Thread: 350 stalls when put in gear

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I have a Holley 650, Excel ingition, mild cam, TH350 tranny. The car idles great and has 20 to 25 lbs. vacuum when idling. As soon as I shift the car into drive it wants to die. Checked vacuum and the modulator is fine. Shifts and drives great but under load at idle it dies. Any suggestions???HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went through everything, timing, carb etc. There are no vacuum leaks. The engine was just rebuilt with all new everything. We are at our breaking point with this!!!!!
Any help appreciated.

Does it quit as soon as you put it in gear, or does it die when you give it the gas? Does it just die, or is it popping out the carb?

We don't have a tach on the engine. Is it possible that the charging ability or lack of, has something to do with it? It seemed to be running OK yesterday, went to a cruise-in and parked it and shut it off. Sat there for a couple hours and lit the neon for a few minutes and noticed that the battery wasn't charging so started it up and drove it home with the guage showing discharge the whole way home. Once entering the driveway, the engine dies and won't restart without a jump. Figuring the alternator was bad, it was replaced and battery started charging again but then the engine stall, upon putting it in gear, began. Now after an entire day of carb adjustments and vacuum checks, it is still doing it. We checked the modulator on the tranny and everything seems OK there, carb is working OK too. Like I wrote earlier, this began after installing the new alternator that is why I asked if there could be a problem there.
We spent the entire summer swapping out the 235 three on the tree to a 350/350 and the engine rins so smooth, it is almost too good to be true but this stalling thing is driving us NUTZ!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dies when we put it in gear otherwise runs great.
JoAnne

The vacuum tester shows about 18 inches of vacuum.

Once we get this dying problem figured out,if we do that is, the other issue we have is the engine almost has a diesel sound when it idles. It idles smooth but has this annoying diesel sound. Maybe it is the nature of this engine, but I don't think so. Seems I should have rebuilt the 235 and not let the old man talk me into the small block!!!!!!!!

The idle is at about 900 the old man said but no matter whether it idles high or low, it still dies. He just checked timing again and adjusted it AGAIN with no luck.
JoAnne

Check your distributer advance, if you have a timing light fire it on the pointer while the engine is idling, bring revs up to 2000 rpm or so. The timing mark should advance smoothly beyond the pointer. If it's eratic theres your problem. Oh and safety first keep the wires and yourself out of the fan.

Timing is fine. The only other thing we can do is pull the engine AGAIN! and check the cam. I am ready to set fire to the whole damn car. Too bad I have to feel like that cause the car is my baby for cryin out loud. Ever since I threw a rod through the pan on the original 235, and my hubby decided it needed a small block, this nightmare began. I wish we would have just rebuilt the 6cyl.
JoAnne

How old is the fuel in it ? Could have tank of fuel that has gone off if it has been sitting a while.

What type of Accel ignition points?? Dual points??

just got gas today. HEI distributor. Now he is thinking it is a cam issue. I GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you run a new 12v primary wire to the coil from the ignition switch? It could be there just isn't enough current to fire the coil if you haven't???

if your cam was ok before the bat. went dead, then the cam should still be ok. if it runs good going down the road then the ign. should be ok. sounds like to me you have a vac. and/or carb. problem, if your timing is where it should be.

It's a mystery. The battery was dead cause the chrome alternator we got at a swap meet was no good. We switched it with a "new" one and the battery is now charging. When I wrote above about the alternator it was because the switch from the chrome one to the new one seemed to coinside with the stall issue. I do not for a minute think they are related. Steve thinks now that the cam may be a little off therefor not giving us anything on the low end. Several of our club members, (back yard mechanics), mentioned the cam issue so that is the only avenue we had not explored. I read another thread from someone in here that they were having a similar issue with their 350 and it was a vacuum problem, or at least that is what the replies were suggesting. Our's is not a vacuum problem so a process of elimination is taking place.
It is my hope that by posting this thread, and IF we figure out what it might be, it might help someone else that could be having the same problems. I do appreciate everyones input and each time a reply is posted, we both read it and check it out.
The car ran and shifted fine after installation, we road tested it and all was OK except for the alternator not charging the battery. Thinking all we needed to do was drive it more, I went about a mile from home to a cruise-in and on the way there if I didn't kick it into neutral and rev it up, the alternator wasn't charging the battery. Then when I left to drive home, I had the same issue except now I needed the headlights and when I turned them on, the battery went dead as I was backing it into the driveway. After a jump, we put it away with the intention of changing the alternator in the morning. As soon as the sun came up, Steve changed it and when he went to take it out to run it a little, we noticed then that when he put it in drive or reverse, the engine died. He would start it again and the same thing haopened over and over. He went through all the obvious checks, timing, carb, etc. Nothing changed. That is when I got in here looking for help. Steve is too proud to ask for advise but I told him I wasn't and posted this thread.
Sorry for being so long winded but I am extremely frustrated and am ready to hang a FOR SALE sign on it.
JoAnne