Almost Conking Out ?

[JMF]

Might be going to look at a car tomorrow, the current owner says the car runs fine but when coming to a stop, eg at a traffic light the car feels like it's going to conk out, although it never does, in park the problem doesn't seem as bad, the engine is a 440, any ideas if this is a serious problem? I don't want to walk in to engine problems before i've even got the thing, thanks for any help

[elacruze]

That's not enough info to begin a diagnosis, but typically that symptom is due to poor tune or vacuum leaks, which should not be serious-however, if the motor is recently 'rebuilt' get receipts so you can see that the builder has more skills than the tuner.

[flyinlow]

Serious problems with a 440 are , low oil pressure , banging sounds from the engine, oil smoke and lack of power at full throttle .  Running rough at idle is usually not serious, if it runs well elsewhere.

Do a lazy mans compression test. Ground the coil wire and crank the engine. Does it crank at a normal speed and evenly?  If not it might have a sick cylinder.

[Cooter]

How do we even know the damn thing just has a lumpy cam in it and the seller is just a plain 'ol dumbass?