340 not running anymore...Help Please?

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She Devil

She Devil

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Hey Guys,

I'm hoping I might be able to pick y'alls brains...My car isn't starting and I'm at a loss here.... Here's the history I have on it
I bought a 72 340 Demon back in November. I had to redo the front suspension, which took me a little longer than it probably should have, so it sat for a while.
Anyway, when I got the suspension stuff fixed I took it for an alignment and wound up having it overheat on the way to the alignment shop. My fault, I didn't properly refill the coolant.
Overheating didn't seem to do any damage and I drove it fine for the next few days till I took a spin in the snow, bent rim...... sat for about a week till I could get that fixed. Then ran fine for a few days, wheel fell off..... twice... and again sat for a couple of weeks till I could fix it with new longer wheel studs and lug nuts that would correctly hold the Centerline rims. I also did an oil change at that time.
Ok, so it ran fine after that till the passenger side ball joint popped out of the control arm. It sat, I fixed and then this time it wouldn't run.
It started ok, but didn't sound right to me, then slowly bogged down over the next minute or 2 and stalled. After that it wouldn't start again. I pulled the plugs and they were oil fouled so I replaced them with new champion plugs. Same thing as the last time, started fine, sounded not quite right, bogged, stalled and wouldn't restart. Pulled plugs, oil fouled.
Considering that it had sat as much as it had I thought maybe the valve guide seals so I replaced them and they were definitely no good, small tears throughout. I cleaned the plugs up and tried again. It started, sounded no better, bogged, stalled, and again wouldn't start. This time when I pulled the plugs they were gas fouled. Now I'm stuck... Too many possibilities and I'm not sure what route to take.

Sorry about the huge back-story, but I wanted to give all the info I could.
So, any ideas? Thanks in advance
Angel
 
Ok, there are 4 basic things you need to run, Compression, timing, fuel, and spark. at the point your at, you need to back up, and start from scratch.
First things first. Buy a cheap compressionn tester. you should be able to find a crappy one for under $20 that will suffice for this. Check your compression on all 8 cylinders, write down the numbers and post them here. If you can keep it running long enough with some fresh plugs, put a timing light on it, and give us those numbers too. You can also get cheap inline spark testers. Plug it in on each wire and make sure that you have a strong BLUE spark on ALL wires. Fuel, we'll get to it later. For now, that's your home work!
I want to tell you how sorry I am about your troubles. I REALLY feel for you! I just got back from my second tour in Iraq and decided to buy my highschool dream car, a 1974 duster. I paid a little more for the car because EVERYTHING was suposed to have been redone less than 10,000 miles ago (engine,trans,wiring,ect...) On the way home the steering gear box snapped, two weeks later the tranny blew, I had to pull the manifolds to drop thr tranny, when I did, I found out that the bums had rebuilt cracked heads. I'm a blue color family man, this hurt. I sucked it up, bought a new preformance tranny and a set of ported high compression heads. I fired it up, and the new found compression grenaded the bottom end!
I feel your pain!
 
hehe...... I have definitely learned my lesson on spending a bit extra because "everything was redone less than x many miles ago"!!!!!! Sorry to hear about your car. I've been a bit frustrated that I spent $6000 on a car that I was told would be fine for a daily driver and 6 months later I'm still walking, but my issues have been nothing compared to what you got. Plus, after spending all my time under my car, I decided to go to school to become a mechanic. I figure it'll be nice to, one day, actually know what I'm doing when I go to fix my car. So, this POS has really been kind of a blessing, disguised in rust lol

I do have a question about doing the compression test. I had already bought one to use the adapter to put air in the cylinders to keep the valves up when I put the new valve guide seals on and was going to do the compression test, but I was under the impression that the results wouldn't be reliable unless you had the engine at operating temperatures. Is this right?

I will see if anyone at school has a timing light I can borrow and see if I can get a ride to the parts store to get an inline spark tester and get to my homework asap. It'll probably take me a couple days, but I will post my results as soon as they are available. Thanks for your help :)
 
I haven't used a tester like you described, but I have heard the same thing. I just use the cheap simple rubber nippled style that you press hard into the spark plug hole, not very accurate, but for what you and I do with them (I.E. check to make sure a motors still ok) it's fine.
 
