I'm at my wits end with my /6 225. Here is a little story on what is happening. I will be driving the car and it will run great no miss no stumble on the take off then they car will run like crap and just die while I'm cruising down the road. Then two days ago after it died my starter would barely turn over. So I parked it and was gonna mess with it some more after I could get home from work then when I got off I started the car and the starter was strong and the car ran fine till I got home ran rough and it died when I hit my street tried starting it and again the starter was giving me problems took at least 2 minutes to get the car started. I've adjusted the carb, The timing is dead on and I just replaced the rubber hoses so I'm not leaking any fuel. I also tore my carb apart and the float is still set correctly. Any help at all would be appreciated!! If you need any info just ask.
Could someone help me with this?
- Thread starter Smokedya
- Start date
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Is it points or electronic ignition? If its points I would replace the condenser, and the ballast resistor, both cheap parts both known to cause erratic running, complete stalling under cruising conditions, and both capable of coming back "online" for a time before acting up again! Just a start, and I'm sure others will have other ideas!! Geof
Starter, fuel line is getting hot would be my guess, have you moved the fuel line away from the block ? It could be vapor locking , check these things would be my first move, back in the day I seen many folks put the old style wooded clothes pins on the metal fuel line right in front of the engine to keep it from vapor locking.
Yeah I have wire holding it away from the block currently. But I will investigate that further I didn't even think about that. The starter is the original starter. The car sat for twenty years before I got my hands on it which was about four years ago.
I found a V8 mini starter and bolted right on and it spins my slant faster and quieter
X2 he could be running lean and or the radiator needs a good flushing or boiled/cleaned out.
Heat will do many things under the hood
Cooter
Well-Known Member
I can confirm Cosgig's diagnosis via experience. Had a 67 dart slant with points, the distributor bushings were worn out. The car started and idled fine, even drove fine, but on random occasions, the distributor shaft would wobble around in there and caused ignition problems and it would die. I had to constantly monkey with the distributor to go into town.
X2. A friend of mine had a /6 in a Signet and had similar problems. The distributor would wobble because of bad bushings.
mancusomopar
mancusomopar
check and see if you are getting fuel in the failed condition if not could be sucking up rust or dirt in the fuel tank that would stop it until the dirt/rust falls away
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
You very well could have multiple problems and combinations of these problems leading you down false twists and turns. You didn't bother to to mention what year model so I don't know whether this was the first year Ma made a slant or the last year. Regardless, it is still decades old, and this means the fuel system, the engine, and the wiring is decades old, and if it has not been very well maintained and even rebuilt there could be serious problems
Depending on where you are, there could be serious corrosion problems in the electrical system. Internal corrosion in the starter relay, cables, and starter. You cannot just stand there and look at it, you have to check it.
Clip a voltmeter on the starter and crank the engine. What does the voltmeter read under cranking conditions?
Remove the battery, haul it to someone with a "carbon pile" tester who knows how to use it and who is NOT interested in simply selling you a new battery and have the battery tested. The battery must be charged before testing, but not immediately before testing. THIS is a carbon pile tester:
Generally speaking you are up against this:
Battery condition
Battery cables and main power distribution to starter, IE main cables
of course the starter itself
Engine condition, IE rings, valves and valves condition
Carb condition, fuel system condition, and condition of the fuel itself.
Condition of ignition system and state of ignition system tune. Just because "stuff is new" does not mean it is "good" that is functional. For example a brand new distributor might have stuck advance weights, or you might have made a mistake setting timing. You might even have made a mistake installing the plug wires
Actual troubles in the system, such as faults in the electrical system. A very good example, is when you twist the key to start, the ONLY power the ignition system gets for start, is a separate circuit known as "IGN2" or the bypass circuit. This is a separate contact in the ign. switch, goes through the bulkhead connector, to the coil + side of the ballast resistor. If this is not getting "hot juice" during cranking, you will not get a good hot starting spark. You could have problems with the bulkhead connector, with the ignition switch connector, or with the switch itself.
READ please this MAD article which points out problems with the bulkhead connector:
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
Do yourself a favor and go here
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970088617
and here
http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31
and download yourself a service manual for your car
And if you are serious about obtaining help here, post the YEAR of your vehicle. Believe it or not, it is important to the rest of us to get some idea about what might be going on!!
You need to get, if you do not have, some basic tools for electrical troubleshooting
A bag of clip leads from Radio Shack. A digi multimeter, and a 12V test lamp.
Depending on where you are, there could be serious corrosion problems in the electrical system. Internal corrosion in the starter relay, cables, and starter. You cannot just stand there and look at it, you have to check it.
Clip a voltmeter on the starter and crank the engine. What does the voltmeter read under cranking conditions?
Remove the battery, haul it to someone with a "carbon pile" tester who knows how to use it and who is NOT interested in simply selling you a new battery and have the battery tested. The battery must be charged before testing, but not immediately before testing. THIS is a carbon pile tester:
Generally speaking you are up against this:
Battery condition
Battery cables and main power distribution to starter, IE main cables
of course the starter itself
Engine condition, IE rings, valves and valves condition
Carb condition, fuel system condition, and condition of the fuel itself.
