Odd 440 starting problem

[RECHRGD]

This has happened to me two times this year when starting up the Charger after a long day (hot) at a car show.------ The car will start up fine and then after about 10 seconds or so will die.  Turn the key again and the car starts right up with no problem, then dies again after 10 to 20 seconds.  After restarting about 5 or 6 times, all is well and I'm on my way.  I'm assuming that somehow the gas in the fuel line is boiling and I'm getting some dead spots in the line, but it has never done this before and the car was not over heating when arriving at the shows.  When it dies there is no sputtering or anything.  It acts like I just turned the key off.  The carb is a 750 Holley DP with a Proform main body and the ignition is a Mallory Unilite.  Any ideas?  Bob

[John_Kunkel]

The next time you anticipate that this problem will occur, remove the bowl fuel level plugs and see how much fuel is in the bowl.

[ACUDANUT]

 Get a wix clear fuel filter and see if it's filling up with fuel.

[TylerCharger69]

Get a wix clear fuel filter and see if it's filling up with fuel.

if it is a fuel evaporation issue....it may not necessarily show up in the clear filter....it may be reaching those temperatures in the carb itself.....I blocked off my heat crossover passage (heads to intake) and it solved my troubles.  My ECU (I think my second orange one) did the same results too....would start, then quit, then start again....a little time....quit.........not saying this is your problem.....could be fuel pump getting weak.....just other possibilities....

[c00nhunterjoe]

try a phenolic spacer between the carb and intake, they come as thin as 1/2 inch, if its heat evaporation that will fix it. with that spacer installed the carb will literaly be cool to the touch on a 200 degree engine

[RECHRGD]

Thanks for the replies guys.   The engine has aluminum heads with an e-brock RPM intake, so there's no heat crossover issue to deal with.  There is no way I could add a spacer under the carb without having hood clearance issues.  I can't imagine that enough gas could evaporate in that amount of time to cause the problem, but who knows?  I use a feed through filter that has the 1/4" vapor return line.  It hasn't been changed for a couple of seasons, so maybe there's a problem with it.  I'm also thinking of changing the module in the unilite distributor.  It's been on the motor for 12 years, so that may be on the way out.  But I always thought that they were either good or bad with nothing in between.  But, the way it shuts down sure seems to be more electrical than fuel related.  I'll change the filter and the module out and see if I have any more problems.  Thanks,  Bob

[RECHRGD]

OK, this morning when it was nice and cool, I changed out the fuel filter and started the car.  After running a few minutes it died.  I started it back up and let it idle a few more minutes with no problems, so I took it out on the road and after about 7 miles or so it died momentarily at about 50 mph.  It only died for about one second then came right back to life.  I turned around and drove it back to where I store the car and changed out the module in the unilite and went for a drive.  There were no problems while driving around for about a half hour with a few stops in route.  So I guess we can rule out a fuel issue and hopefully it was just the unilite module acting up.  If it happens again, then I'll be back on here whining again.  Bob