[Dalles]

I purchased my 1974 Dodge Dart Custom 318 this past summer. I drove it about 60 miles home and it drove perfect. I drove it a couple times then took it in, had transmission flushed and oil change and garaged it.
Now when I start it it's like watery black soot or oil sprays from the muffler and it keeps dying. Tonight I tried it again, kept dying on me and then when I went to start it, it's dead, no sound at all but the battery still has juice. Any ideas what this might be?

 

[kuhn-77]

could be a blown head gasket, if it only hada a very small leak at first and was burning off the water and creating the water in the exhuast and mixing with the black carbon buildup makign your black watery substance in the pipes...then it finally blew and filled one of your cylinders full of coolant and now its hydralocked and wont let you turn it over......thats my guess.....could be wrong

 

[kuhn-77]

check your coolant to see if its low if it is then there's your prob more than likely.. .srry about the two posts

or you can pull all the spark plugs out and try to turn it over and if it turns over and squirts a bunch of coolant out of one of the cylinders then its a head gasket

 

[Dalles]

Kuhn-77, thank you very much for the information. I will give it a try and see what happens, though I have a feeling you're right. Thank you again!

Dalles

check your coolant to see if its low if it is then there's your prob more than likely.. .srry about the two posts

or you can pull all the spark plugs out and try to turn it over and if it turns over and squirts a bunch of coolant out of one of the cylinders then its a head gasket

 

[poncho62]

Sounds to me that the choke is just sticking shut........A car that has been sitting will spew out water from the exhaust, and black stuff with it means its not getting enough air. If it did have a bad head gasket, you would be getting a white steam.

 

[T-bucket23]

Sounds to me that the choke is just sticking shut........A car that has been sitting will spew out water from the exhaust, and black stuff with it means its not getting enough air. If it did have a bad head gasket, you would be getting a white steam.

I totally agree, don't start taking the heads of before you know what the issue is. Sounds more like a choke and a starter or battery issue. The starter solenoids in those older Chrysler's have a copper disk and stud that are known to wear out and will definitely case a no sound situation when turning the key.
Start with basics, clean the battery terminals, check all connections between the battery and the starter and engine grounds. Once you get it so it will crank, take a peek at the choke while it is still cold. Once you tap the gas it should close all the way. As soon as the car starts it should open about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. This is generally accomplished with a vacuum pot connected to the choke linkage. If this is bad it will not give the choke the initial opening and the engine will run real rich for the first few minutes until the engine temp starts to rise enough to open the choke.

 

[Centerline]

Poncho is right on the money. Water will collect in the mufflers when it's been run simply from condensation. Check any car when you first start it, there will be some condensation coming out the tail pipe. The black soot is most likely a result of a bad choke, especially since it won't stay running. Because the choke is stuck wide open the engine is running way to rich, that's why it's stalling.

 

[Dalles]

I appreciate all the help! The radiator is still full so I was reading online and it said that a loss of radiator fluid would be noticed. Does anyone know where I can get a mechanic book for this vehicle?

Poncho is right on the money. Water will collect in the mufflers when it's been run simply from condensation. Check any car when you first start it, there will be some condensation coming out the tail pipe. The black soot is most likely a result of a bad choke, especially since it won't stay running. Because the choke is stuck wide open the engine is running way to rich, that's why it's stalling.

 

[Dalles]

I decided to go ahead and replace a few things on the engine. One of them was the fuel pump. When I removed it and tipped it to the side oil poured out. It was like old oil and looked like chocolate syrup. There was a few tablespoons worth. I take it that this isn't normal or is there supposed to be some oil since that part of the fuel pump goes into the engine?

 

[Mr. Wormy]

the fuel pump is bolted to the motor, the motor has oil in it, some oil will be behind the fuel pump gasket, but as to your no run problem, im in agreement with everybody check choke check battery cables, at the starter too, make sure you got a good ground. Wormy.

 

[T-bucket23]

I decided to go ahead and replace a few things on the engine. One of them was the fuel pump. When I removed it and tipped it to the side oil poured out. It was like old oil and looked like chocolate syrup. There was a few tablespoons worth. I take it that this isn't normal or is there supposed to be some oil since that part of the fuel pump goes into the engine?

Why would you just start replacing parts when you dont know what is wrong. If you have money to throw away, mail it to me, I have kids in college. Check the choke as stated in teh earlier posts. That is your issue. This is a very somple mechanical device and there is enough info in teh above posts to troubleshhot and repair the problem. There is one post that is incorrect, your chake is most likely stuck shut not open. A closed choke makes things run rich

 

[Dalles]

Its not throwing money away and mom is worried that I will get stranded somewhere so she wanted me to change out some of the stuff because we don't know how old some of these parts are. Like the belts and fuel pump. The fuel pump was only $19.99 but I will check out the choke.
Thanks again for all the help!
Dalles

Why would you just start replacing parts when you dont know what is wrong. If you have money to throw away, mail it to me, I have kids in college. Check the choke as stated in teh earlier posts. That is your issue. This is a very somple mechanical device and there is enough info in teh above posts to troubleshhot and repair the problem. There is one post that is incorrect, your chake is most likely stuck shut not open. A closed choke makes things run rich