383 Won't Idle After Electronic Distributor Swap

[RIDGERACER383]

So I recently did a electronic distributor swap and the engine was idling fine until I put it in gear and started up the driveway and it stalled.now it won't idle at all.I can give it gas and it will run and if you give it alot of gas it will take off.it had a busted rubber fuel line that I thought was the problem,but fixed it and still no idle.also it was running rich and I leaned it out but it was idling fine.not sure what the deal is.I even unhooked the vacuum advance plugged it up and still no change.anybody ever have this issue?

[terrible one]

It sounds like you have a vacuum leak. Did you break any hoses or disconnect and forget to re-connect something?

[RIDGERACER383]

Everything is plugged on my carb except vacuum advance and hose to my master cylinder.I had everything plugged on my carb except for the line to the master cylinder.I will unhook the master cylinder and plug the carb and try that tomorrow.Its just weird because I took off up the driveway and it was running great then just stalled out.I might need to adjust the timing too but I had it perfect.I guess I got alot of trouble shooting to do.

[terrible one]

  Definitely could be timing. I will never know enough about this stuff I feel like. Was it ever running enough for you to check initial timing? While it's running or a friend is cranking it, have you tried turning the distributor back and forth to see if you could find a sweet spot that it will at least idle at to start with?

[RIDGERACER383]

It was running perfect and my dad and I timed it where its supposed to be with vacuum advance unhooked and set the idle where it was supposed to be and it was running and idling perfect.Its as soon as i put it in gear and took off up the driveway it stalled and now wont idle.

[Budnicks]

Is it a Chrysler Electronic Ignition & Box ?, If it is a CEI... Do you have the proper air gap 0.08" between the magnetic pickup & relucter on the distributor, use a non magnetic feel gauge to do the measuring & adjusting... If so check & adjust before trying to restart... If it isn't CEI what type of ignition is it ?... you will probably need to re-time the ignition/distributor if it was a points type distributor switched over to a Electronic type ignition, the positioning & timing of the distributor will no doubt be a little different, even the idle & carburetor settings will be slightly different... 

[RIDGERACER383]

The distributor I have is a proform.I havnt checked the gap because i don't have a copper feeler gauge.I did set my spark plug gap at 40 and I've noticed my fuel filter bowl is only quarter full but it's been that way forever.I did mess with the timing and carb with no luck.I guess I'll have to buy a copper feeler gauge tomorrow.

[Chryco Psycho]

I have had problems with the Proform units in the past

[Challenger340]

I have had best success, setting the Reluctor to Pickup gap between .008" and .010", but it is very forgiving to gap(within reason).

Once a patent Hall effect signal is established across the Pickup, as a product of correct gap(among other things), the system is pretty easy to setup with correct timing,
and in my experience anyways with the Proform, generally trouble free.
They either WORK,
or DON`t,
and yours is firing because it RUNS, so IMO, it`s just a setup thing.

[captaindodge]

If possible try to set the carb  back where it was. The timing must be correct before the carb is adjusted. I would rotate the dist clockwise till it has about 18 degrees advance. My all original 440 used to be fine with 5-10 degrees advance (30 years ago) but now it will not even start (cold) unless it has 18 degree advance. I blame it on the ethanol in the gas now.

[RIDGERACER383]

I forgot to mention that when I set the manual choke halfway it will idle on it's own but idles high.soon as you take off the choke it dies.what causes that?

[resq302]

I forgot to mention that when I set the manual choke halfway it will idle on it's own but idles high.soon as you take off the choke it dies.what causes that?

When you are setting the choke half way, it is richening up the mixture.  When you take the choke off, it leans out the engine causing the engine to die.  You said in your first post, it was running rich and you leaned it out.  Is it possible that you leaned it out too much and that the carb was still on its partial high idle and was not totally idled down all the way yet?

[mhinders]

Sounds like you may have a vacuum leak.

[RIDGERACER383]

I forgot to mention that when I set the manual choke halfway it will idle on it's own but idles high.soon as you take off the choke it dies.what causes that?

When you are setting the choke half way, it is richening up the mixture.  When you take the choke off, it leans out the engine causing the engine to die.  You said in your first post, it was running rich and you leaned it out.  Is it possible that you leaned it out too much and that the carb was still on its partial high idle and was not totally idled down all the way yet?

It is possible....I did mess with the idle some to get it to run but I may have to richen it up more.

[RIDGERACER383]

Sounds like you may have a vacuum leak.

It could be a vacuum leak..I need to plug all the holes in the carb and see if it will run to eliminate a possible vacuum leak.

[solids0be]

Sounds like a combonation Of carb adjustment issues and Timing adjustment issues. I Had the same issue last summer. it took a lot of tuning with A Vacuum gauge and playing with the carb float level and idle speed screw. Also my vacuum advanced on my dizzy needed major ajustment with the Allen wrench for some reason. All that just because I had to replace the Ignition chip and didnt mark my timing when I removed the distributor.. Good luck!

[RIDGERACER383]

Yesterday I messed with it and set the choke and let it get all the way up to operating temp.When the choke was on I noticed it was idling up and down.I adjusted the idle speed up and took the choke off and it was running on its own and sounded ok.But with that new ignition on it it should start up and idle on its own easier.It took about 10 minutes of running to get it up to temp.My tires were flat so I didn't get to put it in gear and try it,but i'm going to try it today.

