TheNeedForZ Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Hello, all I got my Chevy 383ci V8 240Z couple days ago. My first American V8 car, also my first carbureted car. I asked questions about the car on my first post here : http://hybridz.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=37056 The car is great just as advertised, but there's a problem : The car rolled off the delivery truck just fine, and I put it in reverse to back it up little bit more, all is fine on the day of delivery. The second day the car won't start, turns out I might have accidentally turned on some electrical appliance and the battery is weak(weak turn-over, weak lights). I boosted the car with my daily driver, a VW Jetta, the battery has juice again. Then I tried to start 240Z with jumper cables still hooked as described in the normal boosting procedure. As soon as I start the car the engine made a loud roar for a second, then it died down, still won't start(but will turn-over). The loud roar might be because I touched the gas pedal but I am not sure that heppened. What could be wrong with the car? Have I "flooded" the cylinders because I cranked too much? How do I know if the car is flooded and how do I fix it? Thanks in advance. Keng-Pei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 So it started the day you got it but now it wont start? Did you try starting it for a long time with a weak battery? Sounds like your on the right track with the "flooding" it theory. If it is flooded......then just hold the gas pedal to the floor and then try starting it. Or if its been sitting for like a day it might clear it self up(gas will just evaporate). If it still wont start you may have fouled out the plugs and they might need to be cleaned or changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Also try taking out the plugs so the combustion chamber and plugs can dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 hmm, same trouble shooting as most internal combustion engines ... air, fuel, spark, in the correct ratio and timing. is it an automatic ??? is it in park ??? try neutral ... if a stick ... is the clutch pedal fully depressed ??? there may be a safety switch ... having some one else crank the engine ( in park or neutral ), parking brake on, wheels chocked. with spark plug wire pulled, hold wire to exhaust manifold, see if getting hot white spark .. not weak yellow spark ... might be easier to see after the sun sets ... if no spark, check your ignition components ... see if you have 12 volts to the coil ... if the fusable link melted away, engine may crank and not start. if still running points, they may have gotten pitted or broken, especially if car sat for a long time. if no computer controls, you might want to try hot wiring the engine under the hood. if that works, you want to look at your ignition switch or wiring ahead of your " by pass wiring ". check to see that you have fuel ... key in your pocket, batt disconnected. remove air cleaner, hold choke blade open, look into the carb directly from the top, have friend slowy step on gas pedal ( or you can move linkage at the carb ). normally, there are two nozzles in the front ( radiator side ) of the carb. when the gas pedal is depressed, you should see fuel squirt out those nozzles. if no squirt ... check the fuel guage, and the gas tank for gas ... if that is okay ... coil wire pulled from the dist. cap and grounded, remove the fuel line from the carb or at the filter, run line into a liter bottle ( glass is best, maybe a wine bottle ), keep you face away from the bottle ( safety googles ?? ). have friend crank engine over ... is fuel pouring or trickling into the bottle ??? should be pouring, not a trickle. if no fuel ... plugged line, bad fuel pump, or out of gas. if floats are stuck on the carb, could be flooding the cylinders with fuel, washing out the spark, thus no flame, no ignition. a bit of dirt, especially if the car has been sitting, could be sitting in the needle valve's path, preventing the float from seating. again, coil wire off and grounded. hold your hand ontop of the carb, choking all the air off, have friend crank the engine over ... sometimes this will dislodge dirt and debris in the carb ( actually works best when engine is running ). if you think it's flooded ...normally engine will start, cough, sputter, black smoke out exhaust. if spark and fuel ... and you can breathe ... means has air ... you need to dig deeper ... check dwell, timing, ect. number of things can be wrong .. start simple ... check for spark, fuel and air. then go for mechanical problems ... oh and if it were in my driveway, it's probably got a fiat emblem on it somewhere ... LOL good luck and welcome aboard, wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted November 28, 2004 Author Share Posted November 28, 2004 Thanks for the replies, The car is an automatic(TH350), the tank has gas(about 1/3 full) and the carburetor (Q-jet) makes the squirt(I heard a hissing sound when I yank the throttle cable). Today I tried to find out if the cylinder is flooded, but before I try to do the work I thought I'll try to turn the car again since the battery should have electricity from yesterday's boosting. It turned over once, then nothing ever happened. The battery has gone dead again. I boosted the car yesterday for 5 full minutes, with the booster car running around 