starting problems.

[masshole73]

So before i stored my beloved 1973 dodge charger away for the winter, everything was running fine, turn key and go. a couple days before i stored her, i went to start it one morning and bam, no go. thought i was out of gas because the gas gauge does not work (on the list of things to fix) and after filling it up and still having no luck i decided to pull the plug and store her for the winter. Over winter time I did various things, alternator, distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, coil, ballast, mopar chrome ECU, carb spacer, trans and oil pan, and i have a nice powermaster starter ready to go. the engine turns over fine, and i did find a small leak in the fuel line going up to the carb which has since been fixed. but im still having no luck and with the nice weather this week i am completely stumped. any ideas or suggestions? it is getting fuel to the carb. spark plugs are all brand new. im writing this and pulling my hair out at the same time. should i try firing in the new starter, could that be the culprit? I just find it so annoying that one day it fires up, the next it wont. Thanks

 

[Mr Belvedere 30144]

First pull a plug and set it against a ground and check for a strong spark. If you have a good strong sparking plug then next get some starter fluid and spray in the carb while cranking the engine. If it fires you have a fuel problem. If you do not have a strong sparking plug you will have to trace this back from there to find out why. Hope that helps.

 

[HT413]

If you do the above tests and find you have a strong spark, perhaps disconnect the fuel line from the carb, direct the line or into a coffee can, turn it over and see if fuel is being pumped. I had a similar issue and it turned out to be a fuel pump push rod. For a few weeks, when I would really get on it, the car would stumble like I was emptying the fuel bowls then run fine once I got out of the throttle. Seemed like a fuel pump to me, so I swapped it out but no change. Turned out to be the push rod.

 

[masshole73]

thanks guys, will give it a try!

 

[masshole73]

okay update: getting spark to plugs, getting fuel and compression is good. tossed in a new distributor, got the nastiest backfire i have EVER heard. smoke everywhere and ears are still ringing, could timing be the issue? air fuel mixture? this is angering me now, feels like someone just tossed a concussion bomb in my garage.

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could distributor be 180 out?

 

[bigblock]

Most likely. I bet your mufflers are shaped like a basket ball too.

 

[masshole73]

what do you mean by that?

 

[masshole73]

okay new theory. timing chain skipped which would explain a lot, and when everything is set up at TDC the rotor on the dist is pointing at cylinder 2. also might try spinning the oil pump shaft with a long screwdriver to get it to point the rotor at cylinder one before messing with the timing chain. any opinions or thoughts?