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HELP! Headers glowing

O

OrangeMopar

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1970 Charger 440 has headers glowing red at idle. Car was put back on road a couple months ago after sitting for about 4 years and ran fine. RPM will gradually seem to increase after startup and then the headers will start to glow. Idle will go up and down some. Tach says around 800 but sounds more like 1100-1200. Adjusting idle screws on Holly 750 helps for a little but not much. I've read it could be carb, vacuum leak, possibly burnt valve. What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards carb since it has been on car for 30 something odd years. Best place to start?
 
Could be LEAN,
Headers do GLOW when engine is in full power mode...

PS: More engine history is needed.

-Cheap headers will glow.

Sounds like timing might be way too advanced.
OR, yes, a vacum leak will cause it to run LEAN....

Try this, get yourelf a Propane torch (Small Benx-O-matic) style from your local hardware.
1. Hook up timing light with TACH OR external tach on fender at engine bay.
2.. Start your engine.
3. Let it rum a couple of minutes so CHOKE adjusts.
4. Approach your engine, slowly turn on your "torch" UNLIT and place it slowly all around your manifold, carb base plate etc and Listen for an idle change (Faster idle) and also monitor external tach to see a visual. (Keep torch UNLIT so the propane gas is slowly escaping allowing it to be "drawn-into" the suspected Vacum leak)

IF you DO have a Vacum Leak, the propane will be sucked into the hidden leak and the engine will receive MORE FUEL and the idle will "jump" (Increase)
Take your time with this....it is the same principle as looking for a hole in a tire (reversed) where you inflate tire and stick it in bathtub (tub) full of water and look for the bubbles escaping.
 
Then again, the timing could also be too retarded, so the mix is still burning when the exhaust stroke comes around...
 
photon440's responce is the most common cause of this.check your timing.start with the easy stuff first.if timing ok,check 4 vac leaks.
 
I know this is off topic but the original post made me think of a story that happened to me and a friend about...hmmm...28 years ago! A buddy of mine purchased a 1978(?) ex-Washington State Patrol Plymouth. For a car of that time, I swear that car ran like it was on rails!! Anyway...the car had a nasty problem where it would just stall out for no reason. Have to wait a few minutes, try again and *Vooorrooom* running she would be. So this one time we are at a light wait for it to turn green and damn if the car didn't stall out. As my buddy is hitting the starter trying to restart the car some black guy on the corner is yelling at us "hey man! Can I get a ride up to the top of the hill?" Out of frustration my friend yells back "If you can tell me what is wrong with this *bleeping* car, I'll give it to you". So this guy yells back...

"Da pipes is hot, man! Dat's wut da problem is. The pipe's is hot."

At that point the car started and we drove off.

In closing, I know this isn't much help, Orangemopar, and for that I'm sorry. But your glowing headers reminded me of that story. Only in your case it is true- da pipe's is hot man! So I'd check for a vacuum leak or retarded timing. If you are running a hot cam, you'll need more initial to start off with. OEM settings need not apply.
 
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also check mfor blocked exhaust pipes mice love parked cars and nut shells don't burn off in mufflers
 
Thanks for the info guys. My dad is actually the one working on the car at his house about 20 miles away. I'm just a go between since he is not too computer savvy but I will be sure to pass on the info. He took off the idle mixture screws on each side , cleaned them out today and it is running a little better now. Timing should be fine, as it was never changed and the distributor was locked down tight between the time it was running good and when the problems started but we will check that too. Checking for vac leaks will be next if he is still having trouble tomorrow. Thanks again.

BTW I did enjoy the story Funship!

One thing I did remember from yesterday. When the car shut off after running for a few minutes and the idle was high, there would be a few extra rumbles from the exhaust. It did not sound/feel like detonation. That is what made me think that it was actually running rich with unburnt fuel in the headers igniting one last time after the ignition was cut.
 
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Something sort of similar happened to me this past spring. The car was running like hell and was backfiring through the carb, so I reset the timing that I accidentally f'd up and that sort of fixed it but not all the way. Turns out on one of the back fires I guess blew off the cap on the large vac port at the rear of my Holley 750. Plugged it back up and it runs like a dream.
 
I'll agree that putting the timing in in the tail pipe will cause the effect you are seeing. Also note that a high EGT is due to a rich mixture. Not lean. Thin wall headers may also cause the red to show more. Interesting point. I bet they pretty much all glow red to some degree and we don't normally see it.
 
I had a shove-y Smallblock 400 that put on its own light show under the hood if you turned off all the other lights. Pale blue spark plug glow and dull red header glow. Wheelie-maker extraordinaire!

The color actually relates to temperature (that's the blacksmith in me coming out..).
 
It's back running again. Turns out it was carb related. The culprit was a weak return spring. He drove it once this morning and again this afternoon with no more problems. Thanks again guys for the input!
 
????? I'm confused. How does a weak return spring cause the problems the car was having? If it did cure it, there's a lot of woo-woo going on there...
 
Yeah woo woo is one way to put it. Car has been driven 3 times, about 60 miles since the issue was fixed and it's still good. My best guess is the butterfly simply wasn't shutting the whole way to achieve correct idle and after sitting at a high idle for 5-10 minutes the headers began to glow. I swear it's always something stupid :sFun_doh2:.Only time will tell I guess.
 
Sounds like he may have fooled with something else while in there. Retarded timing is what I have seen cause this the most over the years. I would make sure the dist is not loose as maybe he knocked the dist by accident while working on it and advanced the timing a bit if the dist is not real tight. Its definetly more to it then a weak throttle return spring. Good luck with it , Ron
 
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