My darn engine did it's phantom sputtering and engine shut down thing again! 20 minutes on the highway at 80 and a miss. Then another miss. And another. Then a several second shut down. The okay for a 1/2 mile. Then a miss. Then a shut down. Etc., etc. etc.........
WTF!
Last week I won a whole car show and drove 100mph for 1/2 an hour on the way home and not a single problem.
Dammit!
I had to stop or I stalled 5 times on the 30 mile ride home. I stopped at my brother's house on the way home and gave the car a good cool down before continuing home with my brother following me for the 15 minute ride to my house. It started acting up and let out a loud backfire, then it stalled at a red light real bad and wouldn't start, then erupted to life, then stalled a block later. We smoked a cigarette, restarted, and drove the last 5 miles home. It started sputtering 1/4 mile from home. I blew all the neighborhood stop signs and roared into my garage.
What the heck is the problem?
I had filled the tank before I left with Mobil premium. Remember my problem with my fuel tank not venting? Could it be that problem again? I fixed the venting and haven't had that problem for several years now. The carb is clean as a whistle inside, new fuel pump, filters are spotless. I can't imagine that I have a clogged jet. How could that cause the engine to shut down completely for just a few seconds, then return to normal, then stall entirely, then wait a few minutes and run normally for 5-10 minutes, etc.? I have a single side draft set up, if one jet was clogged then only half the cylinders would be starved, I wouldn't think that would cause total, brief, engine shut down, then disappear a few minutes later.
The instant shut downs with the tach diving to zero and then immediately returning to normal tells me it's an ignition problem. It's shutting off intermittantly. The fact that I can drive for 20 minutes or more when I first start driving before it acts up tells me it's heat thing. Waiting for a few minutes on the side of the road and restarting with no problems reinforces this belief. The problem's return 5-10 minutes later reinforces my belief that something is heating up and starting to malfunction.
Is it my MSD box? I've got a spare new one in the basement.
Is it my 10 year old Accu-Fire ignition trigger? I'm leaning towards replacing that and getting a Pertronics. It's one of the few things that has been with my RB and GTX cars right from the start of my re-entry into Opeling 10+ years ago.
Remember when my car died coming back from Carlisle pulling it's trailer and I had to get the whole kit and kaboodle towed the final 3 miles home because apparently I was using the wrong ohmage coil for my MSD? It appeared to have boiled out it's oil. I put the recommended ohmage one on 2 years ago. I grabbed the coil, MSD, dizzy, and alternator after the last shut down and all seemed to be the same moderate temperature.
Ooooo man am I pissed off! Nothing is worse than an intermittant electrical problem or any other kind of problem. How do you diagnose and pin point the problem when it disappears for days or weeks or whole driving seasons at a time?
I haven't touched the car since that previous car show when it ran great and trouble free all day. The only difference is that I topped off the tank. Did I not fix my venting problem as good as I thought?
So, two things for me to investigate and replace: Replace the trigger and make sure the tank is venting freely.
So, where should I buy a Pertronics from and what type? I hear that there's a Pertronics 3 version that doesn't resent being left turned on with the engine not running and other benefits. Does OGTS have that type? Should I get one off of Ebay?
Here's a video right after I pulled into the garage with the engine still left running. You'll have to listen really closely to hear the occasional misses:
https://youtu.be/ETWueCiw0Tk
WTF!
Last week I won a whole car show and drove 100mph for 1/2 an hour on the way home and not a single problem.
Dammit!
I had to stop or I stalled 5 times on the 30 mile ride home. I stopped at my brother's house on the way home and gave the car a good cool down before continuing home with my brother following me for the 15 minute ride to my house. It started acting up and let out a loud backfire, then it stalled at a red light real bad and wouldn't start, then erupted to life, then stalled a block later. We smoked a cigarette, restarted, and drove the last 5 miles home. It started sputtering 1/4 mile from home. I blew all the neighborhood stop signs and roared into my garage.
What the heck is the problem?
I had filled the tank before I left with Mobil premium. Remember my problem with my fuel tank not venting? Could it be that problem again? I fixed the venting and haven't had that problem for several years now. The carb is clean as a whistle inside, new fuel pump, filters are spotless. I can't imagine that I have a clogged jet. How could that cause the engine to shut down completely for just a few seconds, then return to normal, then stall entirely, then wait a few minutes and run normally for 5-10 minutes, etc.? I have a single side draft set up, if one jet was clogged then only half the cylinders would be starved, I wouldn't think that would cause total, brief, engine shut down, then disappear a few minutes later.
The instant shut downs with the tach diving to zero and then immediately returning to normal tells me it's an ignition problem. It's shutting off intermittantly. The fact that I can drive for 20 minutes or more when I first start driving before it acts up tells me it's heat thing. Waiting for a few minutes on the side of the road and restarting with no problems reinforces this belief. The problem's return 5-10 minutes later reinforces my belief that something is heating up and starting to malfunction.
Is it my MSD box? I've got a spare new one in the basement.
Is it my 10 year old Accu-Fire ignition trigger? I'm leaning towards replacing that and getting a Pertronics. It's one of the few things that has been with my RB and GTX cars right from the start of my re-entry into Opeling 10+ years ago.
Remember when my car died coming back from Carlisle pulling it's trailer and I had to get the whole kit and kaboodle towed the final 3 miles home because apparently I was using the wrong ohmage coil for my MSD? It appeared to have boiled out it's oil. I put the recommended ohmage one on 2 years ago. I grabbed the coil, MSD, dizzy, and alternator after the last shut down and all seemed to be the same moderate temperature.
Ooooo man am I pissed off! Nothing is worse than an intermittant electrical problem or any other kind of problem. How do you diagnose and pin point the problem when it disappears for days or weeks or whole driving seasons at a time?
I haven't touched the car since that previous car show when it ran great and trouble free all day. The only difference is that I topped off the tank. Did I not fix my venting problem as good as I thought?
So, two things for me to investigate and replace: Replace the trigger and make sure the tank is venting freely.
So, where should I buy a Pertronics from and what type? I hear that there's a Pertronics 3 version that doesn't resent being left turned on with the engine not running and other benefits. Does OGTS have that type? Should I get one off of Ebay?
Here's a video right after I pulled into the garage with the engine still left running. You'll have to listen really closely to hear the occasional misses:
https://youtu.be/ETWueCiw0Tk