Sounds like more of a fuel issue, it has spark as it does start...carb could be blocked at the needle and not getting enough fuel, the filter could be blocked and restricting flow, or the needle could be stuck and flooding. What carb is on it??
 
It has a dual feed, single pumper Holley 750cfm four barrel carburetor. Its the 4160 model. Manual choke, vacuum secondary
 
I still think that checking all the basics gives you a good foundation. If nothing else It will let you know that there are no other major issues looming on the horizon. It also helps you control the variables. My experience throughout the years is that often times, there are several small issues amounting 1 big problem.
It's kinda like fighting a wild fire, contain the area first, then start putting it out.
 
With today's SHITTY gas brought to you by stupid liberal democrat tree-huggers, I would drain the tank and open up the carb, it's probably the color of coffee inside.
 
Not a bad Idea, but I still think that you're car should have a full physical. Checking the basics should still be done no matter what you find.
 
rednesss said:
With today's SHITTY gas brought to you by stupid liberal democrat tree-huggers, I would drain the tank and open up the carb, it's probably the color of coffee inside.
Click to expand...


Yea cuz all the good gas producing oil is now dumping into our ocean's thanks to oil hungry money hungry *** faced republicans. :thebirdm:

On a serious note, check your fuel filter also...sometimes those can get crap sitting in them.
 
Please astound the crowd with a compelling reason for crapping up our gas with 10% or more of ethanol???? It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than what you get from it. The only one's benefiting are companies like ADM who gave millions to politicians to foist this upon us. Only a liberal tree-hugging bong residued brain could look at the equation and see that it takes 1.29 gallons of diesel to make 1 gallon of ethanol and think that makes economical sense. Puff, puff, pass man.
 
I would think that the wet plugs are gas fowled not oil fowled. To get them oil fowled as fast as you are stating there would have to be a serious internal issue.

Based on you saying it will start fine and run for a couple of minutes then stall out and not start and have wet fowled plugs I would look at the carb first.

If you have a paper element air filter and it got wet it won't pass air. If it looks wet try again with the air cleaner off.

You stated it has a manual choke. Is the cable still connected and actually opening the choke when you push it in?

Next check to make sure you don't have fuel over flowing into the carb by removing the plugs in the bowls. The fuel should just barely dribble out when the engine is running. If it's pouring out then the float is stuck, saturated with fuel and sunk or there is a bad needle. You could try adjusting the float again but since this issue came up after sitting and it ran fine before an adjustment is likely only going to be a temporary fix even if it works.
 
67Dart440GT said:
Yea cuz all the good gas producing oil is now dumping into our ocean's thanks to oil hungry money hungry *** faced republicans. :thebirdm:

On a serious note, check your fuel filter also...sometimes those can get crap sitting in them.
Click to expand...

http://www.redcounty.com/oil-seeps-natures-biggest-oil-spills/39648?taxonomy=1873

Environmentalists take advantage of poor understanding of the natural world when pushing their agenda. For example, when opposing mining, they focus on metals, dust, and broken rock injected into the air and surrounding countryside by a mine. They do this while simultaneously ignoring metals, dust and broken rock at the foot of a glacier, flowing down a glacial river carving its path across the landscape, or spewing out of the throat of an active volcano. If nature does it, it is a Good thing. If man does it, it is a Great Evil.

So is it with oil spills. The hot story over the last couple weeks has been the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the accident that sunk the British Petroleum (BP) drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. Our prayers should go out to the families and friends of the 11 men lost in the accident.

Interestingly enough, oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico are not uncommon. Natural oil spills in the form of oil seeps release about double the volume dumped by the Exxon Valdez every year into the Gulf – over 22 million gallons per year. The sea life in and around the Gulf of Mexico use these hydrocarbons as fertilizer for the bacterial life at the bottom of the food chain and support some of the most productive marine ecosystems around this continent. (Hat tip to Dr. Jack Wheeler’s Half Full Report 5/07/10).

