Thread: Car won't idle?

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Hey guys i have a 72 chevelle and i'm having trouble starting the car. It has a 350, older chevy heads, roller cam,lifters,rocker, single plane intake, and i just put on a new eldelbrock 600 cfm on it. The engine is turning over and it sounds like it wants to start but its not catching. Wondering if anybody has any suggestions?

Did it run good before you swapped carbs? What else did you do to it? Is gas getting through the carb? Need more info.

It was doing the same thing before, but the whole reason i swapped the carbs was because the old carb was just spitting gas out the top of it so my friend told me that the carb was bad, and that i should get a new one anyway. Gas is getting through the carb.

check compression, timing, spark quality, plug gap, wire continuity, and dist cap... i reccomend checking in that order.... since all of them but the last can be done without buying parts..... i have yet to find a way to test a distributor cap for micro fissures and such..... and at $6-$12, theres really no reason

Hey thesals thanks for the suggestions, i'm going to do that today and i'll tell yall what happens.

another thing that you can check is the timming chain while you do the rest of the stuff.bring engine up to tdc on the comp stroke,and you can se where the rotor is pointing and if it is where it is suppost to be.should be pointing almost at the #1 tower on the cap. good luck

Originally Posted by WRENCHD

another thing that you can check is the timming chain while you do the rest of the stuff.bring engine up to tdc on the comp stroke,and you can se where the rotor is pointing and if it is where it is suppost to be.should be pointing almost at the #1 tower on the cap. good luck

how is that checking the timing chain... i can move the distributor a million times without ever changing the cam(chain) timing

I think he meant to see if it had jumped time. You can move the distributer but the rotor possition will not change it should stay on #1 unless it has jumped time.

And double check your fireing order.

yes i know thats what he ment still doesn't have to do with the chain neccisarily... if the dist is off and you reset it then if it still runs off time, then its time to pull the cover.... but i like to do everything that doesn't require gaskets and some time first... even though yes on chevy's its a lot less of a pain in the @$$ to pull the timing cover than on fords

This is proably not your problem. But it might help. Get a can of starting fluid and spray around the where the carb meets on to the intake. get in the car but dont pump the gas if it starts you are sucking air. if it does it start i dont know what to tell you. But if it does start while it running spray in the same place and if the engine revs up you no for shure that you are sucking air. I dont think that this your problem but it is worth a try.

If a timeing chain has jump you should be able tell by the way the engine is turnig over should it you? If it turning over like the battery is dead or slugish means it is is advance to far and if it is back firing trew the carb it means it is retarded to much. IF it is only one or two teeth off you should be able to make it run by turning the distribiter.

denny i was just saying i'd reset the dist first... i have seen distributors jump too... and in my opinion, its easier to reset a distributor....