Ok guys I'll be the first to admit that I'm green so take that into account when reading this please... I have a 1950 Chevy with a 1965 283. Lately it developed this issue and I can't pinpoint it. It began to be tough to start and would idle a little rough. Once I got going it would be ok. Now it sputters when I'm cruising almost like its running out of gas. Then when I come to a stop it almost stalls and bucks like hell when I accelerate. I changed the fuel filter, plugs, wires, and adjusted the Edlebrock. Could this be a fuel pump acting intermittently? I'm hoping one of you can help. It's not a lot to go on but maybe you can point me in the right direction. Thanks!
Is your choke working correctly? How cold has it been in NJ lately? Has it sat for a long time? carb could be a little gummed up... What kind of fuel pump are you running?
Like Hillbilly said, check your choke. You could clean and rebuild the carb. Sounds more like a fuel issue then ignition. Its hard to tell with out hearing it.
When was the last time you changed the points? Aalso I just rad a good article on freshening up the Edelbrock in the new hot rod magazine. may be worth the news stand price for you.
Thanks guys for the responses. It hasn't been cold in NJ at all. Unseasonably warm actually. And it's my daily driver so it doesn't sit long at all. I don't know the make of the fuel pump. It was what came on the car. I cheek the choke to see if it was stuck and it seems to be fine. So I'm at a loss. Keep the ideas coming. I'll keep plugging away. Thanks!
Yeah I always like to start with the basics before going on a wild goose chase. The first thing that I would do is a complete tune up especially if you do not know the history of the car. Unless you know it has been done recently it's not a waste of time or money.
Sounds like there could be a hole in the diaphram of the fuel pump. I'm guessing that you are running a manual fuel pump....
Mechanical fuel pump I believe. But I can replace it pretty cheap so it may be worth it just to try it out.
Could be a lot of things...Porknbeaner and tommy gave the best answers so far.... tune up is the first place to start.if it has a fuel filter,change it.. maybe a new fuel pump if not better....just have to take step at a time before you find the answer...
I had an old rubber fuel line collapse under the vacuum of the pump once, would idle OK but die when you accelerated. The fuel pressure would drop at higher rpm.
Sounds like what my Hudson Super Jet does! Damn thing will run, then it dies! Today couldn't even get it started. Took the carb off and going to rebuild that first. But the fuel pump pressure looks bad too. Getting back to your car problem: I would do an ignition tuneup. Then do a fuel pump pressure check. If the pressure drops at a high speed, then the tank, fuel lines, fuel filter or bowl, and of course the pump need to be investigated. If the pressure looks good, then check out the carb. My Lincoln carb somehow got clogged between the fuel inlet and the needle and seat. After blowing out the passage, the engine ran fine.
I had a willys that would only run when the engine was cold, then do the same things yours is doing. Once it got up to running temp it would backfire, and run like shit. Then stall, and not start again untill the next day. In the end it was a bad coil.
Sounds like the points are closing up. Do you have a distributor with the little window to adjust the points? With a dwell meter, you can get the proper dwell angle while running after you do an initial setting (while not running) with a feeler guage. Do you have the point gap and dwell setting for the '65? RB
Yea someone once said that most fuel problems were electrical. It hasn't been too long ago that a young person posted that they had a GMC that started hard and didn't run worth a flip. They were not aware that points were not good for 15 years of driving. That said I am oing to assume that this one has an HEI because points and complete tune-up has been mentioned 3 times now and the fella is going to throw a fuel pump at it.
Ok folks so here's the latest. I worked late so I didn't get a chance to do any work on it. But this morning when I drove in it ran like crap on a stick. Sputtering through the whole RPM range. It sat all day and when I went out to go to lunch it started fine. Idled a little rough but cruised like nothing was wrong. It didn't buck as bad when I accelerated from a dead stop. Still not perfect but it seems to be better. I ran a can of Sea Foam carb cleaner through it so I'm wondering if the carb is gummed up or even if the fuel pump itself could be gummed up. I'm still thinking I should change the fuel pump. I can get one pretty cheap and it's an easy fix. What could it hurt... Any thoughts guys?
