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Hello new to forum so sorry if posted in wrong place but i have a 1973 corvette with a 350 chevy that i'm having some problems with it dying while driving down the road then wont start back up for maby 15 mins but it will turn over and acts like its going to start but wont and smells like fuel really bad and some times will have black smoke come out exhaust when trying to start.. When it gets started after it dyes it drives great some times may drive another 10 miles or will die in 1 mile. Any helps would be appreciated Thanks.
Ok, first, welcome to the forum. You will find tons of info here and lots of people willing to help.
I agree with sullyman that you likely have multiple issues most likely related to timing and carburetion. As Lars, one of the most respected members of the C3 community says, 90% of all carburetor problems are timing problems. Now, on to your issues.
The first thing we need to know is what type of distributor you are working with. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think 73 came with a points style distributor. That doesn’t mean that yours still has one. People change them out all the time.
You’ll need to look at the side of the distributor cap and see if it has a little door on it. If it does, it’s a points distributor. If so, take a picture of it and post it here. Then we’ll move on to step 2.
I’m assuming from your response that you haven’t worked on a lot of engines. Don’t worry about that. We’ll help you find the answer, but you’ve got to listen and do exactly what you’re told in the order you’re told to do it.
This forum recently walked a guy through what turned out to be a pretty simple problem that he wanted to make infinitely more complicated. After about 700 posts to his thread he recapped the entire journey including where he didn’t listen to the forum and ended up creating more work and headaches for himself.
Ok, so now that we have established the ROE, let’s do this! Post a picture of the little door on the distributor if there is one. If not, let us know and we’ll move to the next step.
Awesome thanks for the help! Really appreciated from what I see looks like there is a little door on it so I believe it’s a points and yes This is my first corvette and I do not have any experience with them or engines in general also on other thing is it has a rough idle if it hasn’t been started in a day or so
Last edited by Sprinkz14; Jun 21, 2021 at 03:22 PM.
Thats a points style distributor. How long have you had the car? Has it always behaved this way?
Hopfully the carb is not dumping fuel into your engine and oil. How does your oil level look? Does it smell like gas? Black smoke is normally a sign of too much gas.
When you start it cold whats your procedure? Do you pump the pedal a few times? How many? And does it idle faster when you start it cold and then drop down after a couple mins? (This would normally mean your fast idle/choke is working)
These carburated cars normally require you to pump the gas a couple times prior to starting unlike fuel injection. but if you pump too much you can flood the engine and if you do get it started initial black smoke could be the result. also if the choke is not opening up it could cause things to run poorly and too rich.
Last edited by augiedoggy; Jun 21, 2021 at 03:38 PM.
lesson number one. don't do anything yet, just watch. you can take your cap off and look for a spark at the points when cranking. have coil wire removed from the coil first. especially do not remove the distributor from the engine.
I have had the car for about 10 months and it’s always had a hard time starting takes about 2 or 3 try’s when I first go to drive it and I typically press the pedal a few times but usually after I drive it around and get it warmed up it starts right away no issues or used to before it started to do what it does now and the oil has always been perfect has not changed on the dip stick since I have gotten it. And it smells like gas really bad when starting the car or putting it back in garage after driving it makes the garage smell like gas and I don’t really ever notice a difference in the idling speed but my rpm gage does not work but as far as sound goes I don’t really notice a difference i i have to keep my foot slightly on the pedal when it’s cold to keep it running or it will die. I just went a stated car up and it starts like it usually does but I if I went to drive it I know it would just die on me again...
Last edited by Sprinkz14; Jun 21, 2021 at 03:46 PM.
Awesome thanks for the help! Really appreciated from what I see looks like there is a little door on it so I believe it’s a points and yes This is my first corvette and I do not have any experience with them or engines in general also on other thing is it has a rough idle if it hasn’t been started in a day or so
Excellent! You do indeed have a points style distributor. The yellow cylinder next to it is your ignition coil. Those do go bad and can be easily replaced. The first thing I would do is have it checked to make sure it’s still good. If not, replace it. Inside the distributor (under the cap) there should be a small cylinder with wires coming out of each end. That’s your resistor and if you’re going to change the coil, change the resistor too. They can go bad and it’s a cheap part. Replace it if you replace the coil even if it’s still good. It’s cheap piece of mind.
