Hey guys I need a little help. First my cutlass has a 305 4bbl Rochester carb electric igniton. Here is what happens it will start for a second then die. I will try and start it again and it will only crank. After waiting about 2or3 min I try again and it will start as long as I give it some gas. I have checked the air filter and the vacuum lines to the carb. The rotor and coil underneath the dis cap look good. What do you guys think?

 

I would verify you are getting fuel from the pump to the carb. You could have a blockage somewhere or failing pump. I had similar issues so I pulled the fuel line from the carb and put a bottle over the end of the line. I had the wife crank the engine and found very little to no gas coming out. After confirming the pump was getting a good supply of fuel I pulled the pump and found one of the valves in the vacuum chamber had fallen out and jammed up the actuator for the baffles.

Mark

 

Are you stting the choke properly?

 

I had an '81 Toronado that acted like that. Same engine, same symptoms. It turned out to be the ECU.

 

Start at the basics, choke then fuel supply.