[eric32]

Hello guys well I am going to hook up my vacuum gauge and check for leaks but idle is fine and shows no signs of one but I still will check. As far as taking my truck. To a shop there is one that is good and that was about two years ago and I ended up paying two hundred dollars plus just for them to tell me it might need a new coil. Heck the amout of money I paid them I could of had to new distributors for that cost. Only funds thrown at this so far is 30 bucks for a set of wires cause everything else I had extra. I will check with vacuum gauge then do a compression test as last resort. This problem has persisted to keep happenning and the very last thing I will do is bring it to a shop and once again have a scope put on it. Thanks guys. As far as rotor phasing I. Have had two different caps on and still have the issue and I don't know how to check that but will do a google search.

[cobalt327]

eric32, there's a link to info on rotor phasing (from MSD) in my previous post, in case you missed it. It involves using a cap cut out so you can see the relationship of the rotor tip to the plug terminals.

Good luck.

[sparkchaser]

Originally Posted by eric32

Hello guys well I am going to hook up my vacuum gauge and check for leaks but idle is fine and shows no signs of one but I still will check. As far as taking my truck. To a shop there is one that is good and that was about two years ago and I ended up paying two hundred dollars plus just for them to tell me it might need a new coil. Heck the amout of money I paid them I could of had to new distributors for that cost. Only funds thrown at this so far is 30 bucks for a set of wires cause everything else I had extra. I will check with vacuum gauge then do a compression test as last resort. This problem has persisted to keep happenning and the very last thing I will do is bring it to a shop and once again have a scope put on it. Thanks guys. As far as rotor phasing I. Have had two different caps on and still have the issue and I don't know how to check that but will do a google search.

You say you went to a shop that was good and they charged over $200 just to scope an engine. Sounds like a bunch of rip-off artists to me. It's a shame you can't find a good shop, a scope will show exactly which cylinder or cylinders are dropping out and whether or not they are the same or random.
A scope and someone who can read it turns ignition problems into a ten minute job instead of hours of guesswork.
Sadly, tune up shops seem to be dying out due to newer cars not needing the attention our old hot rods do. a good shop with good equipment can find components degrading long before they give problems.

[NEW INTERIORS]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

What does a vacuum gauge reading look like? Have you done a compression test?

What about the float level? You mentioned the plugs were gas fouled- that should not be happening. Fuel pressure excessive? Plugged air bleeds? Blown power valve? See if it'll stay running or stall out when you screw the idle mixture screws all the way in (count the turns so you can return them to where they were, or plan on readjusting the idle mixture, engine fully warmed up).

Could be too-tight valves. Might be time to bite the bullet and adjust the valves w/the engine running. That way there's no doubt where zero lash is. I'd still check for vacuum leaks, etc. first.

Another thing to look at is the rotor phasing.

That's what I was leading up to in post 10..

[cobalt327]

eric32, I took a look at a thread you had about a carb: Opinion on Holley 670 street avenger pics inside.

If this is the same carb you're now using, I have a concern. You mentioned the air bleed bypass in the center of the carb. Said that you were "going to leave it out for now", or words to that effect. Which should have been fine...

But, if you removed the air bypass jet entirely, that could have created a vacuum leak- IF the center channel has been opened up already. If that is the case, the orifice that the air bleed occupies needs to be either blocked off entirely w/an undrilled jet, or have a small diameter hole drilled to provide an air bypass to let a big cam idle w/o opening the primaries too far, ala the BG Idle Eze.

Just because the channel was supposed to be closed off, I wouldn't take that as gospel. I'd check it to be positive.

[455olds]

What about the pickup coil? They can get brittle and arc out as the vacuum advance moves the plate the ignition module sits on. I had one fail once the engine got warmed up. Easy to test, disconnect it from the module and check across the leads with ohmmeter (should be 500-1500 ohms, I think wires are green and white). Check from each leg to ground it should read infinite, be sure to move the plate as you do these tests to see if they short when moved. I also helped my cousin with a similar issue, he was missing a ground strap from the HEI coil to the wiring plug on the cap. It ran great then all of a sudden did not even though the ground was missing for quite some time.

[eric32]

Hello guys I know its been almost a month and I finally found out my problem almost by accident. I brought my truck up to my dad's house so we had a warm place to be able to have some time to check things out. Well we looked and checked everything all over the distributor again and could not understand why it was running horrible. I took it out on the highway and it all of a sudden just quit and would not start anymore. We had control module checked and it turned out fine and also the coil was good. Well here is the kicker he said only thing left to check was the pickup and I said I never heard of those going bad just the modules or coils but he said they can so when he went to check it turns out one of the wires the green one that hooks up to the control module was not in the boot very well and there for made for a short and loose connection. He pushed it back in and boom we had fire again and the missing part sound like its maybe a exhaust leak.Some times the simple things are not found right away but a nice simple fix. Thanks guys for your input and advice appreciate it.
eric