So I guess it could be the ignition switch if the coil is grounded through the ignition switch. I never heard of that .
Railguy

 

ill give that jump method a try next time she does this to me. the car died on me today while driving around town. long before i could try what OCT reccomended but it eventually started, the manner that it started in was a little different this time and sort of resembled an issue i had in a different car before. I cranked the car and it started sparking more and more the longer i held the ignition to the on position eventually being able to drop it back to the run setting and pumping the gas enough to get the rpms steady. last time this happened to me it was a bad catalytic converter, which i dont have. ANYWAY. ill give that jump method a try next time. i cant really test the whole ignition system atm as i am doing it by myself but i will get some help tomorrow and hopefully go through the whole system. also how would i get to the ignition switch? im assuming ill have to pull the steering wheel?

 

Have you changed the points yet? Also it could be the plugs. Have you checked those it doesn't cost anything to check. Just pull one and post a pic.
Railguy

 

will do

 

just a video showing the system. plugs look like they have normal wear on them. a bit black and wet on threads but otherwise normal. I have a really bad camera on my phone but the part where the point makes contact is very gray burnt looking. dist. looks newer. that wire that connects the coil to the distributor wiggles freely. i wasnt prying on the points just lightly pulling back to try and get a shot of the contact area

cold start. started right up.

 

Spark plug looks good maybe a little lean but I couldn't tell about anything else. Still say change the points and condenser.
If there was a problem with the 12 volt wire to the coil .when you started it there would be there would be no spark until you turned the key back to the run posistion. So when tried to start it it would not start until you let go of the key. Did you ever have that happen?
Railguy

 

It almost looks like the wire within the dist'r is too long and sits up high enough to short out on the passing rotor screws. But, that would not lead to the symptoms I am hearing.

 

ill go ahead and take your advice and replace these puppies asap. I have had a few instances where the car would die on the road id crank it for a few seconds and just when i would let go of the on setting to the run setting the car would spark a little and i would lightly tap the gas and car would run but i think that might have been more of a coincidence than anything. Can i test the wire with a voltmeter? is there any way to troubleshoot this?

 

are you talking about the little wire i was wiggling around?

 

Put an HEI in it.

 

my engine is stock. i rather keep the points in there and learn how to tune them, maybe down the road when i gain more knowledge and build it ill switch to hei.

 

It's a wire that run from the silanoid to the coil . It's that simple it could be shorting out . Can you see it on the solinoid from under the hood? Maybe you could run a new wire.but I d change those point first. I'm sure someone knows how to do it without a dwell meter.
Railguy

 

I'm sure they may have written about changing the points in the Chassis Service Manual.

- Eric

 

Ok got the dwell meter and timing light, new points, whats next

 

Just for grins you might hook up your tach/dwell and timing light and check what the current settings are now before you start to post here later. Install the points and condenser so that the wear strip of the points is sitting on the high point of the distributor cam lobe. You may have to bump the starter a few times to get there. I usually push down on the fan belt and move the engine carefully with the fan blade to fine tune the position. Tighten screws down. Adjust the point gap so that there is a open gap that you can slide a .016 feeler gauge in between the open points, this gap can be adjusted with the allen screw. Reinstall rotor and cap. loosen the bottom clamp bolt on the distributor just enough to allow it turn with some effort.

Hook up tach/dwell as per instructions and timing light. Disconnect and plug your vacuum advance tube. Start engine, you should see a dwell reading on the meter close to 30 degrees, adjust the points with the allan screw so read 30.

Now set the dwell meter to the tach position and adjust the idle speed on the carb to 1100 rpm and point the timing light at the timing tab on the front drivers side of the engine. Turn your distributor left or right so the line on the harmonic balancer is is lined up to the 8 degree mark on the tab for a 2v carb, or the 12 degree mark for a 4v carb. Readjust idle speed to 1100 and readjust timing if necessary. Tighten the distributor hold down bolt and then recheck. Get a helper to put the car in drive with the brake on, and then adjust the carb idle screw so the the meter reads around 600-650 rpm. Shift the trans back to park.

Next adjust each air/fuel mixture screw by first turning each clockwise until the engine starts to sputter and then turn counter clockwise until it smooths out. Then adjust each to attain the highest rpm on the tach meter. Readjust idle speed rpm as necessary back to what it was when you started. Make sure the 2 screws are an even amount of turns on each side and repeat adjustments until you've reached the highest rpm on the tach.