Condition of ignition system and state of ignition system tune. Just because "stuff is new" does not mean it is "good" that is functional. For example a brand new distributor might have stuck advance weights, or you might have made a mistake setting timing. You might even have made a mistake installing the plug wires
Actual troubles in the system, such as faults in the electrical system. A very good example, is when you twist the key to start, the ONLY power the ignition system gets for start, is a separate circuit known as "IGN2" or the bypass circuit. This is a separate contact in the ign. switch, goes through the bulkhead connector, to the coil + side of the ballast resistor. If this is not getting "hot juice" during cranking, you will not get a good hot starting spark. You could have problems with the bulkhead connector, with the ignition switch connector, or with the switch itself.
READ please this MAD article which points out problems with the bulkhead connector:
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
Do yourself a favor and go here
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970088617
and here
http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31
and download yourself a service manual for your car
And if you are serious about obtaining help here, post the YEAR of your vehicle. Believe it or not, it is important to the rest of us to get some idea about what might be going on!!
You need to get, if you do not have, some basic tools for electrical troubleshooting
A bag of clip leads from Radio Shack. A digi multimeter, and a 12V test lamp.
63dartman
Well-Known Member
Make sure you have good grounds and carry a meter with you so you can check it when it starts acting up. Sounds like it is intermittent and could be hard to chase down.
nm9stheham
Well-Known Member
Ditto on the year thing!
Yep to the above: Just judging form the symtom description, the issue could very likely to be in the grounds. This would explain why the starter would be good then weak, and could explain why the car just starts running like cr** after running well. I would recommend cleaning all the ground connections and making sure all ground wires ARE connected, between the engine, battery, and chassis. Then clean all + connections to the battery, starter and relay, and to the alternator. I owuld recommend using scotchbrite or a fine wire brush, and a file on the engine ground points.
This all sounds electrical so I woujld focus on that and not the fule system for now.
DO you have voltmeter? If not, please get one; you are likely going to use it a lot on this one.
Yep to the above: Just judging form the symtom description, the issue could very likely to be in the grounds. This would explain why the starter would be good then weak, and could explain why the car just starts running like cr** after running well. I would recommend cleaning all the ground connections and making sure all ground wires ARE connected, between the engine, battery, and chassis. Then clean all + connections to the battery, starter and relay, and to the alternator. I owuld recommend using scotchbrite or a fine wire brush, and a file on the engine ground points.
This all sounds electrical so I woujld focus on that and not the fule system for now.
DO you have voltmeter? If not, please get one; you are likely going to use it a lot on this one.
Remove the fuel filter. Tap the INLET end from the fuel pump on some clean concrete. I bet all kinda crud comes out of it. If it does, remove the tank and clean it out or replace it.
I have redone the gas tank because it was horrible. I'm sorry I forgot to mention the car it's a 1973 dodge dart custom 225. I will check the battery cables I checked them almost six months ago when I changed the battery and the alternator. 67dart I'm gonna try that I believe I had a voltmeter here if not my father will have one I could use. The car ran fine for the past few months till just about a week ago and it's my daily driver. Thank you all for your responses.
demoman3955
Well-Known Member
i had the same problem with two of my slants, and what i found was the fuel line was clogged, and it also messed up the carb and fuel pump. from time to time if its really hot, it will act up, but nothing like before. i added a fuel filter before the fuel pump, and have the one in its original spot before the carb, I changed the fuel line from the tank to the pump, , the fuel pump and rebuilt the carb, and the problem went away. If the fuel pump is going out, it will do the same thing, but remember that that tank will send some nasty stuff through the lines.
nm9stheham
Well-Known Member
That is good on the hoses; bad on the carb, but hey, it IS an old car. Still scratching my haid over why the starter would be erratic....and I'll edit to add that: I can't figure out why the starter issues showed up at the same time.....or did they? Not that important...just curious.
i too,,,,took old starter to autozone when i first planted the slant in there, he said under load it was getting warm and the inerds where worn ( polite term for woreout). it still starts the car but seems like the new battery looses juice real quick. make me wonder if bad weak battery or the starter!? LOl
these cars that sit for years, there are lots of things that go bad from sitting so long idle and also who knows what needed replacing BEFORE it starting its hibernation!!!! LOL
these cars that sit for years, there are lots of things that go bad from sitting so long idle and also who knows what needed replacing BEFORE it starting its hibernation!!!! LOL
BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
Next time it acts up, run a jumper from BATT+ to coil+, put an in-line spark tester in cyl #1, if it still won't fire and you see the tester flashing bright (good spark), spray starter fluid down the carb throat and try again. If your starter keeps acting up, replace it with a mini-starter from a Magnum V-8 engine (Ram trucks, Grand Cherokee). They are so light and cheap you can carry one in the trunk. If it runs, don't leave the jumper on long or the coil and ECU will soon overheat. Report back w/ results and we'll tell you more.
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