Hi all. This is my first thread, and I hope I will get some good advice. This will become evident quickly, so I may as well say that I am new to carburated motors. Friends of mine have told me that they are easier to work on compared to the fuel injected variety I am used to. Conveniently, they haven't offered their assistance in getting my car running. I am entering my last year of college, and live at home during school breaks (like now), which leaves me susceptible to my parents' frequent threats to get my 1967 Special towed to the junk yard. I know it's in tough shape. It was daily driven my an older woman locally up to 2006 since she bought it in 1970, and New England weather seems to have taken a toll on the body. It's pretty rotted, but ran when I first picked it up. I knew it would be a project for later in my life, when I actually have money for a complete restore, but for the time being my goal is simply to get her running like she did when I got her. I was only able to drive her a handful of times since picking her up, and my dream has been to take her to the beach during summers, or just for cruises. Here is a description of what happened the night she died :ball: I was getting on the highway at about 2 a.m. and the dash lights started to dim, the power from the motor would "surge", then cut out, surge, then cut out, until it puttered to a stop. Seemed like I was out of gas, but that wasn't the case. I filled it up with a few gallons, and she still wouldn't turn over. And that's the story. The last time I tried to start her, it was the same deal: crank crank crank, no turning. I replaced the plugs, wires, sprayed carb cleaner on the carb, used ignition fluid, blah blah. The most it'd do is crank, then backfire. I've heard people say it's my distributor, my fuel lines, filter, etc. I just want to get an "experts" opinion from BUICK owners. I don't want to dump money into this car. I just have a feeling it shouldn't take too much to get her running again if she ran one day and died the next. I can't post pics yet (maybe someone can help me out in that department), but in the meantime, add an "h" in front of each partial link below to see pics. ttp://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8138/dscf2439xf9.jpg[/IMG] ttp://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5553/dscf2443wk5.jpg
sounds electrical, maybe regulator, battery, alternator. I believe you can have those tested for free at most parts stores
1 vote for electrical. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get them tested. I hooked up my battery charger to the battery, and it seems like it holds a charge.
Its not electrical if the engine is turning over. It takes three things to run an engine - gas, spark, and air. You say the car was running so we'll eliminate compression. You tried starter spray so we can eliminate gas. That leaves spark. Take one plug wire off the engine and put a spark plug in it. Ground the plug. Have someone crank the engine and look for a spark. It should be nice and bright. Tell us what you see. Where in CT are you? There may be some V8 guys nearby. - Bill
Sounds to me like a bad ignition coil. Have a freind/brother/sister whatever turn the key while you check to see if one of the spark plugs will ark to a bare metal suface (ground). Un-screw one of the plugs and connect it back up to the plug wire then lay it close to the exhaust manifold and watch/llisten for spark. Quick and easy, then we can go from there... Is it cranking over with a decent amount of speed or is it really weak? If it is cranking fast then you can rule out the battery. If it starts and runs after you charge the battery but then dies then the alternator is bad. Do you have a voltmeter? you should have about 14 volts at the battery. Like said above, it does not sound like a fuel issue it sounds like ignition, and in my opinion the coil may be to blame.
Oh and if you dont have spark at the plug them un-plug the wire that goes to the dist from the black round coil and check for spark there.
Sorry, I forgot to mention. It slowly cranks. By the way, all this talk about checking for spark using metal objects (i heard somewhere to use a screwdriver?) is making me feel like I will be electricuting myself at some point...
You guys are saying to check for spark at each of the 8 plugs right? First within the plug terminal with the wire removed, then with the plug attached to the wire with the assembly removed from the terminal against the exhaust manifold. I think I'm getting this now that I reread! I hope I won't be paying a visit to the hospital after getting shocked though! Oh yeah, Sean, I do have a volt meter, and I will check the battery for 14V. I don't know how well it's doing since the car's been sitting for like 1.5 yrs, but I guess I could just try to use my battery charger (piggy-back, whatever) machine to see if I can get her turned over. Then go from there....I guess. I don't know if that battery will ever be able to get charged up to 14V after sitting so long. Visually it looks pretty new...i don't know.
Since it cranks, and you've tried starting fluid, I'd almost have to say it's something with your ignition..... Assuming it's all original, you probably have points, and they could have went bad. I'm guessing either the points, or the coil. Either one of those items typically just die with no warning. Good luck! :TU: PS, Here's the pictures
First off plug that charger on the battery and get that charging... If it is cranking too slow then it will not fire at all. I've been zapped a few times by a plug wire, its no big deal... Lots of voltage but not enough current (amps) to hurt you. That being said here is how I would do it: Start by checking for spark on any one of the plugs, if one has spark then you know that your coil is ok and most likely all the other plugs have spark as well. Start with one... You dont even need to hold anything, just watch. This is 100% safe if you do the following. 1. Remove the plug wire by carefully pulling on the boot 2. unscrew the spark plug from the same cylinder 3. Connect the plug to the wire like it was before but now lay it on the exhaust manifold (so it will be be grounded like it was when it was bolted in the cylinder head) 4. have someone turn the engine over while you watch the spark plug to see if it fires If it fires and looks like a nice white arc with a zap sound then the coil and dist is fine, more than likely all the cyl will have spark if one does...Put the plug back and re-connect the wire then try to start it again. if it is turning over quickly and has spark then the fuel must be the issue, poor a tiny bit of fuel in the carb and replace the air filter cover then try starting it. If it still does not start then we can help you from there. Oh, and you can call me if your still confused. Sean
Thank you so much. I will probably try this out tomorrow. One thing that concerns me is the gas that's been sitting in there for like a year and a half. Also all the other fluids in general. I'd rather not drain the tank. As you can see, the car's in an awkward spot in my driveway, and if I move it, I may not be able to move it back if it won't start! Also, I don't feel safe getting underneath her on jack stands like with my other cars since she's pretty rotted. I guess once I get her started I could use jack stands and then cinder blocks for extra protection in the event of the car falling. I'm shivering just thinking of that possibility.
