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Car is having seizures!


MonteFox89

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Seriously... it's having seizures!

 

I am driving along about 30 mph smooth as can be and then the rpm's just FLATLINE! they stay dead but the car is still running (power steering, brakes, the works!) then it kicks on again and HARD! then the rpm's are boucing all over the place...

 

I thought it might be a coil problem after I check under my distributor cap (HEI). So I checked my coil and found a wire loose... Bought a new coil... still trying to suicide by owner! a Friend of mine suggest LOTS of water in the gas... and then I heard someone say something about ignition module... and then my mother was mocking my electric fuel pump idea...

 

Any thoughts? smile

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Spark, Fuel, Air...

 

A lot of possibilities to look at. I would check the whole ignition system first, inluding all wiring. Then move on to the Fuel Pump and Filter, then check the carb and throttle linkage...

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Have you changed anything just prior to this happening?

Are you running 12 volts to the HEI? Is the connection you changed (removing old resister wire, soldering in a new wire for 12 Volts) tight and secure and soldered vs just crimped at the connections?

Quoting: "the rpm's just FLATLINE! they stay dead but the car is still running" So dead is 0 RPM yet the engine is running and perhaps at idle? What kind of tachometer, sounds like a wire short circuit to ground somewhere. If an aftermarket tachometer, one of it's wires may be grounding out. Good luck!

Bruce

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I think Sam is onto something-if it was fuel it might not be so abrupt-more like a sputter-this happened twice with me-first time it was the pickup in the HEI distr-then again a few months later cuts out and back in just like that-a loose connection in the 12v supply to the replacement distributor-those three connectors that plug into the coil are hanging vertically as you know-subject to vibration,etc... i cleaned up the contacts,and 'snugged up' the terminal connectors a bit-and have been rock solid so far...

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I bought one of those Summit HEI's, my tach was crazy, even called Summit, tore it apart, made sure all the connection were clean and tight (didn't find any issues), slapped it in, smooth tach now confused

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I'm going to grab a new... kinda new... ignition module today out of a distributor from work. would be pretty easy to replace. I'll probably change out the wiring too. and clean the new connections.

 

No prior changes to all of this, wait no, ok I put on an electric fuel pump 2 weeks ago...

 

and now I've put on 31747150032_large.jpg because I thought it was the coil going bad...

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Also, when I say it died I mean the engine was no longer running but all the power was still on IE power steering and all that great stuff... which is weird cause if my car dies, normally all that cuts off and I've got to put it in park to start it again but it started back up on it's own if I hold the gas... not the tach either, used a timing light which reads rpm's and it read the same thing from the plugs... I found this out cause it started to do it in park now lol

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dunno, was HEI when I got it about 1 year ago now... lol

 

I've never had a problem with my distributor since I bought the car... until now lol

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first...the engine can't die and you still have steering, maybe a stroke or two of brakes

 

engine dies, I'm betting pick-up coil

engine runs, no tach, tach wiring

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the pick-up coil!

the wires to it are constantly being flexed by the vacuum advance, put a ohm meter on it and work the advance are and see if the ohm meter changes/cuts out, it can answer it cutting out and firing back up, when it fires back up with all that fuel it dumped it can be harsh lol

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Just the fact that the tachometer bounces around when this happens leads me to focus on an electrical problem. If it were fuel related, the gauges would read normal.

Check the wires between your dist and ignition switch and make sure they aren't grounding out against something. I've seen crazy stuff happen when air movement under the hood can blow wires against a ground, and I had a case where the actual key switch was rotating because there was a large mass of keys hanging from it...those keys start swinging and would turn the ignition on/off.

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also. at this point I have checked and changed about everything in the distributor except the pickup coil.... I've got it out now and going to be changing that today too

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