1980 l48 stall issues
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jun 2024
Posts: 8
Likes: 3
From: North America
1980 l48 stall issues
Hi all so kinda strange Friday Saturday and Sunday morning ran great no issues then Sunday afternoon driving home it lost power and stalled while driving then 2 more times at stop signs…
got home let it cool down as it was hot today it started choke light came on idle was at 200-400rpm and wanted to stall out we did a full tune up in early July any thoughts???
got home let it cool down as it was hot today it started choke light came on idle was at 200-400rpm and wanted to stall out we did a full tune up in early July any thoughts???
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,692
Likes: 833
From: WI
Well ....if you read the service manuals, they say start your troubleshooting with a visual inspection. Start with the easy things first ...like pull the dipstick (before starting it up) and check for gas in the oil (possible fuel pump issue). Check the coolant level just to make sure it's good. Look for cracked vacuum hoses, or hoses which came off their bibs. Start it and listen for a vacuum leak (whistling noise). One trick is to spray a few shoots of carb cleaner or another solvent around here and there around the hoses and base of the carb (use your smarts!) and if you hear the engine smooth out a vacuum leak has probably sucked in the flammable vapors. Then there's your leak. If you have a vacuum gauge you might put it on and take a reading.
Check the choke that everything looks fine and it's open (when engine warm). If that doesn't do anything, you might want to throw on a timing light...make sure it's good. Check your spark plug wires for sparking or bare spots. Remove the distributor cap and look inside. Check the contacts for boogers on the terminals inside the cap. Knock them off with a screwdriver if there are any. Make sure the little button is in the center of the cap. Inspect for micro hairline cracks in the inside of the cap. That can lead to ignition issues.
That's the easy stuff. From there a guy might want to remove a spark plug wire boot and test for a strong spark using a good plug (could be a weak coil). If it was fuel pressure issues, it would probably not run well at faster speeds, so that's probably not something I'd look at right away.
Check the choke that everything looks fine and it's open (when engine warm). If that doesn't do anything, you might want to throw on a timing light...make sure it's good. Check your spark plug wires for sparking or bare spots. Remove the distributor cap and look inside. Check the contacts for boogers on the terminals inside the cap. Knock them off with a screwdriver if there are any. Make sure the little button is in the center of the cap. Inspect for micro hairline cracks in the inside of the cap. That can lead to ignition issues.
That's the easy stuff. From there a guy might want to remove a spark plug wire boot and test for a strong spark using a good plug (could be a weak coil). If it was fuel pressure issues, it would probably not run well at faster speeds, so that's probably not something I'd look at right away.
