My 80 had been running fine. I drove it on a fairly long trip and it started running "oddly". It felt like it was both surging and missing at highway speed. Once I pulled off to get gas it stalled as I slowed down. It cranked right back up and then stalled again. I filled it up and nursed it out of the parking lot and continued my trip as I had no choice at the time.

Once I was able to stop for a while and allow it to cool, I checked all the plug wires and gave it a general going over in case something obvious was wrong.

After thinking about it, I checked the distributor and found it to be a little loose. It was pretty tight but I could move it if I really tried. With some effort, I turned it just a little to advance the timing. I cranked it up and it was idling, but too slow. I upped the idle speed a little and was able to drive the three hour trip home. Other than a little more spark knock than I would like to hear, it ran pretty good. However, when I decelerated it felt like it was surging. We used to call it "hunting" as the car was not slowing smoothly.

Once again, it stalled as I pulled into my garage. It fired right back up so I nursed the throttle until I had it properly parked.

So where to start? I know the timing must be a little off now but that could not have caused all the problems I was having.

The distributor is a fairly new aftermarket hi-per replacement. Lars rebuilt the carb a couple of thousand miles ago. The motor has been running fine for many months after a complete rebuild. I'm going to replace the plugs and wires as I intended to anyway. What am I missing?

 

I'd start by getting the timing light out and make sure your timing is good, then tighten down the distributor so it won't walk on you again.

 

Agreed. But I don't thing a slight timing change (and it was slight) could cause all the problems I was having. I will be going through all the basics and tearing into the distributor to see what's going on there.

 

Sounds like a EGR valve issue the valve is sticking open causing to much flow at cruising speeds and a stall when coming to a stop. Try disconnecting the EGR vacuum line and driving it . If your car is a automatic and has a lock up converter a lock up solenoid can cause a stall when coming off the freeway ... This is not hard to miss it feels like a manual transmission coming to a stop with out pushing on the clutch ...Very violent

 

No EGR anymore as I am running a Performer 2101. The lock-up converter hasn't worked in some time now so I don't think that's the problem. The car slow fine other than the surging and slowly just stalls out. However, it cranks back immediately.

 

Then my best guess is a carb flooding / boiling over at idle and or vacuum leak issues.

 

Vacuum leak somewhere is my guess. Probably a significant one. When was the last time you checked the torque on your intake manifold bolts, etc?

 

How would a large vacuum leak stall an engine, yet allow an easy restart?

 

I am having the exact same problem with my 84. When I let it cool down, it allows me to drive with out it stalling. When I turn it off and crank it back up ( w/out allowing it to completely cool down), it stalls on me. It always stalls at low speed or at a stop.

 

Don't know really, I guess "easy" restart can be relative?

I had a similar issue with my 70. It would start fairly easily, but struggled when it wasn't getting massaged with throttle. I torqued down the intake and that took care of it (I had done the manifold gaskets a few hundred miles before).

Just something to check.

 

When I say "easy start", I mean that as I slow to a traffic light the RPM's just drop to zero. Then I hit the key and it cranks immediately and will run if I feather the throttle until I can get going. Acceleration is good and high speed running seems fine, although I have some spark knock that I will be investigating.

Doing plugs, wires, general tune-up today (if The Chief gives me some leeway with the honey-do list) so I'll report back with the results tonight.

 

Check compression. Could be valve spring trouble.

Russ

 

did you ever properly adjust your timing after you noticed it was loose and you turned it? everything you say points to the timing being off to me...

I would get that out of the way first...
and is it a no name HEI distributor ? I am using one too and have read the quality is hit or miss so you could have sticking weights inside.

 

Boxer 141, if you have a carbed 84, you are having fuel perc problems. Very common on a C4 converted to carb. Try a 1/2" phenolic carb spacer and open your hood a couple of inches when parking it to let the heat out. I put a cowl induction scoop on my 84 and have no heat soak problems any more.

 

It was never converted. My problem is exactly like CaseyJones. The 84 was neglected and right now I am restoring the interior. Once I get that taken care of, I will dive in to this motor.