 

how do I adjust the idle speed on the carb and where are my air/fuel mixture screws? also will need help on the carb idle screw. Carb is a 4 barrel quadrajet. thanks

 

Are you in possession of a Chassis Service Manual, by any chance?

- Eric

 

I have several books in the trunk that the car luckily came with and one happens to be a chassis service manual

 

im assuming youd want me to find a diagram for teh carburetor in there somewhere?

 

btw im doing this alone so i dont know if ill be able to do this part

Get a helper to put the car in drive with the brake on, and then adjust the carb idle screw so the the meter reads around 600-650 rpm. Shift the trans back to park.

 

You can set the parking brake and do it carefully. The idle speed screw is on the drivers side of the carb attached to the throttle linkage. The 2 A/F mixture screws are on the front.

 

Read Chapter 6C: "Emission Control Adjustments and Engine Tune-Up".

It has all of the information that poor Eric has been typing up from memory.

After you read it, ask us questions.

Also, if you set the idle with the car on the parking brake, DON'T rev it, especially if it's right up against the back of the garage.

- Eric

 

Hahaha im sorry guys. Ill get back to you

 

MD is ,telling you the most important advice. Before anything,read it, then take the book to the car,, take the air cleaner off, and read it again looking at the parts as you do so. Also as Eric the other said, hook up your meter and light learn how they work and see what they tell you before changing anything.

 

points have been set and dwell is at 30-31 im on to adjusting the timing. are you asking me to set the driver side idle screw to 1100 so that i can properly set the timing then reset to 650 in drive or are you asking me to set fast idle screw at 1100 the driver side idle to 650?

 

Fast idle screw.

The whole procedure is in the Chassis Service Manual, with pictures.

- Eric

 

You saying driver side idle concerns me?What kind of carb do you have? I don't know anything about carter but I do know about holleys and if you have a holley there's a idle jet adjustment on each side I hope your not using those to adjust the idle speed.
Railguy

 

Chock the wheels and set the parking brake when you adjust in drive.

Timing can be done in park, looking at the gun and the tach, and moving the throttle linkage with your hand.

Idle screws are in drive, when the engine is warm, and there are two of them.

Fast idle I forget off the top of my head, I think it's just a cam the linkage sits on.

 

The idle speed adjustment screw is on the linkage not the ones on the carb base. Yes, set the idle speed with car warmed and the choke disengaged to 1100 rpms. Adjust timing, the idle will increase or decrease when adjusting the timing so readjust the idle speed and recheck timing accordingly until its right. Then adjust your idle speed back to 650 in gear.

 

shes running smooth. thanks for the help guys

 

TOUCHDOWN!!!!!

 

WTG, good job

 

time for a cruise

 

Glad you got it fixed!

- Eric

 

I didn't think of it till now but FYI ,I remember back in the day I saw it happen a few times where the condenser would work fine until it warmed up then short out ,
cool down work fine.
Railguy

 

Just wondering if you did this as I asked before you started to see if it was that far off to cause your issues?

 

points were at 30 and timing at 12 but the points were just burned out.

 

OK GUYS im still having issues with this car. Its so aggravating to me that i still am stalling out on the road. Its especially not fun in Los Angeles with a row of cars always behind you honking at you to move out of the way. I replaced my points, set the gap, and then fine tuned them with the dwell meter to 30. I have adjusted my timing as well. The idle speed screw is set to 625 in drive but the car is still shutting off on me. It drove very well for the first few days after tuning the car but its back to shutting off on me. WHAT THE HELL COULD BE WRONG HERE? after the car shut off on me today i hooked up the dwell meter and it still read 30....

 

btw these are the points i threw in there
http://www.autozone.com/external-eng...117481_0_5957/

 

So, we're back to the basics: When it stops, do you have a spark? Do you have fuel?

Work it back from there.

After basic assessment, you need to get more specific. Don't forget to check the new points early on - make sure that they are working properly and haven't burned - modern Chinesium crap is often bad out of the box, and a crappy new integral condenser could cause the problem you describe.

You likely have ONE thing wrong. Once you fix it, you'll be fine.
The trick is to find that ONE thing.

- Eric