Car breaks up

[fasterthanu]

I have a 1976 Vette, dual edelbrock 1405 carbs, Pro Action Heads, 700R4, 4.11 rear end. I noticed on my trip to school of 218miles that when i reached a toll booth and stopped and paid my money, that when i went to race my buddies mustang, my car broke up out of the hole. Did it twice. We were going at speeds of like 95mph for a while before the toll booths. Today we were going to the lake, and like a typical ford, broke down 4 times on the way there and back over heating. Well, each time i started my car, it cranked longer and longer and i had to hold the gas down, and my car didnt' want to run. Then i go to get on it, and it broke up real bad. I thought maybe flooded the spark plugs so I wound out my 1st and 2nd gears and stayed in the higher RPMS to burn the plugs off. Still wanted to break up though. I haven't pulled a plug, thats probably where the problem is. It does have a holley fuel pump on it, and ran great all last year. I am thinking that maybe my spark plugs were mayber fouled and and maybe flooding them put them over the edge?

Any opinions?

 

[Yoda]

Check the timing and esp the Dwell setting

Bud

 

[LEEJANDZ]

my car broke up out of the hole. Did it twice. We were going at speeds of like 95mph for a while before the toll booths. Today we were going to the lake, and like a typical ford, broke down 4 times on the way there and back over heating. Well, each time i started my car, it cranked longer and longer and i had to hold the gas down, and my car didnt' want to run. Then i go to get on it, and it broke up real bad. I thought maybe flooded the spark plugs so I wound out my 1st and 2nd gears and stayed in the higher RPMS to burn the plugs off. Still wanted to break up though.

What happens when a car "breaks up"

I dont understand the problem.

:eek :eek :eek

JASON *** BRAND NEW MAGNECOR WIRES FOR SALE!!! *** 1979 L-82

 

[fasterthanu]

well, it's an electronic distributor that was set up by the speed shop. By breaking up, I mean hesitation, kinda like it's not getting gas, or a bad restriction. I know a coil can do that too, along with bad spark plugs. But at the speeds I was flying at, and winding out the gears, it shouldn't really be the spark plugs, but I can't rule them out. I am going to give it a complete tuneup this weekend when I get home.

 

[LEEJANDZ]

Then i go to get on it, and it broke up real bad. I thought maybe flooded the spark plugs so I wound out my 1st and 2nd gears and stayed in the higher RPMS to burn the plugs off. Still wanted to break up though...

But at the speeds I was flying at, and winding out the gears...

How do you "wind out" the gears on an automatic?

 

[fasterthanu]

very simple. I manually put it in 1st gear and go a ways keeping the rpms up. I stayed in 1st at 4-5000rpm for a little bit...

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

I have a 1976 Vette, dual edelbrock 1405 carbs, Pro Action Heads, 700R4, 4.11 rear end. I noticed on my trip to school of 218miles that when i reached a toll booth and stopped and paid my money, that when i went to race my buddies mustang, my car broke up out of the hole. Did it twice. We were going at speeds of like 95mph for a while before the toll booths. Today we were going to the lake, and like a typical ford, broke down 4 times on the way there and back over heating. Well, each time i started my car, it cranked longer and longer and i had to hold the gas down, and my car didnt' want to run. Then i go to get on it, and it broke up real bad. I thought maybe flooded the spark plugs so I wound out my 1st and 2nd gears and stayed in the higher RPMS to burn the plugs off. Still wanted to break up though. I haven't pulled a plug, thats probably where the problem is. It does have a holley fuel pump on it, and ran great all last year. I am thinking that maybe my spark plugs were mayber fouled and and maybe flooding them put them over the edge?

Any opinions?

A buddy of mine had a similiar problem like you are describing & his problem turned out to be a cracked distributor cap (not to mention the fact that his distributor (as it was found out) wasn't tight enough & moved slightly when he "got on it".

I too ran into this problem (similiaar) with one of my hot rods. In my case, it turned out to be a couple of weak valve springs & one that was ready to discintergrate (spelling?). After changing the springs, It came off the line like a "raped ape" & went through the gears like there "was no tomorrow". This may or may not be the cause of your problem, just something too keep in mind when checking things out.

Dave (My 2 cents worth)

 

[Stallion]

If the distributor is just mis-timing maybe it's a problem with the distributor itself? Or maybe the advance on it? I know of mechanical and vacuum advance distributors, but how does the advance work on an electrical one?