Ignition problem?
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Junior User
Joined: May 2003
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From: south jersey
Ignition problem?
Today i got in my 79 F-150 it started up fine and drove a couple of miles and it sputtered out and died. I restarted it and it was running real rough I held the gas pedal half way down and it was bouncing back and forth between 1000 and 3000 rpm. If I tried to let the clutch out it would die as soon as i put a load on the engine. I shut it off for a couple minutes and restarted it and it ran fine for a mile and died. I had to repeat this a few times to get home. Its getting plenty of fuel to the carb. Seems to be the ignition I'm going to try a spare ignition module I have but I don't think thats the problem. Anybody know what the problem could be? It has a 351M all stock except for the holley 4 barrel.
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Joined: Aug 2000
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John that sure sounds like a fuel starvation problem to me (even though you say it's getting fuel). I'm thinking bad fuel pump, clogged filter, or water in the gas.
If you really think it's spark, you're on the right track by changing the ignition module first. If that dosen't fix it, take a look at the distributor pick-up coil and ignition coil. You can test these with a multimeter if you have one.
I've also heard of the coil connector giving problems. Make sure it's tight.
Good luck.
If you really think it's spark, you're on the right track by changing the ignition module first. If that dosen't fix it, take a look at the distributor pick-up coil and ignition coil. You can test these with a multimeter if you have one.
I've also heard of the coil connector giving problems. Make sure it's tight.
Good luck.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Cincinnati
John7979,
You said you are confident about gas getting up to the carb, have you remove the air breather and look down the throat of the carb, while actuating the throttle? I had a similar problem, turns out it was rust in the carb. When my ignition module went out, the engine would not start at all, but this could have been a different failure mode.
John24255
You said you are confident about gas getting up to the carb, have you remove the air breather and look down the throat of the carb, while actuating the throttle? I had a similar problem, turns out it was rust in the carb. When my ignition module went out, the engine would not start at all, but this could have been a different failure mode.
John24255
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Junior User
Joined: May 2003
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From: south jersey
Its getting gas cause I was looking down the carb while moving the throttle and see the gas squirting down. I tried another ignition module but the same thing happened so I took the wires off the coil and cleaned them up and put them back on. I drove for about 15 minutes and the problem has not come back so hopefully that solved it.
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 103
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From: Cincinnati
John7979,
Great to hear you are back on the road! It's hard to believe that some of the most seeming difficult problems comes from simple things like oxidation around a terminal lead. I have had to replace the pick-up coil in the distributor, but not because it went bad. A mouse got up in my engine while I had my truck parked in the yard, and it chewed the wires off. Unfortunately, these wires must have been fairly tasty, because he chew them off all the way to the connector on the distributor. No other wires were touched.
John24255
Great to hear you are back on the road! It's hard to believe that some of the most seeming difficult problems comes from simple things like oxidation around a terminal lead. I have had to replace the pick-up coil in the distributor, but not because it went bad. A mouse got up in my engine while I had my truck parked in the yard, and it chewed the wires off. Unfortunately, these wires must have been fairly tasty, because he chew them off all the way to the connector on the distributor. No other wires were touched.
John24255
