Help in NJ...

[euroZ06]

Good morning gents,

So after long search (6months) i finally pulled a trigger on a charger. After i sold my mint 76 633CSi bmw, i decided i wanted a muscle car. I really wanted a gen 2, but couldnt find one for my budget i bounced between late c3's and gen 3's.

Finally a cool car showed up, 1973 charger, 4spd, se with 400ci package ( but has 68's 440, cam, headers, and few other things to the tune of 425hp/500tq). Got the car from a forum member (bbodies only). Sooo, i had my brother go out and pick up the car in buffalo area. Owner said he didnt drive the car much past year and its been in garage since november. So when my brother got there, after few attempts the car started. After warm up the car would idle normally, but would die now and then. Anyway, so before he left, they tried to start it again, and it didnt... Owner said they probably flooded the carburator. Soo, being that the car wasnt driven, and maybe old gas we all kind of agreed that its prob normal(since it idled well, and reved happilly).

Anyway, we ordered a pick up, the truck driver said the car started and drove onto the truck, but two days later when it got to my brother they couldnt start it to get it off the truck. They eneded up rolling it off into parking spot. My brother got some starter fluid and sprayed it into carb and tried starting it again... The car turned, but wouldnt start. There is no smell of gas... Then the battery died(owner did a dick move and swapped the good optima that was originally in the car for some crappy old battery).

Ok, my brother will buy new battery on saturday, but that doesnt seem to be the reason the car wont start. Now my brother is handy, but not a mehanic and not familiar with old cars. What can it be? Do you know of any mechanic in new brunswick area that can come out and help out?

I called the guy that sold it to me, he said that either the carburator is flooded or the gas went back i the tank and needs to be pumpped by the gas pedal (as well as spraying some into carburetor). He says he doesnt have a valve that would prevent fuel from going back in the tank, but its never been a problem for him to start the car so he never bothered to instal one...

Help... Im military, stationed in germany currently, and will be coming back to the states... If i was around id probably try to resolve myself, but i cant right now

[euroZ06]

[JB400]

I'd pull the fuel filter first and clean it out or just replace it.  I'd also remove the fuel from the carburetor and get some fresh gas  put in it.   Pump the carb to make sure it's putting out gas.   After you put a fresh battery in it, I'd crank the engine a couple times to see if it'd try to start.  If it starts   If not, you're not getting fire or the timing is off.

[cudaken]

Good looking Charger.

With it not starting with the starting fluid, it has to be something in the ignition system. If it is a MP distributor system, I would guess the ECU has gone bad, or something to do with the magnetic pickup in the distributor.

You might want to have your brother post, that way we can get better details. Hum,  you sure you want your brother to be able to drive the Charger while you are in Germany? 

 

Welcome to the site, Cuda Ken

[JB400]

I wonder if it tried to hit when he put the starter fluid to it?

[hemihead]

My guess would be dirt in the fuel system or carb .

[euroZ06]

I'd pull the fuel filter first and clean it out or just replace it.  I'd also remove the fuel from the carburetor and get some fresh gas  put in it.   Pump the carb to make sure it's putting out gas.   After you put a fresh battery in it, I'd crank the engine a couple times to see if it'd try to start.  If it starts   If not, you're not getting fire or the timing is off.

Can u expand on how to check fuel filter? Location? How do i get fuel out of carburetor? Is there a plug in the gas tank to get the old fuel out? He tried adding fresh 93, but due to location of gas cap he wasnt able to get much in...
We are very new to old muscle cars.

[euroZ06]

Good looking Charger.

With it not starting with the starting fluid, it has to be something in the ignition system. If it is a MP distributor system, I would guess the ECU has gone bad, or something to do with the magnetic pickup in the distributor.

You might want to have your brother post, that way we can get better details. Hum,  you sure you want your brother to be able to drive the Charger while you are in Germany? 

 

Welcome to the site, Cuda Ken

Thanks!

So are there visual q's to look for in the distributor cap? They made ecu's back then??

He is an older brother so no worries there... Im rocking c6 z06 out here

[euroZ06]

My guess would be dirt in the fuel system or carb .

How do we clean it? He added off the shelf carb cleaner into the gas tank...

Problem is that the car is not mobile, so we cant even take it to a shop, and my brother has limited skills/time...

[euroZ06]

I wonder if it tried to hit when he put the starter fluid to it?

Battery was pretty much shot by the time he got the fluid. He said he will get new battery on saturday, but hopes are low that it will start.

