Filled it up with gas, now dies at idle

[tlasoya]

Hello,

I am fairly new to the board and not the greatest mechanical mind on the planet  So forgive me for asking questions with an obvious answers. There is a wealth of knowledge here and I appreciate the willingness of everyone to share. That being said, I can also take good natured ribbing when I ask a stupid question. Which this one may be.

I "inherited" a 1968 Dodge Charger. It is my wifes car, she bought it when she was 20 years and restored most of it herself with the help of her father . That was 13 years ago. The engine was rebuilt six years ago and it's only have about 5K miles put on it since. Needless to say it got stored alot as we moved around. Well, we are finally settled and want to get this thing out and about. It's too nice to be sitting in storage or in the garage.

Last weekend we took it out and it ran great... until I filled it up with gas. Soon after filling the tank, it started dying at idle. No sputter, no backfire, just died. It drove fine, just died whenever we hit a stop light. If I kept the rpm's up, it was fine. Any ideas as to why it would suddenly start having problems after filing it with gas? We have only run premium in it. I am sure it's a storage issue. But is it the fuel filter (probably the first place to start, I am guessing) or the carb or ? It has a Holley 750 on an Edelbrock Torquer II maniford. This all sits on a pretty tame 440 block. I eventually want to get to replacing the manifold and carb with something easier to maintain, like a Performer intake and Edelbrock 650 carb. This engine is not built for power and may have to big a carb on it now. I am more comfortable with the Edelbrock/Carter carbs anyway. Set it and forget it. Anyway, any suggestions on where to start with the fuel problem would be greatly appreciated!

Tony

[firefighter3931]

Hi Tony, welcome to the site. There could be several problems that can cause the symptoms you're describing. It could be just a matter of tuning it up and setting the mixture and timing. It's also possible that the floats are hung open because dirt or debris made it's way into the bowls. Try increasing the idle speed slightly to see if you can get it to idle. Check the timing to see where it's set. It probably wouldn't hurt to swap out the fuel filter if the car has been sitting that long.

Ron

[68 RT]

Bad gas! I ve had this problem with a few cars in the past.

[mikepmcs]

Hi Tony, welcome to the site. There could be several problems that can cause the symptoms you're describing. It could be just a matter of tuning it up and setting the mixture and timing. It's also possible that the floats are hung open because dirt or debris made it's way into the bowls. Try increasing the idle speed slightly to see if you can get it to idle. Check the timing to see where it's set. It probably wouldn't hurt to swap out the fuel filter if the car has been sitting that long.

Ron

after 5 years, there has to be some carmalizing going on in there and it could also be bad gas, but after 5 years of sitting there are some needed things you should be doing before trusting that out on the road and not wanting to break down.  tune up, oil, filters, plugs,all fluids, etc....
if you've already done most of these things then i'll shut up, but there is a real good thread on here about what you should do to your car after storage.  i'll try to find it but if someone can find it faster than post it up.
welcome to the site.
v/r
Mike

[tlasoya]

Thank you for all the suggestions! One thing I may not have been clear about is that it has not been in storage for all of five years without being driven. It has been taken out and driven over the summer every year.

The plugs were changed last year (after they were pretty fouled up), and the oil this year. It's in pretty good shape, I think.

I will check the floats on the carb as well as replace the fuel filter this weekend. It's a cheap fix and probably needs it anyway. It could be bad gas too, maybe I will have to increase the idle and drive it around all weekend to run the gas out to make sure 

Thanks for your suggestions and welcoming me to the board. I appreciate all the knowledge here and look forward to picking your brains!

Tony

[grouseman]

Gas tank is maybe not venting?