Exploded Another Muffler
 

Second time in the last year I lost ignition in my 360, backfired and exploded a muffler. I put an Ignitor in the distributor and a new coil 2 years ago.

Very sporadic. It has skipped maybe 5 or 6 times, and backfired the 2.

Any ideas? How do I troubleshoot?

Takes 2 things to make the bomb, fuel & spark. If you are getting fuel (gas) into the muffler (enough for an explosion) the carb needs work.

There are others here that can better prescribe a course of action. Which carb (brand & model) is currently on the truck?




John :-X06

2100 2 BBL, newly rebuilt. Blew the first muffler b4 the rebuild and the second after. Its loses ignition and fills the exhaust with fuel then regains ignition, in about 2 seconds.

There are no obvious shorts, etc.

Are the Petronix Ignitors pretty dependable? Is there a way to test them?

Going to do the cap and rotor thing today.

When installed correctly, the Petronix is a very reliable solid ign. system.




John :-X06

Make sure the distributor is grounding properly. I had a truck once that lost spark, a friend tried getting it running again. He turned the distributor while cranking, it made the connection and blew one of the mufflers wide open.

thanks John and Jared.

I put new wires, cap and rotor on. purrs like a wildcat. the ground looked good. i think the problem was the coil wire. It looked ragged.

thanks again fellers. btw, i love both your signatures

Hey, You will have to come up with and have one of your own.




John :-X06

Oops, spoke too soon
 

Did it again this evening. There is no pattern. Was running like new, then loss of power, boom and back to full power in about 2 seconds. Strange :-arrgh

on the lighter side...
 

Driving this thing with no muffler raises the testosterone level about 50 points
:-X04

Oh, now that's JUST what I need.... the Old Lady complains enough as it is! }>

is it possible that you are losing power to the coil? maybe a flaky ignition switch?

Hey that's a possibility I didn't consider. There have been half dozen times it failed to do anything when turning the key. I assumed it was the goofy gear shift not in position.

Is there a way to test or better to just replace?

it'll be tough to test it, since its intermittent.

but if you want to try it, here's what i'd do:
disconnect the wire from the starter relay "S" terminal (so the truck won't try to start)
disconnect the wire from coil +.
voltmeter black lead to ground
voltmeter red lead to the wire you just took off the coil +
if you have a 'continuity' setting on the meter, use it.
if you don't, you should be able to read ~9v at the wire with the key in start or run.
(you could also do this with a test light)

turn the key on/off/on/off...see if you can get it to misbehave.