Seems weird, but they do reblend fuels for the 4 seasons, If it has been so warm there, the winter blend may not be burning so well. I would also think it would only exasserbate an existing problem more, and not be the total problem. The sea foam may have helped the blend a little as well.
I doubt it's the pump, mainly because if the pump was so bad that it made a rough idle, then it would not be able to drive at road speed. Rough idle, rough on the road, poor starting... points are suspect firs...and then a routine check of wires, cap.. second logical step is carb issues. I am not thrilled with Edlebrocks. The float level issues, some have leaking floats which do cause what you say, and sometimes won't even run on side-hilling, they flood over.
Distributor might be wobbly....I had one of those once,,,,,It idled ok but as soon as I drove it it did what you mentioned,,,,,also check the tension spring on the points,,,,
Hey, saw your post on this...and since I'm the one that built it, I figured I ought to chime in with some possibilities and info: -Mechanical fuel pump is/was new when you got it from me. The old one that came with the motor wasn't supposed to be *that* old...I just figured it for cheap Chinese parts and replaced it. It *might* be a possibility. -Carb was brand spanking new when you bought the car, too. Other than a possible vacuum leak, I wouldn't see there being any real problems with it. -Points....another valid possibility, I had one set burn out on me shortly after I installed the motor, tracked it down to improper voltage due to the ballast fuse having gone bad. That only happened after I switched from a regular battery to that new Optima battery that's in it. Once I ordered a new ballast, problem solved. -The MOST likely thing I would think of might be if there's any left over separated fuel gel in the bottom of that tank. I had *very* similar things happening to me when I first got it on the road. I thought it was ALL of the aforementioned things, and it's what led to replacing both the fuel pump and the carb until I tracked it down to the fuel. That car sat for I dunno how long with the previous owner before I found it, and it had the ramfangled corn gas that we all have to put up with nowadays that loves to start separating/absorbing moisture after 3 short months. I siphoned out the fuel all the way to the bottom and found it to be separated into orange and clear. When that happened, it meant that the old fuel had separated completely since it's not a perfectly sealed system, it absorbed a good bit of water due to the corn ethanol component. Has it been wet/rainy/humid there lately? We had just gone through a wet spell when I had my problem. The lovely corn gas readily absorbs water 100's of times more PPM than old fashioned gas. Either way....as I said, I was told to siphon out all the fuel, put a full bottle of HEET in it, let it sit, then put in fresh gas and run it. The HEET bonds to any water and helps dissolve any gunk in the bottom of the tank. Turns out the engine was pulling the water that was sitting at the bottom of the tank after the fuel separation since water is heavier....it was running like HELL...pretty damn close to what you described. You using the Sea Foam likely performed a similar maneuver. If it keeps up, do what I did and report back. Good luck.
I am so glad to find someone that has a really good explanation of what I am looking at in my old cars. The orange and clear in the fuel sediment bowl. I really think that is what I am seeing in my Chrysler and Hudson. I am going to drain all that crap out of their tanks and use HEET as you describe, then put some real gas in them. I will find out where I can get the good gas and try to use that from now on. I am going to use one of the Mr. Funnels that trap the sediment and water in a well. Then dump that crap onto some paper towels and take pics of that garbage. Would this also make the gasket of the fuel sediment bowl soften up and close up the gasket where the bowl would not fill up? I would think it had something to do with that. Again thanks for the fuel system suggestions.
The carb usually doesn't produce "now runs bad-now runs good" symptoms. Have you checked the distributor point plate to ground? That's the plate the points sit on. Because they have to advance, they have a wire pigtail to make a good contact to ground. Check to make sure the little ground wire pigtail is connected and it has a good ground with no intermittent. The diaphragm in the fuel pump may also be the cause. Consider visitng your local parts store or wrecking yard for a HEI. They are dirt cheap and eliminate distributor problems, plus you can open your spark plug gap to .040".
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