John Dwyer
Member
I have a '73 400 Fast Bird and it does the same thing. If it ain't choked right, you'll wear out the starter and never get a kick.
Can Wet Plugs Fire?
- Thread starter Ed Martin
- Start date
John Dwyer
Member
What you have there cowboy is a fuel/air mixture issue that can only be fixed by proper choke. Old big-block Mopars are all the same. My 440 GTX … same issue until I finally got the choke right.
HOG RANCH
Well-Known Member
wire
wire your choke open, use a screwdriver, just don't let the choke close. toss in a new set of plugs. a quick shot of starting fluid, and don't pump the gas pedal. hit the start button if it don't fart, ck your firing order. or your dizzy for being 180 out.
tomh440
New Member
Old ethanol gas?
Jack2018
New Member
Jack2018
New Member
Check the ballast resistor.
Robert Simpson
Member
No need to push accel pedal to floor. Just a bit past idle and you should hear the choke plate "click" shut
Bob Benson
Active Member
Justy went thru same issue on my 66 Satellite. I assume you upgraded your ignition to use a more modern era electronic MOPQAR ignition. What happened with mine is the ECU died after less than two week worth of running. Who knows why but it did. Had same symptoms as yours. For a $20 new box worth trying. Good luck.
Sam Lembo
New Member
Bobby Sixkiller
Well-Known Member
Unhook your coil so it won’t fire when you crank it plugs out. The spark from the wires could ignite gas coming out. Been there. Done that. It’s not cool. Also I would set the choke so it’s not closing at all until you get it started
gschmidt211
Active Member
I did not read all the posts to see if you have a solution for this yet, but when I had this issue, I found it to be the gap distance in the distributor was too wide. The distance between the 8 little spokes on the piece the rotor sits in on to the magneto or reluctor or whatever it’s called. It’s supposed to be like .008” or something (check your shop manual for exact spec). Mine was open way too much, just enough that it would start sometimes, run like ****, but mostly wouldn't start. Once I gapped that properly, she runs like a champ.
if you do try to gap this properly, you must use a non-magnetic gapping tool. Like a brass feeler gauge or something. I think I actually used a piece of paper folded over to double up the thickness. I think that measured .007” when I mic’d it.
if you do try to gap this properly, you must use a non-magnetic gapping tool. Like a brass feeler gauge or something. I think I actually used a piece of paper folded over to double up the thickness. I think that measured .007” when I mic’d it.
Last edited:
Bobby Sixkiller
Well-Known Member
Gap should be checked with a brass feeler gauge as well
Hemihaas
New Member
Crank it over several times with no plugs in it to get gas out of cuclinders and u sure valve adjustment is correct ??
gschmidt211
Active Member
I realized I left that out of my post. I edited and added that very comment. Thanks for the reminder on that.
jim94746
Member
rsw0331usmc
New Member
Some good advice by the members here, just wanted to add my suggestion..Verify that your firing order is correct. 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 COUNTER clockwise. My factory service manual for my '68 Charger shows the distributor running clockwise. The manual is wrong in that respect and had me baffled until I solved it.
WP29440SE
Well-Known Member
all my carbs have the choke completely removed and they start and run just fine , and i live in Colorado.
AJ/FormS
Well-Known Member
Every carb I have worked on has a clear-flood mode. All you gotta do is open the primaries 100%. At the very end of the throttle-valve opening, a lever will open the choke at least a quarter inch, then you just crank it until it starts firing. It might start with just one plug firing,then three, then who knows but after several revolutions, it will begin trying to run; just keep cranking with the pedal on the floor. Well don't crank it forever,lol,sooner or later the starter might overheat and burn up. That's what they say but it's never happened to me .......
I have started dozens of cars this way since 1969. In fact I start my 1980 Volare slanty like this several times every summer when/if I have to move it. I actually splash a good ounce of gas straight into the carb throat. And my HO367 gets the same treatment every spring.
However;
there will come a point that if it hasn't started, then it won't because all the oil has been washed off the cylinder walls, and your ring-seal is too poor to help draw air into the chambers, and the cylinder pressure is too low to clear the plugs. For this reason I always use gas that I have already mixed oil into, for use by my weed-whacker/chainsaw. Works like a charm.
