Im having an ignition problem in my 455 Buick powered 54 Newyorker and need some help. While driving down the road the ignition started to cut-out and then it died. Towed it back to the house and let it sit. the next day I fired it up and it ran like a champ until it hit approx. 175 degrees then it started to cut-out again. got it home, checked compression, plugs, cap... and found no issues. once it cooled down to about 130 it ran fine again. I have a Pertronix Ignitor 2 distributor and coil that have less than 50 hours on them. I replaced the ign. module and coil today with no changes. When the ignition starts to cut out it sounds like its only running on 4 or 5 cylinders but cures itself once it cool. Any ideas? Thanks.
im not sure. i dont know the history of your car or what happend leading up to it missing at operating temp. fuel problens frequnetly show themselves as ignition. before i started replacing parts in the ignition id eliminate the cheap stuff.Most carbureted engines have a mechanical in-line fuel pump, which means that the simple mechanical pump is placed on the fuel line, usually next to the engine. The mechanical fuel pump’s proximity to the engine means that the engine’s heat causes the fuel in the line to become very hot. When the fuel becomes too hot, it turns into a vapor, just as water begins to turn to steam when it boils. This process is hastened by the vacuum created in the line as the fuel is sucked into the engine. When the fuel turns into vapor, the mechanical fuel pump can no longer move it along the lines. As a result, some or all of the fuel stops getting into the combustion chambers, and the car either begins to run very roughly or dies completely. If the driver attempts to restart the car, it will probably not start, or will continue having problems. This is known as vapor lock. fuel filter, test fuel pressure. could be ignition but id check some other stuff. if you check the wrong place long enough youll never find it
easy to check, when it doesn't start, have someone crank it over while you hold the coil wire near ground. if you have spark, it is probably fuel.
I thought I had a vapor lock problem but it turned out to be a bad coil. The windings in the coil develop hair line cracks that open up with heat and work fine wen cooled down. I'd try a known good coil. Its easy enough to hook up the primary wires and the secondary wire.
Id chech your coil. Make sure it the right one for your system. Ohms wise Make sure its getting tge proper voltage in start and run. What you are describing is exactly how they act when they start to go bad. Sucks that its new, but if parts are mismatched of supplied the wrong voltage they won't last long. It's easy enough to figure out why it won't start , if and when its not starting. Kinda difficult to sort out when its running.
Right on the money...no guessing games this way. Check for spark. If it does, than check the fuel pressure. Good luck.
I appreciate all the responses, here is the kicker: even when it cutsout and dies, it will fire right back up but seems to run on only a few cylinders.
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