some basics. There are some solid guys out your way on the HAMB here and I would say that they would hopefully be willing to maybe give you some guidance with mechanical stuff. You might want to also think about taking some automotive courses at a community college out your way to learn some basics too. Lifelong learning is where it is at. You can teach an old dog new tricks. Cars up here in Canada like the one in my avatar get stored for long periods of time (7 to 8 months during the winter). If you are not going to drive it for a while I would recommend putting gas stabilizer in the tank next time and then running it so that it goes through the system. Jay
Mice... are you freakin' kidding me? I swear that they can flatten themselves to an 1/8". Of course if they can't get under it, they'll find a way around it.
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