Title sums it up pretty well. My brother has my '75 Vette for a few months while I sell my house and taking it home tonight, he drove it 120 miles or so and about 4 miles from getting home, he refilled the tank. He exited the gas station to a stop light, the engine began to bog, and then it turned off.

I really don't know what could have caused the problem other than bad gas? It will not start not and he says he can smell gas. Right now, he is leaving it for a couple hours and hoping it will start again after some rest.

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Maybe flooded, but it does seem like bad gas. Maybe if flooded at the gas station, fouled plugs. Can't really think of anything else. Sorry, Good Luck

 

Did he put diesel in it?

 

That was my thought, too. Lift the gas cap and give it the "sniff test". If there is diesel in it, you'll know.

 

Pump some out in to a jar from the fuel line and see if you may have gotten some water in the system. I try to never buy gas from a station when the delivery truck is there. My truck did the same thing and ended up water in it. Put in an additive that's supposed to work it through the system, but not well.

 

long shot....does it have an electric fuel pump? If so, could have gone bad or blown fuse.

 

Are you sure the car has spark? If it still hasnt started yet I would check that. If it does then I would do as said earlier and remove the fuel line. Crank some fuel into a clean jar and take a look at that. Water in the gas is something that seems to happen more now then in the past but you want to make sure nothing else happened so you arent chasing the wrong problem. Good Luck
Rodney

 

Add to Things To Check List: timing. You have described a perfect jump timing scenario. Drive. Stop. Timing jumps a tooth or two on the restart.

 

My bet's on the bad gas. I was helping an elderly neighbor who was having trouble get his lawn mower started. I looked in the tank and saw that there was water in the bottom of it. His mower is always kept in his dry garage so I checked his gas can. At least a 1/4 of the can was full of water. He told me he just refilled the can a couple days ago, so the water had to come from the gas station. I've got to wonder how many cars gassed up at that place the same day and had problems? It's rare, but I've heard other stories about getting gas contaminated with water from some stations.

Mike's jumped timing theory is also very viable. If the timing chain and gears have never been replaced, the nylon teeth on the OEM gears gets worn and brittle and the teeth will strip right off. That's happened to a couple of friends in the past. Once when my buddy was making a left turn. The car stalled and he couldn't get it restarted with on coming traffic on it's way. Not good.

 

Call AAA.

 

If the underground tank gets a tear or puncture or rusts out at the bottom then every time it rains or the sprinklers near by go off the station gets water in the fuel. The EPA sends people to check but they stick a sample rod in the tank instead of samples from
The pump handle itself. Obviously they don't check all the way to the bottom an almost never check the tanks when they are full or after a rain. Also gas is lighter than water so it floats to the top of the tank. An under ground tank can be garbage for 15 years before the soil which is tested around stations every year. Shows any signs because the fuel stays at the top of the tank also the pick up for the tanks is at the bottom so anytime it rains or anytime the tanks are filled the pumps are actually pumping water. Do not ever buy gas a truck stop travel center most of them are at least 30years old and have never an probly will never spend the 300,000 to pull their tanks buy new one professionally permitted crews to install them an go through all the permits an regulations. They will just pay off the inspector ask me how I know

I am Betting on water

Buy gas at chevron/ shell they are always under attack because they advertise the best fuels. An so they stay on top of their stations. Secondly many of the now open shell stations are new or have not been around nearly as long as Phillips66 or 76 arco ect ect. In a fuel analysis I worked on in Indianapolis in 2005 23 different stations around the city were tested. The shell stations had the only fuel that was even close to the advertised octane rating. The least contaminated of all the fuel checked from the pumps not the tanks. Some stations had you paying for 91 an getting b/w 80-87 not 91 at all. Also allot mineral an silicone contaminations or dirt an blown rubber seals in the fuel.

 

If the gas was that bad, other cars leaving the station would also be dropping like flies.

Being a '75, I'd lean towards some type of issue with the gas tank bladder.

 

Guessing why the engine suddenly went dead on an old car is pretty much futile. Putting fuel in it might just be an unrelated coincidence.

 

is it a cranking problem or a charging issue.....if it wont turn over {dead} secure the grounds.....

 

Did he run the tank REALLY low before he filled it again?
Is it possible it sucked up a bunch of sediment from the bottom of the tank and now your filters (and/or pick-up sock) are clogged?

 

No, 92 octane. But I did wonder that as well.

 

Gas bladder issue? What do you mean? I know my gas guage is not correct. It's more "relative" and knowing when to refill.

I agree with your other reasoning about other cars having issues.

 

No, he only added 7 gallons. But I haven't filled it up completely in several years because I never wanted the gas to get stale. So I'd only put in 5 or so gallons at a time.

 

It's a cranking problem. It's trying hard to turn over. I replaced the battery with an Insterstate one a few months ago and the starter sounds like it's working fine.

 

I agree, but that's the first place to start. I've driven the car for more than 10 years without issue, so the coincidence of him driving it 100+ miles, stopping to get gas and dying 30 seconds later seems more than coincidence.

FWIW, the engine is a ZZ4 with less than 40K on it and the carb and timing were set and tuned by the legendary Lars, in person! Just in case it's not said enough, he's an incredible guy.