I suspect you have a timing chain issue, compounded with possibly other things. If you chain "jumped time" It will exhibit the problems you have indicated. Basically what happens is the timing chain gains slack as it wears. Eventually the slack becomes so great it will actually jump a tooth or two on the gears. The timing chain is what ties the revolution of the crankshaft to the cam so your valves will open and close when the are supposed to. It also is what turns the distributor to deliver spark at the correct time. If it is off, you will get the no run condition or backfiring through the carb. If you are getting some spark as described above and you are getting gas to the carb, this is where I'd look next. If you are getting no spark, check to see if the rotor is turning as the engine is cranking. If it is not then the timing chain is broken. It is rare to see an actual broken timing chain as if it is worn to that point, the car would not start long before it actually breaks. Good luck! On edit I see your engine is the 300. I am not familiar with '67 but I am very familiar with '64-'65 300's. The timing chain is a weak spot with these motors as the cam gear for the timing chain is encased with a phoenelic plastic for noise reduction. Over time the plastic breaks up and falls off the gear, thus altering the timing to a point where it won't run. If you find the plastic gear casing, be sure to remove all the pieces which you will find in the oil pan sump. As for old gas, buy a 3" length of fuel hose. Remove the inlet hose to your fuel pump and attach the 3' length of hose. Put the other end into a gas can with "good" gas. That will bypass your old fuel in the tank and at least enable you to run the motor.
One problem I had recently was, when my bud installed new points he didn't notice that they were grounding out with one of the 2 wires that get connected the points. It killed the spark. Did you change the points?
Great point about the old gas, your not going to be getting it to run with that stale fuel. For now just pour a bit of fresh fuel in the carb till you get it to fire then once it does you can plumb a jerry can to the fuel pump as descibed above (you will need a few feet of fuel grade hose for this). Doesnt look like he has changed anything yet but that is a good point. Let us know if you did change anything on the car before or after it died, that may help huge in our advice. We are hoping you will get spark at the plugs and that will eliminate the coil, dist ect. If there is no spark at the plug but the coil is giving spark then he will need to look into the dist but being he is a newb I hope he can avoid taking the dist appart unless he needs to.
The only change I made to the car before it died were the plugs and wires. My dad did it one day. He swears he got the right ones haha. Step 1: Check for spark + gas in carb (Sean) Step 2: Check to see if the rotor is turning while the motor is cranking to verify if the timing chain is broken or not (Ol' Yeller) Step 3: I hope not (Me)
ALRIGHT! OK haha I have had no time to get this car going! I'm so mad about it, but I'm just brainstorming about problems I might run into. First, I'll start with a newbie question: Where do I pour the gas, and how much? [excuse the leafs] Second, do I need to change the oil? I'm just trying to think of how to get under this car safely because I think to address any fuel issue, that's key. If you look at the pictures above, it's parked on gravel, and I know that's not safe for jacking a car up. I could move it to the one flat part of my driveway, but I'd need to be able to put it in reverse. How the heck am I going to do this.... ugh (rhetorical question)
First off if this was a car that was in good condition and I had the time I would drop the gas tank, clean it, blow out the fuel lines with compressed air, replace the fuel filter, rebuild the carb, spray oil in the cylinders with the plugs removed (turn it over by hand with plugs removed for a while), oil change and new filter, new plugs wires, cap rotor ect then add fresh fuel to the tank. Then I would turn un-plug the coil wire and crank the engine over to prime the engine of oil, then re-connect the coil wire pump the gas pedal twice and the car would likely start without issue. However, in your case you say the car is really rusty and in danger of going to the scrap yard if you do not get it running... and to complicate things you can not get under the car to work on it so: -Check the oil level, add oil if needed -add about $10 in fresh premium fuel into the fuel tank (there will be no octane left in the old fuel so some added premium will give you a chance here) -Unhook coil wire and crank it over for a few minutes to get oil primed up -press the gass pedal a few times -Pour about 1/3 of a cup of fresh fuel down the carb (area shown in red) -replace the air cleaner cover and screw it down, also plug in any vacuum hoses that you dis-connected -re-connect coil wire and try to start it if it fires then dies, just try pumping the gas pedal once then starting again, no need to dis-connect the coil wire anymore it is already primed. Report back!
