Well my battery died about two days ago. I replaced it with a brand spanking new one and when I went to take it for a drive yesterday I noticed that it felt like it was missing. So today I checked all the spark plugs and regaped them and replaced them and it still made the same feeling. I noticed that the air filter was really dirty so I used the K&N recharge kit and cleaned it really well and still the car made the same feeling. Finally I took my boyfriend for a ride and he said it feels and sounds like it is backfiring out of the exhaust. How and what is causing this? How can it be fixed? and Most importantly how much will it cost? By the way I checked the wires, cap and to the best of my limited knowledge the points didn't look fouled or worn (don't have much experience with these). Could it be timing? Could it be the points? The carb running to rich/lean? I also have another question, when I had my engine rebuilt I had Heddman shorty headers put in. When the guys at the shop were putting them in they had to crimp one of the pipes some. My question is, will this cause excess heat on one of the cylinders? Should I have that part of the header replaced? Or am I just being paranoid? Thanks in advance for all of the help. My car is a 73 V-8, 4 barrel 650 carb, performer 2 intake, and everything else is pretty stock. Thanks again. jeri
To be honest, it could be so simple or so hard to find it could drive one to drink. If you haven't messed with the timing and the chain hasn't gone bad it shouldn't be the timing. If you are sure about the wires and plugs then I would check the points gap and recheck the cap, sometimes a crack in your cap can make the spark jump inside the cap and cause what you are describing. You could have a bad plug or plug wire, if you haven’t had a tune up in a while it sounds like now would be a good time to replace the easy stuff, plugs, cap, rotor and wires. Most of the local parts houses should carry your favorite brand, and we won’t open that can of worms, at a fair price. You should be able to get everything from $40.00 to $50.00 range. I hope I’ve helped some and I know some of the other guys here will have some good input for you as well. Good luck! Terry Gates AKA Bossmav
I say points is probably the most likely problem. They are definitely the weak link in that system. Replace them and set them with a dwell meter. Or better yet, for what a good dwell meter costs, get a Petronix system and do away with them all together. About $80
As mentioned above, several things can cause this. One thing to check on a small block Ford is the spark plug wires for #7 & #8 cylinders. They are right next to each other in the firing order and the wires run along side each other from the distributor cap. If the plug wires are leaking they can induce current into one another and cause a crossfire. Good luck.
Just adding my 2 cents here......I think the first thing I would check is for a bad ground. you said you had changed the battery ? there is a strong posibility that you may have loosend up a body ground just a thought......
. You really have to check everything because it could be any of them. Check the cap and wires closely, get new points (they are very cheap) and be sure to set them correctly (which can take some time), check the timing with a timing light and you might want to play around with the air/fuel mixture screws on your carburetor. This takes some patience to find the right mixture, and you might want to write down the number of turns you adjust each one, just in case you want to go back to the original configuration. If it started running noticeably worse after the battery change, check both of ure battery cables, where they connect to the body ground (negative/black wire) and to the starter solenoid (positive/red wire).
Wait until it is dark , spray the cap ,wires and sparkplugs with water from a windex bottle or something start it up and see if you can see any sparks or arcs some where . Better yet get someone to stand on the brake in gear and load it up a little . Be careful where you stand so you dont get run over . Maybe the weak part of the high voltage system , if any will show up . It works for me about half of the time . Sounds dumb but works
Well turns out that the carb was running way too lean for some odd reason so after about an hour of turning the screws and messing with the idle it is no longer running rough or backfiring. However now sometimes when I go to start it, the car will just make this huge clunking noise. I just got a new battery (Walmart) and someone told me that I may have too much juice going to the starter and somehow it's flooding the system? Could they be right or are they just talking out of their a$$? Does this sound like a points thing, starter, or alternator (sometimes the alt light will come on and flicker) or something else completely? Thanks guys for all the help. Jeri
Excuse me while I ASSSSSSSSk you a question?? (What movies, Folks?) Yes, they are talking out their A$$.
or Varsity Blues Good MOON-in boys. I've been up since the CRACK of dawn, and i had to ASSSSSSK you a question. is it just me or are there too many a**holes at our school?