Here is a link to a 2000 NASA press release from their Earth Observatory discussing the Gulf. The second link connects to a 2006 photo from the Terra satellite of natural oil slicks south of the Mississippi delta. The third link goes to marine life around California coastal oil seeps. For more information, do a search with the keywords “Gulf of Mexico oil seeps” or “California oil seeps” for additional information. URL follows:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=20863
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36873
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/enviro/seeps2.htm

Globs of oil that you find on the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, California and the Atlantic seaboard are not manmade. They are a natural occurrence, and are as much a part of the natural environment as sharks, jellyfish and stingrays.
 
Well said redness.I really love it when the tree huggers(ie EPA) and the bloodsuckers(IRS)stop by the salvage,I really want to give them a big hug!
 
dgc333 said:
I would think that the wet plugs are gas fowled not oil fowled. To get them oil fowled as fast as you are stating there would have to be a serious internal issue.

Based on you saying it will start fine and run for a couple of minutes then stall out and not start and have wet fowled plugs I would look at the carb first.

You stated it has a manual choke. Is the cable still connected and actually opening the choke when you push it in?
Click to expand...

That's my guess.
 
dgc333 said:
I would think that the wet plugs are gas fowled not oil fowled. To get them oil fowled as fast as you are stating there would have to be a serious internal issue.

Based on you saying it will start fine and run for a couple of minutes then stall out and not start and have wet fowled plugs I would look at the carb first.

Next check to make sure you don't have fuel over flowing into the carb by removing the plugs in the bowls. The fuel should just barely dribble out when the engine is running. If it's pouring out then the float is stuck, saturated with fuel and sunk or there is a bad needle. You could try adjusting the float again but since this issue came up after sitting and it ran fine before an adjustment is likely only going to be a temporary fix even if it works.
Click to expand...

That's where I was headed Dave, just didn't have the time to spell it out...good job!

Dave
 
She Devil said:
Hey Guys,

I'm hoping I might be able to pick y'alls brains...My car isn't starting and I'm at a loss here.... Here's the history I have on it
I bought a 72 340 Demon back in November. I had to redo the front suspension, which took me a little longer than it probably should have, so it sat for a while.
Anyway, when I got the suspension stuff fixed I took it for an alignment and wound up having it overheat on the way to the alignment shop. My fault, I didn't properly refill the coolant.
Overheating didn't seem to do any damage and I drove it fine for the next few days till I took a spin in the snow, bent rim...... sat for about a week till I could get that fixed. Then ran fine for a few days, wheel fell off..... twice... and again sat for a couple of weeks till I could fix it with new longer wheel studs and lug nuts that would correctly hold the Centerline rims. I also did an oil change at that time.
Ok, so it ran fine after that till the passenger side ball joint popped out of the control arm. It sat, I fixed and then this time it wouldn't run.
It started ok, but didn't sound right to me, then slowly bogged down over the next minute or 2 and stalled. After that it wouldn't start again. I pulled the plugs and they were oil fouled so I replaced them with new champion plugs. Same thing as the last time, started fine, sounded not quite right, bogged, stalled and wouldn't restart. Pulled plugs, oil fouled.
Considering that it had sat as much as it had I thought maybe the valve guide seals so I replaced them and they were definitely no good, small tears throughout. I cleaned the plugs up and tried again. It started, sounded no better, bogged, stalled, and again wouldn't start. This time when I pulled the plugs they were gas fouled. Now I'm stuck... Too many possibilities and I'm not sure what route to take.

Sorry about the huge back-story, but I wanted to give all the info I could.
So, any ideas? Thanks in advance
Angel
Click to expand...

1.-Bent rim.
2.-Wheel feel off.
3.-Ball joint popped out of controll arm.
4.-Won't start.
5.-Leave it parked while you can, the big guy up stairs is trying to telling you something.
 
4spdragtop said:
So BP and Exxon Valdez are or were doing us a favor?? F'n assclowns!! BP and EV that is
Click to expand...

So I assume you threw away your keys and are now walking everywhere???

dilbert2004073470620.gif
 
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