Post Road Trip Blues
Just about every year I take my 1966 Barracuda (1972 360 engine A-833 OD) to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, KY. It's 400+ miles round trip, so I'm always a bit worried as to something going wrong. Except for a couple of blowouts (thank God I had a spare both times), I've never had any car trouble and a few of the trips were really HOT!
About 75 miles from home I stopped for gas & when I went to restart the car it didn't start immediately, like it usually does. The usual thoughts of vapor lock...or did I flood it?...come to mind. I let it sit for about 15 minutes & it restarted, but still not as energetically as it usually does. Over the next few weeks it seemed to need to crank a bit longer...especially if it had been running for a while & then started an hour or two later (like at a cruise-in). It finally got to the point that it wouldn't start at all except for once a day after the engine had been sitting for several hours (and overnight)- good battery, crank hard, but no spark after that.
I finally fixed it by first replacing the ballast resistor (which didn't cure the problem), but replacing the orange electronic ignition box DID cure it.
Everything there is now fine, BUT at the same time I began dealing with the starting problem, I noticed my temp gauge, fuel gauge and oil pressure gauges were ALL acting screwy. While the temp has always been right on (and never an overheating problem), it hasn't moved from the 'rest' (cold) position - and it should have moved SOME in this 90+ degree weather. The gas gauge read 'E', so I went to fill it up & it only took about 10 gallons before spitting out on me at the pump. Now that it's full, it reads a little above 1/4 tank. The Oil Pressure gauge has always read close to 'H' since i installed the 360 engine 10+ years ago. Now it reads very low (about to the first notch). The dipstick reads right on 'FULL'.
I bought this car new, & despite the engine change, the gauges have always been right where they belong. The Lights, Turn Signals, Windshield Wipers, Alternator, Speedometer, & Vacuum gauge all work fine (as does the aftemarket tach).
My question (finally) is....Isn't it odd that three gauges would start acting up at the same time? Is there some common connector they share, or do I just dig in individually? I don't like electrical stuff to begin with. I keep hoping they'll fix themselves, but so far that plan doesn't seem to be working.
Thanks,
Mark
Park Hills, KY
Just about every year I take my 1966 Barracuda (1972 360 engine A-833 OD) to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, KY. It's 400+ miles round trip, so I'm always a bit worried as to something going wrong. Except for a couple of blowouts (thank God I had a spare both times), I've never had any car trouble and a few of the trips were really HOT!
About 75 miles from home I stopped for gas & when I went to restart the car it didn't start immediately, like it usually does. The usual thoughts of vapor lock...or did I flood it?...come to mind. I let it sit for about 15 minutes & it restarted, but still not as energetically as it usually does. Over the next few weeks it seemed to need to crank a bit longer...especially if it had been running for a while & then started an hour or two later (like at a cruise-in). It finally got to the point that it wouldn't start at all except for once a day after the engine had been sitting for several hours (and overnight)- good battery, crank hard, but no spark after that.
I finally fixed it by first replacing the ballast resistor (which didn't cure the problem), but replacing the orange electronic ignition box DID cure it.
Everything there is now fine, BUT at the same time I began dealing with the starting problem, I noticed my temp gauge, fuel gauge and oil pressure gauges were ALL acting screwy. While the temp has always been right on (and never an overheating problem), it hasn't moved from the 'rest' (cold) position - and it should have moved SOME in this 90+ degree weather. The gas gauge read 'E', so I went to fill it up & it only took about 10 gallons before spitting out on me at the pump. Now that it's full, it reads a little above 1/4 tank. The Oil Pressure gauge has always read close to 'H' since i installed the 360 engine 10+ years ago. Now it reads very low (about to the first notch). The dipstick reads right on 'FULL'.
I bought this car new, & despite the engine change, the gauges have always been right where they belong. The Lights, Turn Signals, Windshield Wipers, Alternator, Speedometer, & Vacuum gauge all work fine (as does the aftemarket tach).
My question (finally) is....Isn't it odd that three gauges would start acting up at the same time? Is there some common connector they share, or do I just dig in individually? I don't like electrical stuff to begin with. I keep hoping they'll fix themselves, but so far that plan doesn't seem to be working.
Thanks,
Mark
Park Hills, KY