Oh and another piece of info: car doesnt have a choke, wasnt installed during the build, so when/if it does start he will need to keep rpms high until it warms up. Im just hoping that its just shitty gas and the fact that the car wasnt driven enough, so once it starts i told my brother to put 200miles on it. Car was rebuilt about 5yrs ago and has only few thousand miles on the engine...

[JB400]

I'd pull the fuel filter first and clean it out or just replace it.  I'd also remove the fuel from the carburetor and get some fresh gas  put in it.   Pump the carb to make sure it's putting out gas.   After you put a fresh battery in it, I'd crank the engine a couple times to see if it'd try to start.  If it starts  If not, you're not getting fire or the timing is off.

Can u expand on how to check fuel filter? Location? How do i get fuel out of carburetor? Is there a plug in the gas tank to get the old fuel out? He tried adding fresh 93, but due to location of gas cap he wasnt able to get much in...
We are very new to old muscle cars.

The fuel filter is the shiny silver canister on the right side of the engine next to the valve cover.  Just remove it, then blow through the end that the fuel goes out of.  Replacing is a better idea, but blowing through it is a quick fix and will also let you know if the lines and tank are rusty.

 I don't think there is a plug on the gas tank.  To get the fuel out of the carb, if it's a Holley, just loosen up the screws on the fuel bowls on the front and back of the carb.  If it is a Carter or an Edelbrock, you'd have to unbolt the carb from the engine, remove the top of the carb, and pour it out, then bolt it back together.

[euroZ06]

Guys, if anyone is in NJ, please help! We will pay u to get it to work properly!

Ill be coming back to the states in a few months, to go to mil school in California. The plan is to DD this car for two months until my corvette gets back. I need this car to be reliable... Is that possible??

[euroZ06]

I'd pull the fuel filter first and clean it out or just replace it.  I'd also remove the fuel from the carburetor and get some fresh gas  put in it.   Pump the carb to make sure it's putting out gas.   After you put a fresh battery in it, I'd crank the engine a couple times to see if it'd try to start.  If it starts   If not, you're not getting fire or the timing is off.

Can u expand on how to check fuel filter? Location? How do i get fuel out of carburetor? Is there a plug in the gas tank to get the old fuel out? He tried adding fresh 93, but due to location of gas cap he wasnt able to get much in...
We are very new to old muscle cars.

The fuel filter is the shiny silver canister on the right side of the engine next to the valve cover.  I don't think there is a plug on the gas tank.  To get the fuel out of the carb, if it's a Holley, just loosen up the screws on the fuel bowls on the front and back of the carb.  If it is a Carter or an Edelbrock, you'd have to unbolt the carb from the engine, remove the top of the carb, and pour it out, then bolt it back together.

On the right side meaning the passenger side? Like the one that is visible in the pic? So just take it apart and clean it out?

The carb is edelbrock... So just unbolt and dump stuff out of it? Then does he have to add fuel through the top? If so how much? We were told two table spoons to get it to start...

[JB400]

The fuel filter is the shiny canister on the passenger side of the engine.  It is visible in the pic.  Just disconnect the fuel lines from each end and dump the fuel out of it, and maybe blow through it from the reverse end.  Make sure you put the fuel filter back on the same way it came off.

To put fuel into the carb from the top, there is a tube that sticks up on the carb close to where the air goes through the carb.  That is the vent.  You can put fuel through the vent, and that'll fill the fuel bowl back up.  It'd probably take about a 1/8 of a cup to fill the fuel bowl back up.

The 2 tablespoons of gas is if you're just dumping fuel into the center of the carb, and not into the fuel bowl.

[bill440rt]

Did the car run briefly with the starting fluid? Or, did it just crank & crank?
It needs 3 things to run: spark, fuel, and air.
If you are not smelling any fuel than you might not be getting gas to the carb. This could be a clogged fuel filter. Other than removing it & checking to see if it's clogged you're not really going to "clean it out". It's cheap insurance to replace it, they are cheap enough.
On the electrical/spark side, it could be a bad ballast resistor or coil. You may want to check for spark. If you have no spark it's not going to run no matter how much gas you pour down the carb.
If the gas is old, you may have fouled spark plugs. Remove a couple & see what they look like. If they are fouled, either clean them or replace them. You may also want to drain out the fuel & put some fresh gas in the car if you have no idea how old it is. A stretch might be a worn fuel pump push rod, but if it was running fine before than this may not be the issue.
If all else fails and you are unsure what else to do, check out HP Motors up in Morristown. Talk to Mike Bonsanti. He specializes in Mopars only.  