As for the reluctor gap, my testing shows a gap from zero to about .030 will reliably trigger the Factory ECUs, while .008 to .011 seems to be a good target if your top bushing is in good shape. Sometimes I have had to compensate for a bad bushing. It's just like points in that regard. The reason we use a brass feeler gauge, is because it's easier to "sense" the gap when magnetism isn't sucking it all together. I use whatever is handy, cuz it just ain't that critical. Rather, perhaps I should say; I've never found it to be critical.
As for float level; when it comes to starting; if the choke closes all the way then she hardly cares about float level. This is because an actual cold engine requires huge amounts of fuel to get going because a huge amount of that fuel will never take part in combustion, during the cranking period. Some of it is gonna puddle in the intake, some is gonna stick to the runner surfaces, and some of it is gonna pass straight thru the engine never having caught fire. And if you have a compression problem or the cylinders have been washed clean,then it's only gonna be worse. But as soon as she starts, well, all that fuel that that is hanging around in the intake, is gonna make it's way into the chambers and sometimes, almost all of it at once! So the fast idle is there to try to keep the engine running at this time. In a few seconds to a half-minute or so, the engine will clean itself out and the rpm may be a lil high; so this is when you " kick it down" a step on the fast-idle cam. Now the fuel-level becomes important. As does the choke pull-off adjustment. Depending on the ambient temp, and the condition of the carb-heating system, it should become possible at about the three-minute-mark, to kick the choke off. Now your low-speed system takes over.
But no; wet plugs no sparky;the electrode is shorted. Cracked insulators will often not spark either. Same with heavily sooted; and few coils will spark .080 gaps during cold-start. But .045 with a good coil is better than .035 with a crappy one..
I have started dozens of cars this way since 1969. In fact I start my 1980 Volare slanty like this several times every summer when/if I have to move it. I actually splash a good ounce of gas straight into the carb throat. And my HO367 gets the same treatment every spring.
However;
there will come a point that if it hasn't started, then it won't because all the oil has been washed off the cylinder walls, and your ring-seal is too poor to help draw air into the chambers, and the cylinder pressure is too low to clear the plugs. For this reason I always use gas that I have already mixed oil into, for use by my weed-whacker/chainsaw. Works like a charm.
As for the reluctor gap, my testing shows a gap from zero to about .030 will reliably trigger the Factory ECUs, while .008 to .011 seems to be a good target if your top bushing is in good shape. Sometimes I have had to compensate for a bad bushing. It's just like points in that regard. The reason we use a brass feeler gauge, is because it's easier to "sense" the gap when magnetism isn't sucking it all together. I use whatever is handy, cuz it just ain't that critical. Rather, perhaps I should say; I've never found it to be critical.
As for float level; when it comes to starting; if the choke closes all the way then she hardly cares about float level. This is because an actual cold engine requires huge amounts of fuel to get going because a huge amount of that fuel will never take part in combustion, during the cranking period. Some of it is gonna puddle in the intake, some is gonna stick to the runner surfaces, and some of it is gonna pass straight thru the engine never having caught fire. And if you have a compression problem or the cylinders have been washed clean,then it's only gonna be worse. But as soon as she starts, well, all that fuel that that is hanging around in the intake, is gonna make it's way into the chambers and sometimes, almost all of it at once! So the fast idle is there to try to keep the engine running at this time. In a few seconds to a half-minute or so, the engine will clean itself out and the rpm may be a lil high; so this is when you " kick it down" a step on the fast-idle cam. Now the fuel-level becomes important. As does the choke pull-off adjustment. Depending on the ambient temp, and the condition of the carb-heating system, it should become possible at about the three-minute-mark, to kick the choke off. Now your low-speed system takes over.
But no; wet plugs no sparky;the electrode is shorted. Cracked insulators will often not spark either. Same with heavily sooted; and few coils will spark .080 gaps during cold-start. But .045 with a good coil is better than .035 with a crappy one..
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