vapor lock question(update4/10/8 fixed prob.)

[XXSpiralXX]

  I have a very similar problem now. The only difference is that mine is a BONE STOCK 72 318!  And it does it without getting too hot either. I had big distributor problems with my old points setup and swapped it out. No more starting issues. At the same time I had stalling problems that I associated with the distributor but its still doing it. If I jump on it ( Cant really go too nuts its only a 2bbl ) after a few seconds it starts to stumble and spit. And if I stop the car quickley it cuts out completely. Sometimes it will start again right away but mostly I have to wait for a few seconds. Also, when the car gets hot ( stock gauge has the needle about halfway up ) it starts to stumble and cut out.
Now, this happens sometimes when im on the gas. I could be cruising down the highway and it will just start spitting and stumbling. When this happens I have to put it in neutral and keep pumping the gas. Sometimes this works sometimes it doesnt. Im the king of restarting my car at 60 mph....   
    Anyway. Since the plugs wires distributor and coil are new I was thinking it had to be a fuel problem. The timing chain is a milodon double roller about a year old so I don't think its that. I have alot of rust buildup in my tank from sitting. I was goign to get it boiled out but I wanted to cover all the other bases first. Could this have messed up my fuel pump? Maybe the lines/filters are clogged? ( I changed the filters not that long ago, maybe a month or two ) a friend said it could be the ballast resistor?  Im going to try to change that tomorrow. Thinking of doing the pump today. 
   Any suggestions? I dont know where else to look.

[tick68charger]

well it is the 7/28/6 just got done working my charger . I'm going to back track. I thought my car was getting vapor lock
when she got up to full temp it would die. when it died i shut her down and pulled the sight plugs and the bowls where full of gas, so
that ruled out vapor lock. so then i put a spark plug on the #1 wire and no spark, so i waited a few minutes for it to cool down.
turned it over and she started.  but my spark was week. so it must be in the ignition.

things i have replaced since my last post.

new msd coil replaced the accel super coil
msd 6 box replaced the mopar performance orange ecu box
new accell high temp wires

no help it still dies when she gets up to temp(no spark). when it died today i put a meter on the wire that connects to the the red wire on
the msd box in run position and i had 12v i have replace everything but the distributer, maybe the mag pickup is going bad in the distributer?
but wouldn't it just go out, i can't see the magnetic pickup in the distributer working fine until she gets up to temp then no spark until she
cools down. i don't know

and this only happens when over 75 degrees out, it only happens faster the hotter it gets out

i will check back tommarrow

[dodge freak]

Yes the pick up CAN go bad only when it gets hot. I did say to get a Wells ecu box from Auto Zone to see if thats was it. Its ok, the MSD stuff is better but like you say its still there. If you never change a pick up coil in the dist before and it has the vacuum advance it can be a little hard. You should pull the dist to do it. You might as well change it, it could be it, if not and you are sure the voltage is not dropping when hot the ignition is fine. Not sure what else it could be . Its happen to me, the last thing I change is the one thats it.

[tick68charger]

after it died i put a volt meter on the red wire comming off the msd box to the run wire and i had 12v, well
close i always get a reading of about 11.8 hot or cold. i have pulled the distributer before and changed the
springs in it. the mag pickup has 1 screw and some type of pin pinched in the point where it swivels that
looks like a major pain to get that pin out and to put in another unless the kit comes with something different
that installs easily. but i was thinking about getting an msd distributer. undecided yet.

[dodge freak]

To change it you have to pull the whole plate out. Remove the rultor -the thing that looks like a wheel right under the rotor- then take 3 screws out on the side of the dist. The plate lifts out then, might help if you had the new one in your hand. Think Napa might sell just the pick up coil alone but you are right it be a major pain. 11.8 should be fine, you have the MSD unit going right to the battery now so I would think thats all ok. You could just buy a rebuilt dist. from Auto Zone or somewhere, not sure how much, if its around $60 or so its cheaper than MSD. I wish I could help you out but you are not by Detroit , right ? Its really not that hard once the dist is out, if you can change the springs you can do it.

