Southern_Hospitality

Okay, so I was driving to Memphis tonight when I noticed that my lights were going dim. I shrubbed it off and thought nothing about it. Moments later my car felt as if was losing power, then I heard a loud "POP" sound.

Lucky I made it to the next exit because as soon as I did the car stopped. I put it in park and attempted to restart, but it wouldn't turn over (no sound). The lights worked, but the car wouldn't crank.

I do not expect for any of you to solve my problem instantly. However, I hope that someone has experienced a similar situation.

Please advise, thanks.

Yellowstatue

The last time I heard that series of problems the engine seized when I got stopped...the engine was all gummed up and the oil stayed up in the heads and so the bottom end ran out of oil...this on a 350...

Bluevista

Was the "pop" backfiring or come from someplace else?
I sure hope it's not seized but you never know.

The lights were dimming just before it lost power?
Bad positive cable or ground, short, bad connection, dying alternator?


Just a wild guess but if it backfired could it be an electrical problem and when the engine stalled at speed the unspent fuel sent into the exhaust sytem ignited?
I know from personal experience that that can happen.


Yu have to make sure the starter is getting juice and working.
If the engine is stuck it won't turn, try spinning it by hand and if it will you have that off the elimination list at least.
It could still be mechanical but at least you know that it's free and the starter should turn it over.

Just my two cent woof.

Southern_Hospitality

Definately a back fire.

2blu442

OK, if electrical could it be your charging system isn't working and you gradually used up the charge in the battery until it was gone. Can you put in a fully charged battery and see if it will start?

Southern_Hospitality

Well, the battery was charged a few months ago. A few people I know says it could be the alternator, or the distributor. What are the results of either parts not working?

stellar

sounds electrical. Lites going dim and quit running. By description it sounds as if bat went low fast. Tyr checking bat cable to starter and see if it may have grounded out against something.

citcapp

Could be either the alternator, regulator, or battery. or a combination. Just because the battery was charged does not mean it didn't have a couple of cells go bad. This can happen all at once. Take the battery to a parts store and have it tested, do the same with the alternater. Check the positive battery lead to make sure it did not come in contact with the exhaust manifold and short out. also check all terminals to make sure they are clean and clear of corrosion. Make sure the pop sound wasn't a battery cap blowing off from over charging that can happen as well.

If all this checks out move to the engine and make sure you can rotate it by hand with a breaker bar and a socket on the crank pully bolt. If it turns over ok but apears that their is no compression you could have stripped a timming gear or broken a timming chain or had a cam fail. You'll just have to start your research and let us know what you find

jaunty75

This wouldn't mean anything. If the charging system failed on you, or if the charging system is marginal, which is what it sounds like your problem is, you could run down a fully charged battery in an hour of driving. The problem could be the battery itself, too.

Whoever suggested putting in another battery and see if that will work is right. Or, if you have a battery charger, hook it up to your battery and see if it will take a charge.

From my experience, the fact that the lights light up, radio goes on, etc., means nothing when it comes to whether or not the battery has a sufficient charge to turn the starter over.

A similar thing happened to me on a '90 Ford Taurus I once owned. I was out running errands and the car seemed fine. I got back in it to get going after one stop, and it just out of the blue wouldn't crank. Headlights and all were fine, but otherwise nothing. Had to call AAA for a tow. They put in a new battery, and it worked fine. They tested the old one, and it turned out that one of the cells had failed. No warning. It just happened. The problem was the battery itself.

I think the giveaway here is the dimming of the lights before the car stalled. Even if the battery had gone bad, once the car is started, it ought to run, even with the weak battery, as long as the charging system is OK. But the fact that the problem started after the car had been running suggests something else as the root cause. The difference between what happened to me and what happened to you is that I couldn't restart after it had been shut off. I never had any warning or a problem while driving before the problem appeared. In your case, the problem occurred while driving.

Could be an alternator gone bad or a bad voltage regulator. You're going to need to take these out and test them. Putting in a new battery might get the engine to run again, but if you don't figure out why the old one lost charge, you'll possibly have the same problem again.


By the way, you didn't end the story for us! You got to the side of the road and the car wouldn't start. What did you end up doing to get home?

wolfman98

X3 here as well on it probably being electrical. The dimming of the lights while you were driving was the battery losing charge. This should not happen unless something in the charging system is not working. The simple thing would be that there is a bad connection somewhere and you need to check and clean all connections. You also need to charge the battery and see if it will hold a charge . if not it could be bad . it could be a bad alternator. Hopefully it's something simple like a bad connection. good luck with it .

oldcutlass

CHarge the battery, reinstall and start the car. If the car starts let it warm up. remove the positive battery cable while the car is running. If the engine shuts off then your alternator and or voltage regulator is bad and replace. Other than recharging and possiblly supplementing a weak alternator the battery does nothing once the car is running. The only exception is a failed alternator or voltage regulator in which then the battery takes over.
Good luck!!!

mugzilla

I once bought a non running cutlass ...

When I pulled on the cables one came out in my hand ...