2000~2300 rpm the whole time. I am very sure all my electrical appliances are turned off. But 5 minutes of boosting only allow the engine to turn over once? That sounds weird to me. Should I replace the battery? Can 5 minutes of boosting be gone just after 1 attempt to start? Thanks for helping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKDGabe Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Can 5 minutes of boosting be gone just after 1 attempt to start? Yes. Before replacing it try giving it a longer charge on a charger. Longer charges with lower amp's do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Um yeah 5 minutes of "boosting" a battery isnt really doing much if anything for a stone dead battery. You will need to charge it up with a low amp charger(for best results) or buy a new battery. How old is the battery(does it have a date stamped on it or any kind of marking to show when it was installed?). If its over 3.5-4 years old just replace it because its probably on its way out anyways. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 no one is born knowing this stuff !! there is no such thing as a dumb question, except the one that doesn't get asked. no idea what your mechanical background and knowledge is. a quick answer to your battery question is : No ! a jump from one car to another is not enough to charge a battery. it is, however, often enough to get the car started, where upon, driving that car, with a good charging system, will given enough time, charge the battery. i suggest taking the battery to your local auto supply house, have the battery tested. cold weather slows the chemical process, a battery that was good all summer will now be a dead battery, take a charge, hold it for only a day or so. i would invest in a decent battery charger, one with a 2 amp trickle charge, a 10 amp and 50 amp booster. with the issues with your car right now, using a set of jumper cables is only going to frustrate you. if money is tight, as it is for me, check around your neighborhood, most of us car people ( car nuts ), are happy to welcome a new member into the club. i was fortunate, as a youngster and at my current age of 48, i've been welcomed by many neighbors and people i met at the auto parts counter. some one may have a battery charger to loan you, or let you drop your batt off to charge. let us all know how you get along. how long you've been messing with cars, what you know, don't know, what you don't know that you don't know LOL ... no matter how much we all know, we all bounce questions off one another, pick up pointers, a jog to the memory, or a better way than the way than the way one has been doing it. keep coming back here ... there's really good people here, lots of help, a friendly shoulder to cry on and a hand to lend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted November 30, 2004 Author Share Posted November 30, 2004 Thanks, you guys are right about the battery charge. I dug out an auto care book published by Popular Mechanics and read about battery charging yesterday. Turns out if a battery has been dead, it is quite difficult to charge it up again. Will try a fresh battery later. I've only became interested in cars recently, few months ago, before that, I don't really know anything about cars, I dont' know much now neither. Now I read about car stuff everyday if not too occupied by college work. What I am reading now is a book by David Vizard, "How to build max performance small block chevy on a budget." Very good book, now I got the V8 it's even better. I also read tech magazines, and have several maintainence books, they usually help, but not always. I bet most of you liked cars since you're kids. I never liked cars much until one day I saw a 1st gen Z at a gas station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKDGabe Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 I got interested in cars at 15. I find out how little I know on a weekly basis. There's a learning curve for everyone and like Wayne said, "the only dumb question is the one you don't ask". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 check around the neighborhood, any one working on a car ? stop by and visit for a bit, tell em that you are working on a car of your own. ask if they's mind if you watched or asked a quick question or opinion. someone may be able to loan you a charger or let you leave your battery at their house charging. down at the auto parts place ... maybe find a NAPA ( check the phone book ) ask for advise from counter people. not to knock checkers or auto zone employees, but most of the people at NAPA actually work on their own cars and know what they are doing. many are retired mechanics. real car people that don't mind helping guide someone new to the sport. if you live nearby, one of em might want to come by and check out your project. go to some car shows, swap meets, might check and see if a local hamburger eatery has any kind of car night ... there are 3 in san jose that i know of that do. one has a VW night, a harley night and a street rod night. one of has a rat rod night. good luck with the quest and keeping come back here for advise wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 check around the neighborhood, any one working on a car ? stop by and visit for a bit, tell em that you are working on a car of your own. ask if they's mind if you