Ready to try and drive my 73 Charger around again after a shutdown

[WH23G3G]

I'm pretty sure I posted about my last outing in my 73 Charger. Back in July it shut down completely in the middle of an intersection about 2 miles from home. Had been running good all the way up to that point and there was no warning whatsoever just totally shut off. I'd been having some guys fool with the mixture that day on my Edelbrock 600 so I don't know if it was related but I called the shop who I let work on it and told him and they said it doesn't sound like the carburetor but ignition. So it's been sitting for a month while I changed the mufflers out since the guy that tried to help me limp home cranked the mixture screws all the way in while I was trying to start and exploded my mufflers. So I started it up after it's been sitting over a month and I can tell it's still rich. But I haven't tried to drive it yet. I was going to let it warm up a few minutes and take it around the neighborhood a few times. I haven't replaced the ballast resistor, coil, or ignition control module yet because I don't know what failed. But I just bought some standard replacement ICM's and Ballast's to swap out and keep extras in the trunk. I've got a Mopar orange box for the ICM less than a year old. The ballast is years old and coil too. I've heard that's what the ICM's and ballast resistors do on the Mopars shutdown or keep you from starting without any warning. I just bought 14 new ballast resistors and 3 ICM's on clearance. They may not be heavy duty or high performance but may save me being stuck again. 

[myk]

Refresh my memory: did you lose all electricity in your car when it stalled, or was it just the motor that quit? 

[WH23G3G]

It quit and started right back up and spotted and sputtered through the intersection. I stopped at a gas station to check under hood but didn't see anything obvious. It took a few cranks to get it started and it popped and ran like crap. I pulled in and shut it down. Then  i couldn't get it started until later that night.

[ODZKing]

That sounds more like a fuel delivery problem, not electrical. Spit and sputter is not the ECU or ballast. If they go bad, you've got nothin'!
But fuel pumps will die too with no warning. Or maybe that was your warning.   

[WH23G3G]

After I putted across the intersection and pulled into a gas station to check under the hood for anything obvious. It took a few more cranks to get it started. I then was able to start it and I putted a few more yards down the road and decided to pull into a shopping center. After I shut it off and tried to restart it I couldn't get it started again. There was a mechanic coming out of the shop that stopped and tried to help me get it started by messing with the idle mixture screws while I was cranking it and giving it gas. Finally one time it backfired out the exhaust so loud it blew the muffler up. So then he said he had to go. I came back in a few hours in the evening when it was a little cooler outside and the engine had cooled down some. My friend came by and readjusted the mixture screws and it started right up. I then came back a few hours later at night and we changed out the fuel filter drove it home with no problems then. I explained what happened to the shop I go to and he said it might be ignition. So I'm going to at least put on a new coil and ballast resistor before I try to drive it all the way to the shop. It's a good 15 miles away. Maybe the fuel filter was clogged from sitting up so long at the other shop outside? It sat at another shop over a year outside waiting for the idiot to actually work on it but never got done. When I was redoing everything I replaced all new fuel lines, sending unit, fuel tank, fuel pump, and pushrod. 

[ODZKing]

Fuel issues are difficult to trace. I still think it is a fuel related issue but I've been wrong before.
Usually, ignition and electrical, works or doesn't. Although I have seen an ECU be intermittent. And I doubt it is mixture. The service manual tells you to put the mixture screw all the way in to adjust from scratch, the carb should still start.
My 73 400 sat on a stand while the car was being done some years ago. When reassembly came everything went back in and long story short, we couldn't get it to start. Mind you it ran previously. After severl hours of fooling we found, no fuel. Fuel pump went bad, just like that. It looked new, like out of the box new and worked before.
Who knows why, but we replaced it and viola - car runs.
Fuel filter is a good place to start. Let us know, I'd be interested to hear.   

[Grim Jhaixus]

When my 73 318 car did that it turned out to be that it spit the large vacuum cap off of the brake booster.

[WH23G3G]

I would think the fuel pump would give some warning. I've got this edelbrock 1400 but I'm beginning to think it shouldn't be on this motor. It says a Gm emissions carb. I'm going to at least throw on a new cool and ballast resistor before I take it out.

[Grim Jhaixus]

If I recall correctly (I am misinformed from time to time) Edlebrock uses properties acquired from Carter to develop their carbs, so Eddie's, despite catering to Chevy, are kinda the closest thing we can get to Carters.

[WH23G3G]

Well I was planning to drive it around a little today but it got canceled. There was a big rain storm pretty much the whole afternoon. I have changed the ballast resistor and I've got a new coil to put on too. I think I've asked this before but can't remember the answer. The ballast resistor I just took off my car had complete cracks all the way down the ceramic filling on the back. I don't know if that causes any problems. Oh yeah just to make sure the screw hole where it normally mounts on my firewall is kinda been overused so the original screw doesn't really hold it. So there's one right next to it someone drilled out but when installed the ceramic edge of the ballast resistor is kinda close to voltage regulator. Is that ok? Oh yeah and does it matter which way the notch on the ballast resistor is turned or which wires are hooked into which terminal? I would've taken a picture of the cracks in the back of the ballast resistor but my camera's out. But there is a pretty substantial crack all the way down the ceramic filling on the back.

[ODZKing]

The ceramic is just fill so it doesn't short to ground.  The resistor is just that, a coiled resistor in here that runs almost the length of the piece from terminal to terminal.
A resistor either works or it doesn't. If it goes bad you most likely wouldn't be able to start the car at all.
However, since the ceramic was getting cracked, time to change it anyway before something bad happens.
Keep in mind, the problem with changing everything at once is if it gets fixed, you won't know what fixed it. One thing at a time is the best way.