[resq302]

New ignition does not necessarily mean it will start up and idle easier.  All that an electronic ignition does is make it less maintenance and more reliable.  Picture the factory set up where you had to constantly or periodically adjust the point gap and dwell.  Now you basically have a maintenance free distribution system.  The whole stating system and idle circuit depends on a lot of things.  This is just one piece of the system so automatically assuming it will start up and idle easier is just an assumption at this point, nothing guaranteed.

[RIDGERACER383]

Well hopefully I'll get it sorted out today.I do know when you give it gas it will go and not fall on it's face like it used to so that's good.I'm going to put my timing back where it was and go from there.the only thing I'm stumped about is right after I did the swap and it was cold out,It took two try's to start it without using the choke and it would per like a kitten no issues.

[resq302]

Could still be a little rich in the idle circuit.  Unless it was running on fast idle (which bypasses the idle circuit) then it would purr and fast idle with no problem as you have less vacuum than when at curb idle barring any misfiring or fouled plugs or bad wires, etc.  Tuning is not something that can be tried once and done.  A lot of times it is trial and error with a lot of tweaking here and there to get it to the desired amount of perfection that you want.  Our 70 chally kinda has an issue that annoys the hell outta me but Ive learned to live with it.  If it sits longer than overnight, you have to crank the hell out of it to get it to fire up when cold.  However, my charger it  can sit for a week, crank over a few times and fire right up.  Same kind of carb on both cars, carter AVS 4 bbl so essentially they are the same aside from different rods and jets and such.  Yet, if I mess with the challys choke at all, it makes the car not run as well or have as much power so Ive learned to just spray a little ether into the carb or just crank it over for a little while and then pump the gas occasionally to get it to fire up.

[AirborneSilva]

  Our 70 chally kinda has an issue that annoys the hell outta me but Ive learned to live with it.  If it sits longer than overnight, you have to crank the hell out of it to get it to fire up when cold.  However, my charger it  can sit for a week, crank over a few times and fire right up.  Same kind of carb on both cars, carter AVS 4 bbl so essentially they are the same aside from different rods and jets and such.  Yet, if I mess with the challys choke at all, it makes the car not run as well or have as much power so Ive learned to just spray a little ether into the carb or just crank it over for a little while and then pump the gas occasionally to get it to fire up.

I remember the days when a buddy would borrow your car you'd have to tell them how to start it, they were all different, each had their little quirks!

[resq302]

  Our 70 chally kinda has an issue that annoys the hell outta me but Ive learned to live with it.  If it sits longer than overnight, you have to crank the hell out of it to get it to fire up when cold.  However, my charger it  can sit for a week, crank over a few times and fire right up.  Same kind of carb on both cars, carter AVS 4 bbl so essentially they are the same aside from different rods and jets and such.  Yet, if I mess with the challys choke at all, it makes the car not run as well or have as much power so Ive learned to just spray a little ether into the carb or just crank it over for a little while and then pump the gas occasionally to get it to fire up.

I remember the days when a buddy would borrow your car you'd have to tell them how to start it, they were all different, each had their little quirks!

  Funny, I know some friends who have modern day cars that are the same way.  Granted, they don't take care of their cars like I do though.   

[Back N Black]

Could still be a little rich in the idle circuit.  Unless it was running on fast idle (which bypasses the idle circuit) then it would purr and fast idle with no problem as you have less vacuum than when at curb idle barring any misfiring or fouled plugs or bad wires, etc.  Tuning is not something that can be tried once and done.  A lot of times it is trial and error with a lot of tweaking here and there to get it to the desired amount of perfection that you want.  Our 70 chally kinda has an issue that annoys the hell outta me but Ive learned to live with it.  If it sits longer than overnight, you have to crank the hell out of it to get it to fire up when cold.  However, my charger it  can sit for a week, crank over a few times and fire right up.  Same kind of carb on both cars, carter AVS 4 bbl so essentially they are the same aside from different rods and jets and such.  Yet, if I mess with the challys choke at all, it makes the car not run as well or have as much power so Ive learned to just spray a little ether into the carb or just crank it over for a little while and then pump the gas occasionally to get it to fire up.

Ether is not good for a gas engine.

When you pour starting fluid into a gas engine it can do a few bad things. It can cause pre-detonation since the compression inside the engine may heat the air enough to cause pre ignition of the ether. Ether also burns faster then gasoline creating higher pressures inside the engine. It is completely possible to crack a piston, blow out head gaskets, or bend rods if enough is used. It can cause ring or cylinder damage by washing the cylinder dry or wearing down the top ring with repeated heavy use. Gas engines are not designed to withstand the forces that may develop from using ether inside them.

[RIDGERACER383]

I had some stuff come up today so didn't get to work on the charger.I have never shot ether into my engine never needed it.one thing I did notice on my car after it started running on it's own is my fuel filter is 3/4 full now not a 1/4 full like before.

[resq302]

I only spray ether (starting fluid) in there for a quick burst or two.  I don't soak it down or anytihng like that.  I too have heard horror stories of about how things like that happen.