watched or asked a quick question or opinion. someone may be able to loan you a charger or let you leave your battery at their house charging. down at the auto parts place ... maybe find a NAPA ( check the phone book ) ask for advise from counter people. not to knock checkers or auto zone employees, but most of the people at NAPA actually work on their own cars and know what they are doing. many are retired mechanics. real car people that don't mind helping guide someone new to the sport. if you live nearby, one of em might want to come by and check out your project. go to some car shows, swap meets, might check and see if a local hamburger eatery has any kind of car night ... there are 3 in san jose that i know of that do. one has a VW night, a harley night and a street rod night. one of has a rat rod night. good luck with the quest and keeping come back here for advise wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted December 1, 2004 Author Share Posted December 1, 2004 Thanks for the support I'll let you guys know how things turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 I got interested in cars at 15. I find out how little I know on a weekly basis. There's a learning curve for everyone and like Wayne said, "the only dumb question is the one you don't ask". man im on the same page as you.. ive been into cars since i was about 4 or 5, always had a thing for them.. and now even after working and playing with them for years and even going to a auto tech school for a year i still find out i dont know crap when it comes to most things. im only 21 and have along ways to go, but its a fun job/hobby. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtemp Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 NeedforZ, where in BC are you located? I've had my v8-Z for about 2 years now and i'm still learning about it. I live in Coquitlam, btw. I probably got into cars when i was just entering university, the only way to learn is to jump right in, roll up your sleeves and start doing work on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mtbrider586 Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Do the car have an electric fuel pump or mecanical ? IF the car sits for a long time it will take time for the fuel to come up with a mechanical pump. Like the others, pull the plugs clean or replace and try again. you can buy a spark checker to attach to the plug wire and see the spark, most are calibrated for 35 kilo volts. That will elminate the whole ignition system, if the spark is to weak to fire it move upstream to the cap and rotor. I am guessing you have a HEI type distributor. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted December 3, 2004 Author Share Posted December 3, 2004 Mrtemp I live in Richmond area, south of Vancouver. You are absolutely right about it, best way to learn is to do it. mtbrider586 I am guessing the car has the stock pump, so mechanical pump? The car was shipped from east Canada to west shore, and the ex-owner drove the car to the rail station fine, the deliver guy started the car, backed it off the truck fine....probably my fault to let the battery die /cylinder flood. Starting tomorrow I will have time to look at the car, but I need to get a set of spark plug socket first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260ZRED Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Disconect the battery, even if its weak, before you start tearing it all apart! If you have a wire wheel you can just de-foul the plugs without doing any damage at all - 4/5 seconds per plug and they're better then new. If they're fouled really bad (they're black) and you dont have a wire wheel, just get new ones and see if it fires up with that... Good luck man. post some pics of your monster when you have it running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeusEx Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 i like the way you say your "first american v8 car" when the only thing american about it is the engine....which was put in by an american Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 UPDATE : The battery has been charged overnight at an auto shop. I've unplugged the spark plugs for 2~3 days for the chamber to dry. The condition of the spark plugs looks decent, even somewhat new. Then I installed everything back into the car. I followed the suggestion of the ex-owner to start the car while depressing the gas pedal a bit(I used 1/2~1/4 throttle). After a few tries the car will start and run on its own. If I didn't depress the gas pedal, the car will only turn-over but won't start. However, while the engine is running, if I let go of the gas pedal, the car will idle for a few seconds and then stop running suddenly but smoothly. The minimum amount of pressure that I needed to put on the gas pedal is very little, I'd say less than 1 lb, but that makes all the difference between engine keep running and not keep running. Any suggestions? BTW the car is a 383cid Chevy stroker, TH350 automatic trans, Quadrajet carb. Car has fuel. The car was started outside, pretty cool but not cold. The exhaust fume smelt like gasoline, but I suppose the mixture should be rich when starting, and trying to start was all I did. Could this be a carburetor setting problem? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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