BANG BANG goes the engine
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
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BANG BANG goes the engine
Took the Vette out for a cruise on Sat and decided to wind up 3rd gear getting on the highway a bit. I have been getting the random engine cutting out every now and then, but it seemed like the engine was running mostly well.
I wound up the engine a bit and suddenly...2 quick BANGS (like a backfire), 1 out of each side pipe in rapid succession. I quickly let off and everything seemed to run ok back down in the lower RPM range.
I had checked the points and the dwell seemed ok. Is it possible for dwell to be ok AND still need the points changed?
I wound up the engine a bit and suddenly...2 quick BANGS (like a backfire), 1 out of each side pipe in rapid succession. I quickly let off and everything seemed to run ok back down in the lower RPM range.
I had checked the points and the dwell seemed ok. Is it possible for dwell to be ok AND still need the points changed?
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Bridgewater nj
Check your distributor cap also. If your cap has a crack or a spark is arcing it can cause a backfire. If that doesn't help you should start looking at valve springs or sticking valves
Last edited by hugie82; Mar 22, 2010 at 11:15 AM. Reason: spelling
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: Tampa Bay FL
I used to get this problem when I would wind my 283 out to about 5000rpm in my Nova. The engine would backfire twice and then shut off. I would pull it over and it would start fine. It had the original distributor and I suspected at the time I was getting float on the points (but never figured out/fixed it... I just kept it below 5000rpm). This could 'point' to a worn distributor lobe or a weak spring on your points (or both). Others may have different suggestions. I was also running an original coil.
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Sounds to me like you may have run your float bowls dry while you were winding it out in third gear. Check your float bowl levels.
Melting Slicks
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Mine used to do that years ago. Ended up being the coil...found a hairline crack near the positive lead. When the engine was warm and winding under load, it would just quit. It would restart by popping the clutch.
Team Owner
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From: In limbo
St. Jude Donor '13-'15, '17 thru '22
You say you have been getting some random cutting out aside from your backfiring problem, so it definitely sounds like you have an ignition issue. When you "checked the points", what did you do to check them? When diagnosing an ignition problem on a points ignition car, usually the first thing I do is change to a new set of points and condenser. 9 times out of 10, the ignition problem disappears. If it doesn't solve your problem, you now have a back up set (the ones you took out), it's nice to have a back-up set around that you know works. So unless you very recently replaced your points and condenser, changing them now has no downside and I would recommend it.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
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I used my dwell meter to check the points. I probably should just throw another set of points at it...I have just been reluctant to do it wondering if I should just go the HEI route.
