I have a straight 6 216 engine, yea it is the one you don't want. It will cut out under load, driving up a hill. It will run fine on the drive stationary tho. It doesn't like starting when it's hot either. Does anyone have and possible causes for this or solutions? I can resist everything except temptation. Panelboy48
I'd check the timing on the hard start issue. Sounds like its starving of fuel, maybe float level, clogged fuel filter on the cutting out issue. Hope this helps.
Your have to bare with me I'm a chippy and no nothing about engines. It does seem odd as I drove it around on short trips and was fine for about a month, then one long trip it was fine there. Sat in sun all day and left and five mins down the road cut out.
Oh it all helps, I just need pointing in the right direction. Another thing I noticed is the positive wire from the battery was warm as well????
The cable being warm (hot) means you have a resistance somewhere. I'd clean both ends of the cable and make sure that it is tight on the battery post and the connection on the other end. Also make sure that the crimps on the cable ends are tight. If it runs decently on the flat but acts up on a hill I'd first suspect fuel starvation. Plugged filter, low float level. or even a kinked fuel line that allows enough gas to get through until you need the extra gas to pull a hill.
Condensor ignition systems will idle fine but crap-out above idle or under load when the the condensor starts to fail - get a new condensor and at least clean the points (they're probably burnt due to bad condensor)
X2 on the condensor ! Had a woman friend come to visit me from interstate a couple of years ago.. had an old 4cyl non HAMB friendly Jap car. halfway to my place the car started running rough / no power etc. It finally took a dump and she got towed to a shop that stung her $600 to fit a new carb. When she got to my place it would still barely run much over idle ( wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding) and I fixed it with a $4 condensor.
Oddly enough, we found a bad voltage regulator (yes for the generator) causing my buddy's '48 F1 with the original flathead 6 to "cut out" on hills and other seamingly random times. Turns out the battery would drain enough that there wasnt enough amperage left to "light the fires" under load anymore. We knew he had charging system issues before that, but it took a drizzly day of driving with the headlights on to pinpoint the rough running issue. We ended up swapping the battery out of my '52 to get him home, although I'm sure swapping in a basically dead battery didnt do my charging sysytem any favors! He finally did some more testing and ended up swapping the regulator and has been charging properly since.
The possi terminal on the battery had a screw thread stripped, I'm I'm hoping this is the answer to the hot cable and one problem down, one to go.
your original scenerio was deceptive - If a battery has enough power to start an engine it usually has enough power to run the coil. Only after a time of running with lights or fan going would that situation happen -but not imediatly. If it does - change the condensor!
Is it still 6v or 12v? As a 6v car needs way more amps to the starter and the " off the shelf battery cables are way too thin to handle the load. A good set of jumper cables or welding cable is the correct gauge wire for a 6v system. Unfortunately on a hot soak start up situation a 6v car will suck balls trying to start no matter what you do. If you don't wanna convert to 12v put a 8v battery in and adjust the voltage regulator to charge correctly. The lugging on hills sounds like fuel, before you build the carb check the fuel tank, lines. And filter for blockage also a possible weak fuel pump and possibly the carb. Pull the line off the fuel pump going to the carb and crank the car to see how much fuel you get. Also pull the line from the tank to the pump and blow sir through it as it could be partially plugged. It could be a few small problems coming together to cause a big issue Good luck
For what it's worth the cutting out "under load" could also be for example a bad distributor to coil wire or cracked distributor cap (along with the other ignition parts mentioned). But since he also mentioned hard hot starting...would be worth checking the fuel pressure and monitor for fuel back flow into the tank.
When it has cut out there were lights on but maby only for literally 5mins, less than 2 miles. I have converted it to a 12v system all new wires apart from battery cables, some earths and horn contacts. Would it be worth moving the coil from being mounted on the engine side to the fire wall or the inner wing to reduce heat soak into it. Would it be worth increasing the size of wire from the coil to the distributor?
I have taken the fuel pump off Inside looks like a small amount of rust, now cleaned. Could the cam be worn enough to reduce the travel of the arm on the pump, causing less fuel to be pumped when needed at higher revs or more load.
The 216 Chev is very reliable, I would not suspect a worn cam. I would suggest buying new correct spark plugs.
Hey. I have an inline 6 223. if I were you just for piece of mine. I would replace coil, condenser, and points which is the ignition just for piece of mind. if you are running a 12v system make sure you put a resistor on your coil( or you will burn them up). then look up the exact gap needed for your points and make sure it is gaped correctly. i read you know nothing about engines and i did not know anything about what i just wrote 2 weeks ago until my car took a crap and i fixed it. It is fairly inexpensive to fix id say 30-50 bucks tops and then you can rule that out. take your fuel line off and hold it over a cup and have someone start crank the car and see if the fuel pours out to make sure it is not your fuel pump.
Thanks for everyone's advice comments and thoughts, il try as much as I can over the next few weeks. Maybe this is another thread time. My plans for next year are to do an engine swap, rear end and front clip. Already have the small block and jag LSD rear just after the jag front. Also thinking of buying another chassis build that up so I can still use the truck in the mean time...... Thoughts suggestions and impressions more than welcome.
IIRC, I was able to do a full tube up on ny 250inline for less than $75. Got all my parts from rockauto. This included coil, cap, rotor, condensor, plugs, wires, and starter solenoid. Is also check the fuel filter for sure and the float.
in this situation i hook up a timing light to the plug wires. power brake the engine, get it to start misfiring. the timing light will let you know quickly if the problem is ignition related. if it is ignition related, start with gapping the points. that is free.
also check the wire inside the distributor that feeds the points, if it is bare it could short out when the distributor advances. also check the ground wire in the distributor.
I have removed, checked and cleaned fuel pump. Back on now. I have ordered a carb service kit and carb is off ready to be stripped down. I'm painting the steering wheel at the moment, if any one is interested il put some pics up and a few words on what stages I have gone thru.
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