[WH23G3G]

I started it up and let it idle for about 5 minutes and drove it around the neighborhood a couple times. I didn't want to venture out because it's not running smooth. I know the mixture is still rich because I can smell it. Too many people messing with it that thought they knew what they were doing but didn't. Some guys at work messed with the one time I drove it to work. I'm scared to mess with it. I know you run each screw in until the idle begins to drop and then turn it back out just until you pick up the smooth idle. But I'm not comfortable on a 4bbl especially with an engine that isn't broken in yet. I've done it on my Slant Six 1bbl and it was awhole lot easier. Well when I drove it around today it started missing a little when you're accelerating to about 30. It didn't shut off until I tried to do full throttle from a dead stop. If you're going about 20-25 and mash the gas pedal it'll miss-sputter and then it will take off with tons of power. If this thing was tuned right and running smooth it would have a lot of power. It still does now. You can feel it miss at idle but it's hard to tell if it's the cam loping or ignition. I hadn't put the new coil on yet, just the ballast resistor. I'm afraid I won't be able to drive it the 15-20 miles to my mechanic's shop unless I get it running better myself. I need him to look at some other stuff anyway. He did tell me there is no vacuum leaks, he fixed all that when I had it in the shop before, and the timing is perfect. He said don't mess with the timing and he said we shouldn't have messed with the carb. Should I try the coil and drive it around again?   

[Grim Jhaixus]

To me it really doesn't sound electrical. I've never experienced intermittent electrical failure.

I am convinced it's your carb. If you can imagine the car as a human body the carb would be the heart, and it sounds like your car is having heart attacks when you try to push it. Sometimes parts brake, sometimes new carbs are bad out of the box, sometimes a needle valve somewhere freezes up. I've had both a new carb mis-drilled from the factory (Holley 650) and I lost the carb on my 79 Ford pickup to a power valve freezing up.

[WH23G3G]

I know my friend has a 1980 El Camino with 350 and Edelbrock aluminum intake and he bought virtually the same carb. An edelbrock 600 and the first one he had started leaking fuel out of the throttle shaft and was hard to crank. That only lasted a week. Then he got another one swapped out and it still took too long to crank. So Summit told him to get a fuel pump and he did and it still was hard to crank. He returned the Edelbrock 600 and got an original Quadrajet and he said it starts so easy and has a lot more power. Everyone I talked to personally and asked at the car shows and even my mechanic that I take my cars to said to go with an Edelbrock so I did. Now I'm not so sure, it seems from the reviews I've been reading online about other cars among Chryslers there is many similar problems. I wanted to go with the Demon 750 plus it even looks similar to the original Thermoquad my 400 had. I got a new fuel pump today, a 6415S that I will try first. If it doesn't work I'm pretty much down to a carb issue, I'm assuming. If I get another carb it will be a Demon carb. I don't really want a Holley or another Edelbrock. I know Holley is the preferred but I don't like the dual feed and the way they look. Anyone have experience with the Demon carbs?

[Grim Jhaixus]

I do, actually. My experience with Demon was that it's a flawless piece of art. The model I had was specifically a 750 "Speed Demon" sat on top of the 351C in my '73 XR7 Cougar, came with the car. Car was around 7 years never had a single issue with it. You pay for them tho.

The reason so many people will say use Edlebrock is the same reason some many will swear by the small block chevy, cuz they are cheap. I'm not saying poor quality manufacture I'm saying the cost is low. The rebuilds are cheap, they are easy to adjust, that kind of stuff.

[ODZKing]

I do, actually. My experience with Demon was that it's a flawless piece of art. The model I had was specifically a 750 "Speed Demon" sat on top of the 351C in my '73 XR7 Cougar, came with the car. Car was around 7 years never had a single issue with it. You pay for them tho.

The reason so many people will say use Edlebrock is the same reason some many will swear by the small block chevy, cuz they are cheap. I'm not saying poor quality manufacture I'm saying the cost is low. The rebuilds are cheap, they are easy to adjust, that kind of stuff.

Easy to adjust is key as you say. I see, now after owning one, why folks either love or hate the TQ.
My 67 AFB is one of the best running easiest to adjut carbs.  I love it!

[WH23G3G]

Well I replaced that coil just because I noticed the other one was started to leak oil. It didn't help the hesitation when accelerating but seemed to clear up a miss it had. I drove it around the block a couple times and stomped it at about 20, not all the way to the floor but just to see if it took off and it did but then when I turned the corner to go back home it shut off. But started right back up. So I went back home and decided to hook up a tach since it was now fully warmed up so I could see what it's idling at because it seemed low. It was idling at like 450rpm. I bumped it up to 700rpm. Then I proceeded to do the mixture adjustment one screw at a time. I turned the screws in until I heard the idle drop and then turned it back out just until it picked up the idle again. Resetting the idle back to 700rpm after the two times I did this. It now had a strong healthy idle and wasn't missing. Then I drove it around again and the hesitation was nearly gone or almost unoticeable. It also didn't stall out when I gunned it. However, I forgot to try a dead stop to full throttle to try and smoke the tires. I'm assuming it would've probably still died. I don't should I readjust the mixture again to see if I can clear it up totally. I never did put on the fuel pump. I really think all troubles lie in this carb. I'm trying to get it on a good enough running basis as to be able to safely drive it back to my mechanic so he can tell me to junk the carb or not. I know after I did the mixture adjustment and had it at 700rpm it sounded like it was a lot faster and healthy at idle. I didn't even want to put it at 750rpm which is the factory setting but anyway this is an Edelbrock and there is no specified idle for it.