it never seems to fail... I rebuilt my 455 in my 72 convertible just over 1000 miles ago...it has been running great. My son and I are scheduled to drive it out to Salem early Thursday morning. Driving the car home from work tonight the car just died...no warning, no noise, just died. I was at a steady cruise (maybe 40 mph) and just coasted safely to the side of the road. I had scanned the guages just a minute or two before (I seem to be constantly watching the guages) and oil pressure was fine (30lbs or so)...water temp wasn't even over 195*...outside temp in the high 80's. I immediately tried to restart it, but it just cranked and cranked. I tried pumping the pedal and starting it, but nothing. I waited about 5 minutes and it started back up and drove the remaining mile home. Now I am concerned about driving it out to Salem. I am not the most mechanical person, so I could not tell if it seemed electrical (although it was cranking ) or fuel or what... I would really like to experience this road trip with my son in my convertible rather than in my Rendezvous... Could anybody hazard any guesses what it could be? (I know I am grasping at straws).o No:
Ignition Hey Adam, I have a GM HEI fired with a MSD 6AL, new plugs and Accel 8.8mm wires. For a fuel system, I have one of JW's big fuel pick up's in my new gas tank, JW's aeroquip fuel line (-8an I think) a K&N billet fuel filter and a Stage 1 mechical fuel pump going to my original 750 Q Jet (I know it's too small) This really has me concerned.
Vapor lock? Bad distributor pick-up? I'd hate to see you miss this road trip. Get with some folks that you'll be convoying with. Bring extra parts. Have your gang bring extra parts. A lot of folks are gonna break down. This is life with old cars. We will all do what we can to get you going again. In the mean time, drive local and see what happens. How about an old timer trick? Keep a jug of cold water with you. If it quits again, dump all the water on the fuel pump. If it fires right up, you got the vapors!
Paul, If it died very suddenly, it is most certainly ignition. I've had problems with HEI's from time to time. Most of the time, it's the module, bring a spare. Other times it is the pole piece(pickup) The wires leading to the pickup sometimes open up intermittently. In any case, I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and I will have an HEI in my trunk as a spare. Hope to see you there. Maybe you know someone with a spare HEI that they can lend you.
Don't get me wrong... I am coming one way or another...I just may be driving my Rendezvous... I was running it again tonight locally and it seemed fine. I have run it on hotter days than this before and never had a problem. The only change that I have made is that I installed an airpan to seal my carb to my stage II scoop...do you think that may have had something to do with keeping in too much underhood heat and vapor locking the fuel in the fuel line (directly under the pan)?
Larry... I am triggering the HEI with an MSD...so there is no module. Unless I am misspeaking...there is nothing under the HEI cap but the coil (I know...I know bad news) and the rotor is actually on the inside the cap along with the weights and springs. The other smaller thing (I believe it is the module) is not there.
I would like to make a suggestion, I would take a look at your ignition coil if it is cap mounted they tend to overheat from time to time.
Coil Phil, is there anyway to check them to see if it is bad or overheated? If it was overheated, is it just a matter of cooling it back down or once their cooked, their cooked? If it is fried, any suggestions for a coil that I could get tomorrow (read "locally") Unfortunately I have only Advanced, Auto Zone and Pep Boys around me...
Paul, You are right, no module. If I was you, I would buy an HEI coil, and pick up, and take it with you. If it happens again, check for spark. If no spark, it is one of those 2 things.
Larry Larry, sorry...I know I sound like an idiot...but what is the "pickup"? BTW - Thanks everyone for the advice...this is the best site ever!
The pick up or pole piece is the coil in the bottom of the distributor. When you install the MSD you connect the MSD harness to the picup leads. You have to pull the distributor to change it. Get a spare if you can and bring it with you.
Like Larry said I suspect ignition. Another potential cause are the terminals on the primary side wires for the ignition like to the coil. A bad crimp iof the terminal to the wire is common. Check them with an ohm meter while wiggling each lead. Or if you do not have a meter, wiggle the wire while the engine is idling to see if it will shut down.
Thanks Thanks Jim, Larry, Dan, Adam and Phil...I will drive the car to work tomorrow to see if it happens again. I will get another coil at lunchtime. Barring anything unforseen...look for me at the Red Roof Inn on Thursday! I don't think there is much sense in busting my a$$ cleaning up my car yet...forecast has rain in DE Wednesday/Thursday when I am leaving. See y'all there!:beer
Update Drove the car into work this morning and still had problems. As I was cruising along on I-95, the car just lost power. The one thing different this time is that the car did not actually stall...it just coasted to the side of the road but remained running. It just kind of "fell over" as if it lost power. I sat on the side of the road for about 5 minutes with the car running, then pulled back into traffic only to have it happen again...exactly the same way a few minutes later. I did make it into work, but do these slightly different symptoms also point to a coil? I will be getting a coil at lunchtime. Anyone wanna buy a 72 ragtop...cheap??
How would I be able to tell why or where it is starving for fuel? How to find the culprit? The fuel system is all new (including the gas tank) as of 18 months ago. New fuel lines, stage 1 fuel pump, new fuel filter. I really want to drive this thing to Salem!o No:
Paul, throw a new fuel pump and coil on it. They are cheap and easy to do. When my MSD coil(s) kept going bad she would run fine until I got on it, then it would sputter and stutter. But I don't know if that is the ONLY symptom of a bad coil. Sure sounds like fuel. Vapor lock by the sound of it. Remove that pan you installed and see if it gets better. I really think it is fuel from the symptoms. And Stage1 fuel pumps can go bad too. I have a small cheap in-line purolator electric fuel pump you can plumb in-line if you want it. If you want to drive north on I95 tonight, then I'll head south and we can meet by the airport and I'll give it to you. Yards
Thanks Yardley... I did remove the air pan last night. This morning, the air temp was maybe 69*, my engine temp never got past 190*...remember I have that big Stage II breadbox on my hood...shouldn't that help keep things cool enough to stop vapor lock on a morning like this? I will grab a coil today and check to see if anyone can get a Stage 1 fuel pump in a day for me...man I hate coming down to the wire with the kind of crap... Thanks for the offer of the electric pump, but I will see what I can get here. I really appreciate the offer though.
Is that stage 1 fuel pump a 2 or 3 hose pump? sound like vapors and a 3 hose pump with a return line would fix that right up.
