OK...fired up my vette this evening (hadn't driven her in about 10 days). Warmed her up for about 5 minutes. Drove about 2 miles from my house, the all the sudden the engine cut-out. I drifted to the over to a side street. Tried to turn her over for about 15 minutes. Lifted the hood and attempted to look like I knew what I was looking for. Called my friend "the mechanic" (aargh...voice-mail). A rescue squad stopped and told me what a cool looking car I had and that he used to have a '77. I said "Yeah, she is pretty to look at but that's about all I can do with her right now". Lost all hope and decided to call AAA. While I was pleading with them to send a towing company that knew who how to my baby with no damage, I turned the key again and WALLAH she started right up. Drove her back home, no problems... Parked her and then did a nerve testing restart with no problem...

Anyone have any ideas why this would happen? I did have a similar situation happen to me last year (although I had driven her for about 30 minutes prior)

For a second, I thought she was listening to my phone call and couldn't bear the thought of a wrecker clawing into her...

 

You might look at the connections to the distributor and make sure none are loose or corroded. Check the cap and rotor and make sure the rotor is not burnt out. You might also try a new condensor if you still have the original breaker point distributor, I have seen bad condensors act up when the engine is hot.

 

Could be the coil.

 

Is there a diagonostic test or visual to tell if it's the coil?

Thanks,

steve

 

You need to go through all the grounds if the car has been sitting that long.

BigBlockk

Later.....

 

It was sitting for 10 days, not 10 years.

I thinks it reasonable to say it's either the engine was not getting any spark or not getting any fuel. This may not happen again, but chances are it will. Trying to fix it while parked on the side of the road is difficult; however, some basic things can be done to try and lead you in the right direction. If it's a fuel problem, you could carry a small container of gas or a can of starting fluid. When it shuts off, add a couple caps of gas down the carburator or give it a shot of starting fluid. If it starts then it's a fuel problem and most likely not an ignition problem. To check for spark, carry an extra plug. Pull off a wire and hold the plug againt something metal. If it sparks, then it seems like the ignition is working to some degree. Besides a spark plug I would also carry a spark plug wire. That way you can hook it to the distributor to position the plug in way that you can see it.

One possibilty not to overlook is vapor lock. This condition may happen when using gas that was designed for winter use. Yes, gas is different in the summer and winter, at least in parts of the country where the temperature get cold. Winter gas may have a lower boiling point causing vapor lock. The stock fuel pump has a return gas line which helps. Someone may have changed the pump to one without the additional line.

 

clogged in-carb fuel filter?

 

Serious mechanical problems don't fix themselves (like a worn or broken timing chain) so most of the time you can keep the diagnostics path simple. For the most part, you're checking for fuel and spark for these suddenly dead, intermittent situations.

Easiest thing first is to take the top off the air cleaner, look down the primary throttle, kick the throttle wide open and see if you see two jets of fuel going into the venturi. If you do, then you can forget fuel as the issue. If there is no fuel it could be vapor lock, a clogged filter, a pump on its way out, a clogged tank sock, or even a pinhole in the gas line that's sucking air.

The problem then is most likely in the spark. The easiest way to verify that the ignition either works or it doesn't is to pull the coil secondary off the distributor cap and try to position it near a ground. When you crank the engine you should see a lot of sparks. This is a bit easier said than done, but if you can do it and you don't see the sparks from the coil wire then you have an ignition problem. It could be the condenser or the coil (or module if electronic) if the problem is intermittent since either of these usually only show issues once they are hot. It could also be a frayed points wire or loose connections that have nothing directly to do with heat.

But you first have to determine whether a problem like this is in the fuel or ignition system since, again, things like a bad timing chain don't fix themselves.

 

When the car stalled, was it sudden like the key was turned off or did it catch and sputter a couple of times? The former is likely spark, the latter fuel.

You can check the simple things now, replace the gas filter, inspect the gas tank sock, start the car in the dark and look for ignition wire sparks, inspect the wiring to the distributor.
Joe

 

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i've had ignition wires fray and break 3 times in 15 years