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I went to drive my olds 98 455 and it drove about 5 minutes before it stopped running at a red light. I tried to restart it on the side of the road and that didn’t work so I had it towed home where it continued to not start. We sprayed starting fluid down the carb and that didn’t work. It has fuel, spark, and adequate air and I don’t think it has any vacuum leaks. However it did have a high idle. Is it possible the adjustment screws are just off? Or what could be the cause?
Yes, if by "adjustment screws" you are referring to the A/F idle mixture screws. Without any additional information, at this point it would be to your advantage to follow the tune-up procedure (in order) in the 1973 CSM. When was the last time the distributor cap, rotor, contact points, condenser & spark plugs were changed?
(1) Set Dwell,
(2) Set Timing,
(3) Adjust A/F mixture screws to achieve highest vacuum (use a vacuum gauge),
(4) Set slow idle stop.
Yes, if by "adjustment screws" you are referring to the A/F idle mixture screws. Without any additional information, at this point it would be to your advantage to follow the tune-up procedure (in order) in the 1973 CSM. When was the last time the distributor cap, rotor, contact points, condenser & spark plugs were changed?
(1) Set Dwell,
(2) Set Timing,
(3) Adjust A/F mixture screws to achieve highest vacuum (use a vacuum gauge),
(4) Set slow idle stop.
whole distributor assembly is basically brand new, aside from the wires looking a little old they’re good. It did catch for a second when using starting fluid but died right after so I think the carb.
Yes, if by "adjustment screws" you are referring to the A/F idle mixture screws. Without any additional information, at this point it would be to your advantage to follow the tune-up procedure (in order) in the 1973 CSM.
(1) Set Dwell,
(2) Set Timing,
(3) Adjust A/F mixture screws to achieve highest vacuum (use a vacuum gauge),
(4) Set slow idle stop.
Engines need air (a given), fuel, and a properly timed spark to run. Find which is missing.
^^x2^^ Check the plugs for fouling (first). You "might" get away w/ a simple adjustment of ea. carburetor A/F mixture screw. Best to check plugs (first) to see if you might be running rich (causing plugs to foul).
How many miles on the engine? Sadly, your symptoms sound like the timing chain and gears need to be replaced. Check the timing with a timing light while cranking the engine. My money is on it being far off.
How many miles on the engine? Sadly, your symptoms sound like the timing chain and gears need to be replaced. Check the timing with a timing light while cranking the engine. My money is on it being far off.
I don’t think timing it was running perfectly fine before this just a little bit rich. It’s only got 82,000 miles
I can’t get to the car today but I’m thinking fouling since the seller was talking about the car running high idle since he basically just slapped a “new”carb on there and didn’t adjust it.
however I did find the choke was very loose but upon cranking it with the choke manually held closed it didn’t help.
I don’t think timing it was running perfectly fine before this just a little bit rich. It’s only got 82,000 miles
Read my post again. If the timing chain has slipped, which is very common on Olds motors with the plastic cam gear, the timing will be WAAAAAY off, making it easy to determine if this is the problem or not. This is exactly how my 69 Cutlass wagon was acting earlier this year when the chain slipped.
Keep it simple Green Machine and work your way up the cost and difficulty ladder...
Check the cables make sure all distributor connections are secure. If not maybe change the plugs, they can get bad enough that a car will go from starting and running to nothing at all surprisingly quickly. If not, maybe timing chain is due if it hasn't been done already...
By the way on a side note, how do you have an active busy thread that you are very actively participating in and "0" posts ...
Keep it simple Green Machine and work your way up the cost and difficulty ladder...
Check the cables make sure all distributor connections are secure. If not maybe change the plugs, they can get bad enough that a car will go from starting and running to nothing at all surprisingly quickly. If not, maybe timing chain is due if it hasn't been done already...
By the way on a side note, how do you have an active busy thread that you are very actively participating in and "0" posts ...
If you haven’t touched the distributor, get the timing mark to top dead center and pull the distributor cap and see how close the rotor is to the #1 plug wire terminal on the cap. It should be pretty close. If its looks way off its timing chain time. Usually they jump on decel or when the engine is turned off.
As for the post count, you were flagged as a possible spammer because as a newbie you made 3 or more posts in less than 10 minutes. It got messed up when the posts were moderated. I’ve been working off my phone for the last few days and will try and fix it tomorrow night when I get back.
As for the post count, you were flagged as a possible spammer because as a newbie you made 3 or more posts in less than 10 minutes. It got messed up when the posts were moderated. I’ve been working off my phone for the last few days and will try and fix it tomorrow night when I get back.
So before I went home tonight we went back to the car and shot some more starter fluid down there just for giggles and it kicked for a bit and then died and then wouldn't fire again. Tomorrow I’m swamped but Tuesday I might go back and check for sufficient spark.
In post #1 you stated you have fuel & spark. As suggested, pull a couple plugs & evaluate for carbon caked fouling. You're sure you have fuel "reaching" the carburetor? Generally a faulty fuel pump will show signs of leaking before it fails; although, they can fail w/o showing previous signs of a leak. If you fill the carburetor w/ fuel (as has been suggested) you should be able to get several minutes of run time. During this period of run time, if you pump the accelerator do you see two streams of fuel entering the carburetor?
In post #1 you stated you have fuel & spark. As suggested, pull a couple plugs & evaluate for carbon caked fouling. You're sure you have fuel "reaching" the carburetor? Generally a faulty fuel pump will show signs of leaking before it fails; although, they can fail w/o showing previous signs of a leak. If you fill the carburetor w/ fuel (as has been suggested) you should be able to get several minutes of run time. During this period of run time, if you pump the accelerator do you see two streams of fuel entering the carburetor?
it reeks of fuel at the carb and I had my friend look down and see if the jets were shooting and he said yes. All the while I was pumping the life out of the pedal. But I’m not sure he was all telling the truth because I believe the carburetor has issues. But it was running with it. What I did find was the choke was very loose and wouldn’t stay closed. But even when I had my friend hold it closed it still wouldn’t start. I’m convinced spark plugs might be caked especially with the high idle.
it did start on starting fluid briefly but if all else fails I’ll look at that.
This is my frustration. It is trivially easy to test for this and eliminate it as a potential cause, and takes far less time than we've been talking about it, but you want to do other stuff first. Knock yourself out.
This is my frustration. It is trivially easy to test for this and eliminate it as a potential cause, and takes far less time than we've been talking about it, but you want to do other stuff first. Knock yourself out.
So I went back and borrowed my friends timing light in my free time and we determined the car had good timing. I didn’t have enough time to pull spark cos I have work but that will be next.
So I went back and borrowed my friends timing light in my free time and we determined the car had good timing. I didn’t have enough time to pull spark cos I have work but that will be next.
What is the timing set to? BTW fixed your post count.
Please explain this more. Was it converted to HEI or is it still points and condenser? Carburetors are rarely the cause of a no start condition.
Glad the timing chain set looks good for now.
honestly couldn’t tell you. Pretty sure its points seller didn’t tell me much about the engine other than he threw a quadrajet on it and never adjusted it. I’ll send pics once I get back to the car. Honestly I think I flooded the cylinders out combined with fouled sparkplugs from what everyone’s been saying on here.