Also, behind the little door is where your distributor points live. They can become fouled with carbon or even weld themselves together. Check them. If they’re fouled you can get a points file at the local auto parts store and use it to clean them up or you can just replace them. They too are cheap and again, new ones are cheap piece of mind.
If it’s not any of this, we’ll move on to the carburetor, but let’s make sure we have fire before we address fuel.
Great sound good i will check all that stuff out after I get off work today and see what I can do and try to get new parts if needed and will get back to u asap. May be tomorrow depending on how fast I can do every thing but will let u know
Hey so I replaced the ignition coil on it because the old one was reading 6.8 ohms and now the new one I just installed is reading 9.44 ohms and went to look at the points and found it has a accel points eliminator kit on it... so not sure if it has points still or not but car still is idling rough and is dying if I don’t give it any gas... I have not taken it out to see if it’s still dying while driving or not because seems like the new coil was not the main issue on it but the carb that is on it is a edelbrock Webber. Thanks! Also when trying to start it smells like gas really bad still as well
Corvette tachometers up through the 1974 model year were operated by a cable and casing assembly identical to, but shorter than, speedometer cables. The tachometer was the 'driven' end; the drive end of the cable was a unit built into Corvette-specific distributors. The attached photo shows the cable and it's connection to the bottom of the distributor housing circled in red. If for some reason a non-Corvette distributor replaced the original unit (which is easily done), it will not have the drive unit and your tach will not operate.
Since there's been some distributor work done to your car, as seen by the installation of the points eliminator and the non-stock vacuum advance, the first thing I'd do is take a look to see if the distributor has the connection for the tach cable.
But that can wait till you get your driveability issues sorted out.
Last edited by Catfish4818; Jun 21, 2021 at 09:44 PM.
I would have started with the tuneup components like the distributor cap and rotor first but I realize your looking at what will be easiest to change...
So you have an electric choke on that carb but from what your saying it sounds like its not working right. The flap above you main throttle butterflies should close if you blip the throttle once with the car off and cold.(its almost closed in the photo you took but not quite.) there should be a power wire conncted to the choke where the large black plastic thing is. that should have 12v to it only when the car is in run position which heats up a coil and opens the choke plate. you can adjust the cold position of this plate by rotating the black circle after loosening the screws that hold it locked down.
Then it should open after a couple mins of the car running either slowly or when you blip the throttle again while running. This would be one reason you have to keep your foot on the gas when cold. It also will cause the car to run too rich and possibly stall if its disconnected and adjusted as it it in your picture.
Stupid question but is there a fuel filter located between the pump and carb and have you checked it recently?
Last edited by augiedoggy; Jun 21, 2021 at 09:57 PM.
Oh, boy. I’m out of my depth here so other members are going to have to pitch in. I know absolutely nothing about the points eliminator, but I’m excited to learn. It does look to me like an HEI module just bigger, but as far as it’s function I don’t know. Jebby has thrown down and he has quite a bit more knowledge than I have about C3s in general. Seems he’s interested in your carb setup and with the strong gas smell you describe, I am too. For some reason it’s running really rich and/or leaking.
SAFETY FIRST! If your garage smells really strongly of gasoline, figure that out! The correct air/fuel ratio and a spark from a garage door opener can ruin your day in a hurry. DO NOT IGNORE THIS or you will join a list of people who burned down their garages! It happened to a neighbor when I was growing up. He was lucky to survive and it took months for him to get home from the burn unit. He never worked on cars again.....
btw my 74 had the same carb and points eliminator on it as well as the broken tach cable when I bought it.... none of which are on the car now.. not that theres anything wrong with the setup, I just found it kind of a funny coincidence.
I knew little about v8 engines when I bought my 74 8 years ago as Ive mostly just played with lawn mower and a vw motor up until that point. But I have since learned to restore the whole car including building an engine from a bare block, brakes, body paint and interior replacement with advice from forums like these and you tube videos so your in good hands here.
Last edited by augiedoggy; Jun 21, 2021 at 10:05 PM.
btw my 74 had the same carb and points eliminator on it as well as the broken tach cable when I bought it.... none of which are on the car now.. not that theres anything wrong with the setup, I just found it kind of a funny coincidence.
