65 Barracuda - Idle and no start issues

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Greetings early A community!

I am reaching out for help with an issue I am having trouble diagnosing (beginner here). I recently bought a 65 barracuda (273 v8) that was restored 30ish years ago. Took her out for my fist drive and ran into some problems. After about 15min of driving I hit some traffic and she died at idle. Was able to start her right up again in traffic until the car kept dying (traffic was BAD). Had to start the car up again 3 or 4 times, each time taking longer and longer to crank over until finally the starter quit. Turn the key and nothing.

Got a tow back to the garage and few days later (before trying to fix anything) tried to start her up again and to my surprise she came alive! I am curious to why this problem could have happened so it can be fixed and I can hit the road with confidence. I doubt the issue was in the fuel system since the car has a brand new carb & fuel pump. Change in temp could be a factor? Bad ground somewhere? Any help to point me in the right direction/resources would be greatly appreciated! cheers, Henry.
 
It sounds electrical, especially after starter quit. Bad ground, bulkhead connector or amp meter. Could be ign switch too.
 
Did you just run the battery down causing the no crank condition? As for the dying, It could be a number of things, but, sounds like fuel to me. Maybe that carb has a problem, not adjusted right, flooding, vapor lock, etc. Just because it's "new" doesn't mean it's working correctly. You'll need to diagnose it at the time it acts up, not wait a few of days. You may have to drive it around the block a few times to get it fully warmed up and off the choke. Try to recreate the same conditions in your driveway so you have the tools there to work on it.
 
Thanks for all the input so far! I installed a brand new battery when I purchased the car, but have not checked how much juice is left after the no start. Condition of alternator is unknown and there is no functioning ammeter present so I suppose that could be it, although I still had functioning headlights/interior when she wouldn't crank.

I've had the car up to temp multiple times at idle before hitting the road for the first time, adjusted the idle mixture screws down to the lowest smooth idle. The carb has a manual choke, so besides the idle mixture screws is there any other adjustment on the carb that would affect idle? If this is a vapor lock issue what would be the easiest way to combat that? Fuel filter with orifice and run a return line to the tank?

I will begin by checking the battery and grounds, then mimic conditions to see if the problem(s) occur again.
 
If it has the original points ign, the points gap has probably closed up due to rubbing block wear.

Symptom is stalling at idle. If rpms are kept up, centrifugal force + shaft/brg wear keeps the points open enough to provide spark. Come back to idle, & it stalls.
 
Check the charging system to make sure it's charging adequately. If the engine is running with no alternator output, it will eventually start running badly and shut off. Start there FIRST.
 
If it has the original points ign, the points gap has probably closed up due to rubbing block wear.

Symptom is stalling at idle. If rpms are kept up, centrifugal force + shaft/brg wear keeps the points open enough to provide spark. Come back to idle, & it stalls.

Interesting point, testing for irregularities with the dwell between rpms would be a way to check this?
 
I had that happened to me many years ago with a 65 barracuda with 273. It ended up being the coil was worn out. When the coil got hot from being near the hot engine, it just quit. It would run fine when the engine was cold but as it got hotter the car wouldn’t run.
 
I had that happened to me many years ago with a 65 barracuda with 273. It ended up being the coil was worn out. When the coil got hot from being near the hot engine, it just quit. It would run fine when the engine was cold but as it got hotter the car wouldn’t run.
I've had this same problem. Coil replacement fixed it. But, back to the battery and charging. You'll ruin that new battery if your charging system is not working, so check it too. Don't leave your battery half charged after that breakdown.
 
This problem could also be ignition timing. It could be the vibration damper may have slipped moving the marks. Whoever had the car before, might have timed it with a timing light causing incorrect timing. Use a vacuum gauge to set the timing. High vacuum and back 1" will give proper timing. My Barracuda had this problem. The car acted just you described.
 
Could the manual choke be closing by itself? Just trying to start with the simple stuff.
 
If it's cable controlled, I've never seen that happen, but, I suppose it's possible.
 
This could be a LOT of things. Fuel, electrical. XX years old wiring...........

I think I'd start by downloading the closest thing to a shop manual you an find, MyMopar

The barracuda stuff may be separate I forget, but the wiring is quite similar

Maybe "rig" a voltmeter so you can monitor what is voltage / charging doing?

Then rig a simple temporary pilot light on the coil + wire so you can see if the ignition is losing power

Have a look in the dist for condition of points, general condition. Points in good shape? Oil /grease/ rust in distributor?

Could also be bad coil, they typically quit when hot, but often start missing beforehand

How about rust in fuel tank, intermittent loss of fuel? You may have to rig a temporary fuel pressure gauge so you can see what that end of things is doing.

This old, could be anything........junk in tank, plugged/ gummy filter sock. Junk/ rust in fuel line. Rotten rubber tube connectors---one at tank, other at pump up front. Could be pump itself, and could something wrong in carb.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to help! Sounds like I have a few things to test/diagnose. I'll start with the charging system, then make sure the fuel filter isn't clogged and receiving proper pressure from the pump. Once that all checks out I will check under the distributor cap to see if the points are clean and proper, test dwell, timing (with vac gauge), and spark from coil.

Let me know what you think, I will keep ya'll updated
 
Not charging? Doesn't this model have a charge [ alt ] light or ammeter to indicate charging?
Secondly, OP says the the car started right back up when it first died. Would not expect that if the battery voltage was getting low because the charging system failed.
 
feel the coil after it dies...if its scalding hot, you got a bad coil. new points are cheap. A drop in Ebay all in one (bosch) is cheap too.
 
Another simple thing, could be a clogged fuel filter. The mech fuel pump only working at idle for a prolonged period of time may not have the suction to overcome a bad filter, where as when the motor is up in the revs, the pump can overcome the blockage. Also, be weary of what kind of fuel pump they bought. Those autozone fuel pumps are usually junk.
 
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