Hello Everyone. I have a problem and looking for advice. I'm NO mechanic by any means, but i have common sense and know who to turn a wrench, so thats a start. My 72 Skylark has a 455. Not the original engine obviously. Its not a daily driver, but I do drive it often enough. Lately, while waiting at a light, it feels like its going to stall. It doesnt. Light turns green..some hesitation begins...then into the higher speeds, it feels fine. I was out Sunday taking a drive around the neighborhood, and waiting at a light..it almost stalled..then did. In heavy traffic of course. It cranked and cranked, and started back up. I went home, and the whole trip back, everytime i stopped, it almost died. As i rolled into the driveway, it died, and i drifted into the garage. I should say that the fuel pump is new, within the last couple of months anyway, as well as the filter. New radiator, and shroud. In the garage, it started right back up. I pulled it all the way into the garage and shut it off. I was just happy i made it home. Yesterday, I went to start it to see if i can figure out why its not running correctly. It cranks nice, but no start. I checked the carb and gave it some gas. I see gas sprayng into the carb...so thats good. I checked for spark by pulling #1` plug and grounding it, and i have spark...so thats good. My spark plug wires are new, and the plugs are about a year old. Also, while cranking, I smell gas. Its not leaking gas anywhere...and believe me i checked all over and under. So where do I do from here? Keep in mind, im NOT a mechanic. I dont know specs and stuff like that..but if you give me some basic stuff to look for...I can do that Thank you all
X2, what ignition are you running, and what carburetor do you have? Any other engine modifications? Where do you live?
The ignition system would be under the distribution cap, correct? If so, I never took the cap off. Is that where I should start? There were no modifications done to the engine. It's all stock. I live in Ridge, NY. I don't own a dwell meter, timing light, or vacuum guage. I can do the basics..oil change, brakes, fuel pump, tune ups, etc. If I take it apart, I can get it back together...as long as I see how it comes apart. But a dwell meter? I never heard of. Is it a multimeter? I do have a few of those
I had a similar issue with my car 2 years ago. It had an old hei distributor in it. The car ran fine, then one day it started to stall in traffic. Then it started acting like the trans was slipping. It wound up being the hei. The pickup in the hei has two wires that become brittle after a lot of heating and cooling cycles over the years. When the wires got hot, the connection would fail. When the car cooled off, everything would work again. It made it hard to diagnose, as it’s hard to replicate. I wound up taking the distributor out, partially disassembling it, and heating it up and testing for continuity. Sure enough, a new distributor fixed the issues. There were a lot of suggestions on this site about the carb, fuel percolating, vacuum leaks. All very helpful, but it was just a bad connection in the distributor. I should also note. It was most prevalent when stopped. Probably because there is not as much air moving past the distributor to cool it down. The problem ultimately got to the point where it would happen on the highway - probably because when the timing would advance, the wires would shift. But the symptoms first showed up at stop lights. Issues like this are tricky, because they are hard to replicate in the garage. And ignition problems often act like fuel and carb issues.
Also, if your cranking and the car isn’t starting, it will naturally flood and smell of gas. So, I think that’s a symptom, not an issue. As for a dwell meter, they’re on eBay, also on the classifieds. But do you have stock distributor and points or an hei? You don’t need a dwell meter with electronic ignition. vacuum gauge is cheap from harbor freight. You should get one for tuning and diagnostics. But I’d look into your distributor.
If you want you can take that tan rotor off and look at condition of points. They could be burned a bit. It's possible to set them with a feeler gauge but dwell meter is more accurate
Rotor goes back on with square hole in square peg. Don't try to put it back on 180* opposite. Lots of YouTube videos if you're adventurous.
Looking at a few videos now. This is new to me. All the videos mention a dwell meter, so harbor freight it is
The points are the silver bit below the swinging weight assembly. They are literally two connecting pads that touch each other and then "break" as the distributer turns. The fact that you said you see spark, means they are working. I have seen an issue where the alternator belt was slightly loose, so that an idle, voltage would drop, and then spark would become insufficient for smooth idling. Tightening the belt fixed this... Just another thought.
The points might just need replacing/adjusting. As points wear, the dwell changes. Dwell affects ignition timing.
I'm off today, so I will be in the garage messing with it. My brother suggested my timing belt went. He's better with cars then I am, but he lives in Ohio. If that's the case, it will be sitting in the garage for a while. I did tighten the alt belt as best as I could, Max, but it didn't feel loose at all. Still, gave it a shot anyway. I do know that the alternator did have a slight whine to it when it ran, but I don't think it would cause a no start. I don't think I'm experienced enough to change the points, but I'll give it a try. At this point, I can't make it any worse. I see an adjustment screw with a hex..and it looks like a couple of screws holding it down, but there's something above it like a Ying yang with springs..I don't see how that comes apart. ..and the points I looked at from advanced auto looks different then what I have. "May not fit your 1972 Skylark". Going to be a fun day