I knew little about v8 engines when I bought my 74 8 years ago as Ive mostly just played with lawn mower and a vw motor up until that point. But I have since learned to restore the whole car including building an engine from a bare block, brakes, body paint and interior replacement with advice from forums like these and you tube videos so your in good hands here.
Same here. I worked on my own cars when I was in high school many, many moons ago. I knew nothing about Corvettes until I inherited my dad’s car. What I’ve learned from this forum in the last 5 years is nothing short of remarkable. I’m slowly turning what could have become a basket case into a good driver quality car. You can do the same thing or better depending on what you want to end up with!
I’ll pitch in when the conversation turns around to something I’ve had experience with, but you’ll be much better served by someone who knows about the points eliminator. I’ve worked with points and I’ve worked with HEI, but I’ve never seen a points eliminator. Considering that you still have a coil but no points, my guess is that it’s something similar to the HEI module, but not quite.
In any event, welcome to the madhouse and good luck! It’s often a frustrating road, but when you accomplish something and you look back at it and think “I did that” it somehow makes all of the frustration worthwhile. Remember, owning and restoring a C3 isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and it’s ok to walk away for a few hours/weeks/months to keep from burning out and allowing your car to become one more failed project.
I did this during the COVID lockdowns and missed the perfect opportunity to drive it like a maniac with little to no consequences, but I was pissed off at it and needed a break. I eventually found the source of the problem (a loose hose clamp) but walking away allowed me to clear my head and still maintain my love for my Corvette. Do the same and you’ll enjoy many years in the nuthouse of C3 ownership!
[QUOTE=augiedoggy;1603626532]I would have started with the tuneup components like the distributor cap and rotor first but I realize your looking at what will be easiest to change...
So you have an electric choke on that carb but from what your saying it sounds like its not working right. The flap above you main throttle butterflies should close if you blip the throttle once with the car off and cold.(its almost closed in the photo you took but not quite.) there should be a power wire conncted to the choke where the large black plastic thing is. that should have 12v to it only when the car is in run position which heats up a coil and opens the choke plate. you can adjust the cold position of this plate by rotating the black circle after loosening the screws that hold it locked down.
Then it should open after a couple mins of the car running either slowly or when you blip the throttle again while running. This would be one reason you have to keep your foot on the gas when cold. It also will cause the car to run too rich and possibly stall if its disconnected and adjusted as it it in your picture.
hey so I did a voltage check on wires going to the plastic thing and it’s reading 5.73 volts and that’s with car on the on position ... so seems to be far off from 12v and as far as the flap thing when I press the pedal it doesn’t move at all and I’m doing that with the car off, and that’s funny u had same set up before but yeah I don’t no any thing about these so definitely glad there is this forum like this to help! Also I am posting pic of what i think is the fuel filter but I have never changed it or checked it before if it is.
Same here. I worked on my own cars when I was in high school many, many moons ago. I knew nothing about Corvettes until I inherited my dad’s car. What I’ve learned from this forum in the last 5 years is nothing short of remarkable. I’m slowly turning what could have become a basket case into a good driver quality car. You can do the same thing or better depending on what you want to end up with!
I’ll pitch in when the conversation turns around to something I’ve had experience with, but you’ll be much better served by someone who knows about the points eliminator. I’ve worked with points and I’ve worked with HEI, but I’ve never seen a points eliminator. Considering that you still have a coil but no points, my guess is that it’s something similar to the HEI module, but not quite.
In any event, welcome to the madhouse and good luck! It’s often a frustrating road, but when you accomplish something and you look back at it and think “I did that” it somehow makes all of the frustration worthwhile. Remember, owning and restoring a C3 isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and it’s ok to walk away for a few hours/weeks/months to keep from burning out and allowing your car to become one more failed project.
I did this during the COVID lockdowns and missed the perfect opportunity to drive it like a maniac with little to no consequences, but I was pissed off at it and needed a break. I eventually found the source of the problem (a loose hose clamp) but walking away allowed me to clear my head and still maintain my love for my Corvette. Do the same and you’ll enjoy many years in the nuthouse of C3 ownership!
Cheers!
Thank you for the welcome! And the information I will definitely try to treat it like a marathon I’m sure I will encounter more problems down the road for sure and yeah I didn't even think about the garage door sparking I will try to get that figured out asap. Good luck on ur corvette as well! And thanks for the help much appreciated.
1973 Corvette 350 chevy help
