Randomnly stalls

suki243 · Nov 8, 2009

Hey all, I just got my car back from the mechanic, he had to rebuild the carb, stock 2bbl. It was a fuel delivery issue somewhere.

Anyway, when I was driving back from practice about 2 miles of driving the car stalled, i cranked the ignition and I could feel the whole car shaking but it wouldn't start up, it started right after i'd let go of the key in the cranking position. This happened one more time after i got off the freeway and i was on my final stretch home. so a 20 mile route it happened twice; however on the way to practice it was completely fine.

Any ideas?

suki243 · Nov 15, 2009

So, today I started her up again, this time trying to let it warm up before taking it out, it stalled 3 times while warming up. I finally said to hell with it and took her for a drive, mainly on the freeway, all was good, it was a 20 mile trip, no problems, got the destination, stayed there for 2 hrs, got back in the car, freeway again for about 5 miles, to my second destination still fine.
Then after about 30 minutes of rest I headed back home, after filling up some gas, on the freeway the engine cut out, music cut out and then i heard a loud bang, i'm guessing it was a backfire.
I exited and inspected everything. Everything was good, a mile later as i was slowing down at a stop light it bogs down and stalls. starts right up again though and i nursed her back home.

Any ideas? I'm thinking its either an ignition issue or in need of some kind of carb adjustment.

RUNNER67 · Nov 22, 2009

The music cut out?? I'd check all the basic electrical, main battery cable & ground cables, ignition switch, etc. You're losing multiple electrical systems (ignition & radio/assy) simultaneously.

suki243 · Dec 17, 2009

I took the top off of my stock air cleaner casing (The blue snorkel) and replaced it with a piece of cardboard (ghetto i know), ever since then it hasn't stalled.

As for electrical checked the battery's ground cable and it was a little loose, i put some grease in and put it back on. I also however kept the stock top off.
The problem without the stock top is that the cabin fills up with the smell of gas, its really bad. I'm planning to put the stock one back on and seeing if the ground cable was the issue. Where would i take voltage to make sure the ignition isn't the issue? should I check and see if there coil is receiving current?

tx65coupe · Dec 17, 2009

I wouldn't use the cardboard for any reason. I don't see how that would fix anything. That is odd, if it did change something.

You can check to see if the coil is recieving juice, but if it is intermittent, it may not show up as an issue. There is a resistor wire, so the coil won't recieve a full 12v. Its more like 9 volts I think.

How old are the ignition related tune up parts?

I think you have an electrical isssue and a carburetor issue. It almost sounds like it is loading up with fuel. Is it running rich?

Hopefully, the loose ground cable was what was wrong. That could definitely cause problems.

suki243 · Dec 17, 2009

well, the running rich was what I thought the problem was. I was thinking that the original snorkel cleaner housing was restricting a lot of air hence causing the fuel to air ratio to dip and thus killing the engine. As previously stated it did backfire once. I tried adjusting the carb to be leaner but it still happened, i can try a leaner setting.
One more noticeable thing that i'm smelling is that a smell similar to when you light a heater for the first time after a long time is coming from the car but it also has a fuel kinda smell, not sure if its just me nor can i explain it very well, i haven't smelled something like that before.

I believe it is receiving 9ish volts. I also believe all the ignition related parts are stock minus the points under the cap, that was replaced once or twice.

tx65coupe · Dec 17, 2009

I'm not sure what your smelling. Maybe someone else will comment about that. Make sure there is no fuel leaks.

If the cap/rotor, plugs, and wires are all original or real old, I would start by replacing those.

Is moisture/condensation getting inside the distributor cap?

The coil could be going out I suppose.

Are you sure the gap on the points is set correctly? If it were mine, I would get a Pertronix Ignitor to replace the points.

What about the timing, is it set correctly?

When the carb was rebuilt was a new fuel filter installed?

Is it hard to restart when this happens?

suki243 · Dec 17, 2009

wires and plugs have been replaced.
I'll check for condensation under the cap;
I haven't messed with the timing so i'm not sure.

I don't think the fuel filter was replaced when the carb was rebuilt but i'll look around to see if i can locate it.

It happens at various times, sometimes it has happened when i just start the car. After this rebuilt carb was installed the warm up cycle is insanely loud and really high revving, one time it stalled 3 times during the warm up alone. When that happened it wasn't too difficult to start.
Other than that I punched the gas a once and right after i let go it stalled that time it was harder to restart i had to pull over.
Other times i'm just cruising when all of a sudden it stalls and i slap it into neutral bump the starter and within 2 or 3 tries it'll come back on.

Again what i noticed is that as long as i hold the key in the cranking position it won't start (With the starter going) as soon as I let go go the key and it hits back to the on position it will start up when it stalls.

pabear89 · Dec 17, 2009

Sounds like your Ign switch is going south on you.

Intermittent loss of power and hard starting while cranking
is worn contacts inside of the switch.

Z06killinSBF · Dec 17, 2009

Also check your fuel pump. When mine went out it would do all kinds of crazy things. Cranking the motor filled the bowls but driving would drain them and I just couldn't figure out why it would start but drive some then die.

suki243 · Dec 17, 2009

Sounds like your Ign switch is going south on you.

Intermittent loss of power and hard starting while cranking
is worn contacts inside of the switch.

Is it possible to test that the switch is the problem? say for example when it does stall can i check somewhere that the switch is directly connected to? hence if there's no power at that location then for sure the switch is the problem? Where would that be?

It is possible that it is the switch, when i was rewiring the wires were getting corroded, so who knows how the switch itself is.

pabear89 · Dec 17, 2009

I would unplug the ign switch and used jumper wires for the key on and start
connections and take it for a test drive.
If it doesn't stall, the switch is worn eather the tumbler or contact pads.
Key weight shifts around and it drops the power.

Your hard starting that has you timing the key release to allow engine to run.
This is sign of a not connecting the coil plus lead from the Sol in start position. Check the lead from the I side of the sol to bridge splice with coil plus lead from ign switch.

RGS0907 · Dec 18, 2009

Carb or Ignition

After checing the electrical & If the ignition checks out OK, then I would check the float level in the carb, it may be adjusted way too high.

suki243 · Dec 21, 2009

Ok real quick update, i decided to take the car to the mechanic with the regular snorkel air cleaner on and on the way there it semi stalled. The engine would cut out, and the electrical as well for about 2 seconds then all of a sudden, by itself it would just turn back on then the smell would come. (the one i dont know how to describe) its similar to turning on a heater for the first time after the summer but it has a some trace of gas.

At the mechanic we noticed that the snorkel's metal flap inside was shut completely (i'm not sure what controls that) but he decided that the flap is the problem. As for the electrical system cutting out its a wiring issue, but he doesn't think its the ignition.

I decided to take off the top of the snorkel cleaner on the way back (since it semi stalled twice on the freeway) and on the way back it was fine. Today i was driving from pepboys and it semistalled again. It isn't as if i punch it and then it semi stalls it is pretty much unprovoked, when cruising.

So IMO its definitely an electrical issue. Now for isolating it, i'll try bypassing the ignition switch, the difficult part is how to provoke the same circumstances in order to test if the ignition switch is the issue.

suki243 · Dec 22, 2009

There's no condensation under the cap, and i pulled a spark plug to see if anything was wrong, it seemed normal, just a light grey coating but it wiped off.

woodsnake · Dec 22, 2009

Sitting in the drive way, with the engine running, see if you can wiggle the ignition key at all.

I've had cars do exactly the same thing rolling down the road, hit a mild wave in the road, car stalls, touch the keys, and it picks right back up.

Pretty common problem.

Randomnly stalls

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