Recently inherited my mom's 1971 Cutlass. The engine was rebuilt in the 1990s and rarely used since. Seems to work fine during the day, but just took it out for a night spin and it died on me twice while idling at stop signs. Any suggestions?

The car has a old alarm system that I think might be too much of a drain. I replaced the battery, because it would not start before without a jump. Now it starts okay, but had it die when it idled. Anything else it could be?

I know nothing about cars, but I have always loved this one and want to learn. I especially want to have it run well so that I can enjoy it.

Thanks!

 

Here are the tune up specs. for 1971! A couple of things, is it idling smooth? What's your idle speed in drive? And when you replaced the battery was it dead or drained? Did you check to see if it was charging?

It's very noble to want to learn! But also you need to have the tools and knowledge on how to use them! Do you have any one to help you along?(besides us)

You may want to join wildaboutcars.com Free to join and use. But it's nice to have a paper copy while working on the car.

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...Section_6D.pdf

Pat

 

Pat posted some really good stuff with tuning specs for your car, that is a good place to start. Tools are necessary as mentioned, A good ear and sniffer as to how your car is running will help ( RICH). The problem could be as simple as a plugged PCV valve or as involved as a carb rebuild/ timing chain. Quite possible alternator depending on what lights are coming on . If you could post what lights are coming on before stalling and the mileage. A short video with it idling would also help with a better diagnosis. Be sure to take notes when Mdchanic (Eric)/ Oldcutlass ( Eric ) chimes in !!
Try to post as much detail as possible about your car, Many of the guys are awesome here with alot of tuning experience that will be more than happy to help you.

Eric

 

What is your dwell, timing, and idle speed?

 

I would also check with a voltmeter the hot voltage to the ignition coil and make sure it is steady at 12V before and after you switch the lights on. I have heard some people say that even with a slight dip to about 11.2V the car will stall. Just a suggestion. Good luck

 

Thanks, everyone. I will get to work on these suggestions this weekend and will let you know the results.

 

I just went through the same thing, it was a loose distributor. I reset the timing and tightened down the distributor, no more stalling.

Ray

 

I agree with all above, and will second a quick voltage check before starting, right after starting, running at 2,000 RPM after having driven a few minutes, and running at idle with and without lights, wipers, and fan motor, all switched on to High.

- Eric

 

this would apply if he is running a hei distributor,with points you only have 12v while cranking the starter, under 7v while running

 

12 volts at the coil on a points car? I don't think that's right.

 

You beat me to it JC

 

Thanks again, everyone. I booked an appointment with my local mechanic. I will still do what I can this weekend, but since I am so new to this, and don't know what I am doing, I thought I should have someone else follow up on all the suggestions. I am going to print them for the mechanic so he has something to start with. I'll post the results asap.

 

Is your mechanic a friend? If not. Giving him a list of what to check on your car might be taken the wrong way. If he is not familiar with older points style cars it might be helpful. However if he was not familiar with points ignition you would really need a different mechanic. I know how I would feel if a customer handed me apiece of paper instructing me how to do my job that I have been doing for 30+ years.

 

[QUOTE=MDchanic;750115]I agree with all above, and will second a quick voltage check before starting, right after starting, running at 2,000 RPM after having driven a few minutes, and running at idle with and without lights, wipers, and fan motor, all switched on to High.

Eric,
I may be wrong here but I had been told back in the day, if you disconnect the power cable to the battery and it dies this means a bad alternator, given the battery is good. Would that be correct for a guy without testing tools and diagnostic experience?

 

Get the battery load tested.test how many amp not just volts the alt is putting out.Turing on the lights might be putting a overload on one or the other.

 

Well.... It's a very rough way of telling, and not very specific. In a car of this era, it is not likely to cause any damage, but in a newer car, you can do some expensive damage doing this.

It's much better to check using proper instruments.

- Eric

 

Hi everyone,

I took the Cutlass to the dmv yesterday to finalize registration and to get plates. The car died on me a couple of times -- while in gear -- idling at a stop sign. No lights or anything else working at the time. This had not happened to me before. The gears were Drive and Reverse, if that matters. The car seemed to idle fine while in Park.

Does this change anyone's perspective on what might be the cause?

 

Maybe your idle is set too low?

- Eric

 

Thanks! I will check it out.

 

Hi Eric:

I am not sure what you have for tools. If you do not have a Tachometer, suggest you visit the local Auto parts stores.
You can now get a combination, Digital Volt meter, Tachometer and Dwell meter all built into the same small handheld DTV, for less than $100.00. You can diagnose most of the common problem with just 1 tool.

I will assume you have a 350 CI, with 4BBL and Automatic.
I agree with the suggestions about the idle.
In Park, your idle should be between 700-800 (750 recommended).
In Drive with foot on the brake, the low recommended is 600 rpm.
The engine will usually still run at 500 rpm, but anything below that and you can expect to stall.

 

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you all an update as to what happened with my car and how it got fixed. Thank you all for your suggestions, it was very helpful.

I took my car to the mechanic and his team adjusted the timing. As I was picking the car, it stalled again. He was a bit embarrassed and dumbfounded as he had a hard time getting it to stall at all while it was in his shop.

I decided to take the car home and drive it to see if it kept happening. One wet, foggy, night, again with the headlights on, the Cutlass stalled and stalled. I took it back to the shop, and they again had problems getting it to stall at all. Then, after a long test drive, the Cutlass started to stall again. The stall seemed to have something to do with when it was wet & cold and when it was super hot. The mechanic replaced the coil and the car has been running perfectly ever since.

Thank you again for all of the input!

 

Amazing what a tune-up will do.

Glad you got it fixed!

- Eric

 

Glad you got it fixed. I would suggest you get some basic tools, a vacuum gauge, a tach/dwell and to learn how to use them.