I hate to see you keep throwing money at it, but I would think thats it, but I could be wrong. Its not right though, its in the low 90's here and I have no problems running my small block and I even have the exhaust cross over open in the intake, motor gets good and hot, runs great too.

[tick68charger]

I  hope i get this taken care of soon i want to take my charger to the woodward dream cruise in Detroit
the week of aug 19. i live in iowa and its been in the 90's.

in the mopar performance distributer is the mag pickup the same as a stock unit. could a stock pickup
work with the msd box and coil with out any problems?

do you use the ballest resistor on msd set up? i am using mine.  could that be a problem.

my battery is in the trunk so i hooked the msd 6 red battery line to my starter relay, the positive
line from the trunk and starter then i took the ground and mounted it to the motor and
firewall ground on the back of the motor. do you think that there is to many wires in line of the
starter relay for the msd + wire to be hooked up there? do you see any problems with the way i
hooked the + and - on the msd box?

do you think i might be getting Resistance from my 8mm high temp stainless steel coil wound accel super stock wires,
and cause the pickup in the distributer to kick out?

[dodge freak]

I am using the MSD 7al and before that the MSD 6a with a Mopar dist. with no problems. If you ask MSD they tell you battery only not how you have it, but I doubt thats the problem. Its doing the same thing as before so the bad part or wire is still there. No you do not use the ballast resistor.

You know I read your old post again and you said you changed the dist. springs so you have pulled that pick up coil out before. It comes all in one unit the plate and the pick up coil and cost no more than $25 or so and thats for the standard brand, which I use. I would change it and make sure the gap is very small ,they call for .008 but I just set it as close as poss. with out it touching when you spin the shaft.

See I don't think the wiring is the problem cause it would always do it, unless the starter is get hot and messing it up but I would change that pick up plate first, no guartnees but it might very well be it. If the singal is getting weak when its hot the MSD box or any box won't fire.

[dodge freak]

Hold on those ballet resistors do go bad too, get it out of there. Its heavy black to ground, heavy red to battery post. or 12 volts allways and small red to 12 volts only when key is on start or run. and the two pick up coil leads. make sure the white wire does not touch ground.

[tick68charger]

i will get rid of the balest but i have the small red msd wire going to the brown and blue wire on one side of the balest .
so i will take out the balest, but on the other side of the ballest is another blue wire should i connect that to my
wires that i have my red wire going to or do i just tape it off?
if the mag comes on the plate then that would be a cheep and easy fix. i will order one tomarrow.  also i will run
my wires back to the battery i have to many hooked up to that relay now my electric fan etc..

so what do i do with the other wire on the balest?

by the way thanks for all your help

ill check back tomarrow

[dodge freak]

You know it sounds like it -the ballet resistor- is not hurting anything cause the MSD small wire is right to the 12 volt wires and you have 11.8 when its hot and acting up. That pick up plate should be easy to find, most auto stores should have one in stock, it was used from early 70's till early 90's I think. I would just change that before I start ruining new wires everywhere. Heck you can crank the motor over when its hot. Won't hurt to change that pick plate, that tells the spark box when to fire and they do sometimes give out when hot.

[tick68charger]

i will change the mag first. then i will update in a few days.

[steves66]

I know this is an old topic, but what the heck. Did the new magnetic pickup work? If not, have you fixed the problem yet?

[tick68charger]

I know this is an old subject but I found the problem, My fuel pump was bad it finally gave out.  It started to die on me going down the highway
at 55 so I got a fuel pressure gauge let the car get nice and warm and the fuel pressure started to drop then it finally died.
  I went with a carter strip mechanical fuel pump with fuel regulator. She has ran great ever since, But i
would still get detonation on hot days.  I have a dual snorkel air breather,  I ran some piping from the air breather to the fenderwell
so i could get cool air instead of hot under hood temps. Problem solved. I sent my hooker headers to jet-hot to get ceramic coated
inside and out this winter, that should knock down some of the under hood temps. Thought I'd update my findings just incase somebody else has this problem.