[1974dodgecharger]

Just put it in gear and drive with manual that's the nice thing. Don't need to sit there forever to warm and with foot on gas at high revs.  Let rev for 30secs and she should be good to go.

I wonder if it tried to hit when he put the starter fluid to it?

Battery was pretty much shot by the time he got the fluid. He said he will get new battery on saturday, but hopes are low that it will start.

Oh and another piece of info: car doesnt have a choke, wasnt installed during the build, so when/if it does start he will need to keep rpms high until it warms up. Im just hoping that its just shitty gas and the fact that the car wasnt driven enough, so once it starts i told my brother to put 200miles on it. Car was rebuilt about 5yrs ago and has only few thousand miles on the engine...

[resq302]

Where in NJ is the car?  I'm up in Northern NJ so I might be able to run over and help your brother out.

[euroZ06]

^ car is in east brunswick. Thanks for the offer!


Ok gents, my brother connected new batter, added starting fluid to the carb, car sins but wont start... It doesnt even "cough" to try, like just spins and spins. Once again, the car got on the trailer by its own means, so it ran before... My brother siad he looked in the distributer and it looks like all is in place and its pretty new. I tend to think there is no spark... Is that possible? Just out of nowhere all sparks gave out? What else can it be?

The weather is bad now, so he is waiting for it to clear up to pull the plugs... He hasnt checked the filter yet(is any store gonna carry that type of filter?).

Thanks again for all the help and advices...

[bill440rt]

Time to check for spark.
Do you smell gas at all when cranking? Is gas getting to the carb? 

[moparcharger]

Hey Euro, I'm about 30 minutes away. I can go over there, but as you know it's 15 degrees and now 8" of snow, so we need to wait a bit. They are calling for really cold weather for about 10 days. From what you are saying you do not have an indoor place to put it into...right?

[1974dodgecharger]

Wish I could help love a challenge. To get a car started.

[euroZ06]

Hey Euro, I'm about 30 minutes away. I can go over there, but as you know it's 15 degrees and now 8" of snow, so we need to wait a bit. They are calling for really cold weather for about 10 days. From what you are saying you do not have an indoor place to put it into...right?

Yes Sir,

You are correct, car is outside under cover. With weather being this bad, my brother wont be able to tinker with it. Would u mind sending me your number in pm? Once thing clear up a bit, i would get in touch with u and plan something out. Really appreciate the help...


Thanks all for ur advice !

[Dino]

Don't leave it under a cover for too long.  I understand you want to protect it from the snow but once the bulk of it is gone it's better to have it uncovered so it can breathe.  The cover traps the moisture. 

If that car was mine I would go about it a little different.  First I would check the wiring to make sure all is where it needs to be and in good shape.  You don't want a fire when it starts up.  Then remove the fuel line from the carb, stick it in a bottle and crank.  Got gas?  If not check the fuel pump and push rod.  Since they are cheap may I suggest you simply get a new set?  Now try again. 

[euroZ06]

Ok gents, thanks for all the help! The red mamba sings again! My brother went out again today and tried messing with it, he got spark tester and turned out there was no spark... So he started digging and found some little wire leading back into cabin was bad, so he fixed it and the car started right up! On the first start there was some bad metal clunking coming from the engine, so he restarted it and it went away... Perhaps one cylinder didnt fire...

On the side note, how do i know what kind of 440 it is? 4pack? Magnum? Here is a cut out from the original add

'68 440 mild cam (Not original motor- was a 400), roller rockers, Less than a couple thousand miles on 10 year old build (~425HP/500TQ)
Edelbrock intake, NEW Edelbrock carb- professionally calibrated
Jet-Hot coated big tube headers to true duals

[euroZ06]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152147538595139

[euroZ06]

and immediate update... Car warmed up, and after running for a while the radiator started leaking from up top... How are these radiators, is that something that can be welded or needs replacing? When the car was bought, it didnt seem to have those issues, my brother test drove and everything...

[JB400]

Glad to hear you got it running   A radiator shop should be able to get the radiator welded back up.  Don't use stop leak.

[euroZ06]

Ok will do. My brother will be traveling for next month or so, so next repairs will be then.

Another odd thing, the car drives kind of rough... Like idle is good, but when he got on it, it felt like it wasnt all that powerful... Maybe misfire? That was also present on the test drive, but owner assured that it was because the car was sitting for a long time and just needs to be driven for a bit... So keeping fingers crossed, but will have my brother pull the plugs and check them