Replaced cable and it ran fine ...

Southern_Hospitality

Thanks for all the helpful advise guys. Oh...I forgot to end the stoy...So I was at exit 25 just outside Memphis, TN when I pulled over (10 o'clock pm). As soon as I got on the exit and decelerated, the car lost all power and quit. It coasted to the neared gas station.

My son and I went into Shell's gas station to ask for a towing reference. I called five companies for an estimate on a 20 mile tow. Everyone quoted approx $150, but last company quoted me $100, so I took it. Forty-five minutes later they showed up with a huge flat bed truck. As the car tilted on the flat bed, gas started pouring from the rear. Is that suppose to happen?

Twenty-minutes later my baby (the car) as at my fiance's house in the driveway,, safe and sounds. My baby must have been stressed from all the turmoil.

So guys, I guess my next question is............Is it natural to see gas pouring from the rear of a car when a flat bed truck has it tilted at an extreme angle? It worries me!

Southern_Hospitality

Thanks for all the helpful advise guys. Oh...I forgot to end the stoy...So I was at exit 25 just outside Memphis, TN when I pulled over (10 o'clock pm). As soon as I got on the exit and decelerated, the car lost all power and quit. It coasted to the neared gas station.

My son and I went into Shell's gas station to ask for a towing reference. I called five companies for an estimate on a 20 mile tow. Everyone quoted approx $150, but last company quoted me $100, so I took it. Forty-five minutes later they showed up with a huge flat bed truck. As the car tilted on the flat bed, gas started pouring from the rear. Is that suppose to happen?

Twenty-minutes later my baby (the car) as at my fiance's house in the driveway,, safe and sounds. My baby must have been stressed from all the turmoil.

So guys, I guess my next question is............Is it natural to see gas pouring from the rear of a car when a flat bed truck has it tilted at an extreme angle? It worries me!

jaunty75

Thanks for finishing the story. It was just as interesting as the first half.

Where was the gas pouring FROM? If it's from the fuel filler neck, it's probably not a problem because aren't these vented? If it was from one of the gas tank vent lines, again, I wouldn't be worried because there are supposed to be vent lines and your car isn't normally ever at an extreme angle (how extreme was it, by the way?).

But like I say, you first need to find out specifically where the fuel was coming from.

Bluevista

The gas cap on??

This is a '71?

I'm pretty sure that the cap should be the non-vented type. If it isn't or the seal is bad on the cap that you have fuel will leak out when it's tilted or you take off hard from a stop.
I think the vent if it has an open one is in the front and higher than the tank so it shouldn't leak when tilted?


My '68 poncho A body has an open type vent tube by the end of the filler neck by the cap with the open end a little bit higher than the tank in the rear. It may leak on a real big angle but I never saw it do it in the few times it was loaded on a flat bed.

The hook towed these cars at a big angle without gas coming out?
Maybe a little would leak around the seal but no pouring out deal?

Flatbeds and car haulers are nice, tow trucks gave a third of these cars that have them their bent up front bumper "Cutlass Smile".
I think another third were from parallel parking and people gauging when to stop by tapping the other car's bumper in the front or rear or by hitting any slightly solid object like a styrofoam cooler with the bumper.

The last third were caused by evil bumper jacks.

D Appeldorn

fill it up to the max, and check for leeks.
I had the same problem when offroading (differend hoby) when climbing a hill it was leeking from the vent tube.
When it's realy full and doesn't leek when normal driving it did'nt bother me.

check your batery charge when running the engine, it should give between 13 and 14 volt's ? Olds to i think?
if not check your alternator or voltage regulator.
of it charges alright check your battery it stays less than 12 volt

delmontcrusier

I had a similar problem with a wagon I own years ago.I was on the the road heading home at 55mph when my lights flickered twice then all power was gone not good at that speed and in the blink of an eye no headlights or power at all.I called a family member and we used a tow dolly got it home and the thing in the morning had lights on.went to start it and boom totaly dead again.I went over everything and it turned out that the pos cable was shot,it was so coroded it couldn't handle power anymore.

Southern_Hospitality

Thanks for all the great responses. I charged the battery and the car started. I then drove to the nearest AutoZone. They tested the charge system and found out it was the alternator that is bad.

As for the gas tank, it is a vented tank. Does that mean anything?

jaunty75

Glad to hear you tracked down the electrical problem.

As far as the gas tank, I think all tanks are vented in some way as there has to be a way for air to get in as the fuel is drawn out. Again, the question is, WHERE did the fuel come from? If it IS from a vent on the tank, I wouldn't worry about it as those vents should not leak fuel when the car is operated normally. You said yourself that the car was tilted at an usually steep angle, and I'm assuming it's an angle you would never have the car at when it's in regular use. I mean, heck, if you turned the car upside down, all sorts of liquids would leak from all over the place. But it wouldn't mean anything is wrong!

wolfman98

Yes and it is easy to check to see if fuel is leaking , just fill it up to the top of the neck and park it for a little while. you can put something under the tank and filler neck to help you see if it's leaking. Probably everything is ok