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Help!!! My engine keeps conking out

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gcoll

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I hope someone can offer some sugestions as to whats causing the engine on my 67 BJ8 to just randomly conk out while driving. The last few times while driving the car, it would just stop running for no apparant reason. When stopped it sometimes takes a few minutes then starts back up and drives fine for a few miles and conks out again and some times it starts right back up and does it again. My first thoughts were electrical because it didn't sputter to a stop and I could hear the fuel pump working. My car has the Crane Cams electronic ignition with the XR3000 ignition module with the LX91 electronic coil. I thought it could be the coil over heating and replaced the coil that didn't resolve the problem. The LED indicator on the ignition module is lit when I try to restart so that seems to be working OK. Maybe its not electrical. Possibly something else. OUT OF IDEAS
I would really appreciate anyones suggestions as to what might be the problem, what to test and how, and what I can do to fix it. thanking you in advance for your help. puzzled in Alexandria
 
Quickest thing to do first: Check the battery cut-off switch in the boot. It can fail intermittently and if the wire to the coil (white I believe) is connected to the switch it can short to ground (which is what it's designed to do when the switch is in the "OFF" position) and cause this kind of failure.
 
Wonder if its a vapor lock. Because it dies and you hear your pump, i wonder if its starving. Try driving without the gas cap, so long as its not full :>0..... That eliminates that.

Usually, I dont hear the pump unless fuel is getting used, or theres a leak, or, in this case, no fuel... my 2 cents

gcoll said:
I hope someone can offer some sugestions as to whats causing the engine on my 67 BJ8 to just randomly conk out while driving. The last few times while driving the car, it would just stop running for no apparant reason. When stopped it sometimes takes a few minutes then starts back up and drives fine for a few miles and conks out again and some times it starts right back up and does it again. My first thoughts were electrical because it didn't sputter to a stop and I could hear the fuel pump working. My car has the Crane Cams electronic ignition with the XR3000 ignition module with the LX91 electronic coil. I thought it could be the coil over heating and replaced the coil that didn't resolve the problem. The LED indicator on the ignition module is lit when I try to restart so that seems to be working OK. Maybe its not electrical. Possibly something else. OUT OF IDEAS
I would really appreciate anyones suggestions as to what might be the problem, what to test and how, and what I can do to fix it. thanking you in advance for your help. puzzled in Alexandria
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If you have a condenser as original in the distributor, it can stop working when it gets hot, giving the impression you are running out of gas. When it cools a bit after sitting, the car will start and run fine until it heats up again.

Bob
 
My Uncle tells the story of the only trouble he ever had driving his 100/6 (while it was on the road - its been waiting restoration longer than I can remember = 40 years!). To cut his long story short the issue was with the fuel filler cap. He'd replaced the old seal and it was not allowing any air into the tank. A vacuum would develop in the fuel tank and his car would start to "8 stroke" and then stall. Standing by the side of the road for a while would allow some air to leak in and all would be good for a bit... He finally heard the hiss of the air entering the tank past the seal. Unblocking the breather hole (which had blocked up with crud) solved the issue.
 
CanberraBJ8 said:
My Uncle tells the story of the only trouble he ever had driving his 100/6 (while it was on the road - its been waiting restoration longer than I can remember = 40 years!). To cut his long story short the issue was with the fuel filler cap. He'd replaced the old seal and it was not allowing any air into the tank. A vacuum would develop in the fuel tank and his car would start to "8 stroke" and then stall. Standing by the side of the road for a while would allow some air to leak in and all would be good for a bit... He finally heard the hiss of the air entering the tank past the seal. Unblocking the breather hole (which had blocked up with crud) solved the issue.
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thanks for the suggestions guys still no resolution the problem still exists. ANYONE ELSE thanks
 
The fact the engine just quits makes me think it's probably electrical. Fuel problems usually result in stumbling. If you've already checked the cutoff switch in the trunk, try checking the low tension lead between the coil and distributor. A slightly loose connection can wiggle loose while driving.
 
Check the wire between the coil and the Dizzy, that can break inside the insulation and cause an intermittent problem.

:cheers:

Bob
 
I've heard all this before and all is valid. But when I had this happen to me, and went through all the above, it was my fuel pump that clogged up and which was the result of a bad gas tank. I replaced my fuel pump and tank and the problem never came back. Just another possibility to mention here.
 
gcoll said:
thanks for the suggestions guys still no resolution the problem still exists. ANYONE ELSE thanks
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Several years ago I had a problem with my fuel pump dying and when I pulled off the main road onto the shoulder it would start back up again. I made it to a service center in a small town and the service mgr had me drive the car around until it stopped again and then told me to pull off the tops of the fuel bowls and when I did I found no fuel. I managed to get back to the shop and he disconnected the fitting from the pump to the tank as well as removing the gas cap and then he used his air hose and with the nozzle at the pump fitting he gave it a good shot of air. There was no spill over since I had half a tank of fuel. Problem was trash at the pickup tube.

Second time a similar situation happened it was a clogged fuel line from the pump to the gas tank fitting but this time I had to cut out a short piece of the line and install a rubber hose to correct the problem. The pump was working overtime and was overheating and I think it was shutting itself down. If you haven't blown out your fuel lines in a while it might be a good time to do so.
 
If it is a blocked fuel pick up you will hear the fuel pump clattering loudly because it is only pulling air. If its not making that noise then its possible there is a fuel issue between pump and carbs. I would still put money on an electrical problem. Don't forget to check the fine wire inside the distributor.
 
gcoll said:
I hope someone can offer some sugestions as to whats causing the engine on my 67 BJ8 to just randomly conk out while driving. The last few times while driving the car, it would just stop running for no apparant reason. When stopped it sometimes takes a few minutes then starts back up and drives fine for a few miles and conks out again and some times it starts right back up and does it again. My first thoughts were electrical because it didn't sputter to a stop and I could hear the fuel pump working. My car has the Crane Cams electronic ignition with the XR3000 ignition module with the LX91 electronic coil. I thought it could be the coil over heating and replaced the coil that didn't resolve the problem. The LED indicator on the ignition module is lit when I try to restart so that seems to be working OK. Maybe its not electrical. Possibly something else. OUT OF IDEAS
I would really appreciate anyones suggestions as to what might be the problem, what to test and how, and what I can do to fix it. thanking you in advance for your help. puzzled in Alexandria
Click to expand...

I want to thank everyone that provided suggestions to resolve this problem. I have followed up on most of your suggestions and no resolution yet. I have checked and tested everything electrical that you and I can think of and everything electrical is solid. I was just out driving and after 14 miles she konked out again only this time while it was shutting down there was some backfiring before it konked out. When I turned the ignition key off then back on I could hear the fuel pump clicking away before I tried to restart the engine. After several tries it finally restarted. It konked out 2 more times and restarted on the way home.
 
gcoll said:
I want to thank everyone that provided suggestions to resolve this problem. I have followed up on most of your suggestions and no resolution yet. I have checked and tested everything electrical that you and I can think of and everything electrical is solid. I was just out driving and after 14 miles she konked out again only this time while it was shutting down there was some backfiring before it konked out. When I turned the ignition key off then back on I could hear the fuel pump clicking away before I tried to restart the engine. After several tries it finally restarted. It konked out 2 more times and restarted on the way home.
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Did you turn off the ignition when it started conking out and pull over to the side of the road and check fuel bowls for gas level?
 
Backfire thru carbs, or tailpipe. Feel fuel pump next time and see if it is warm or hot. Carbs lean, tailpipe rich.
 
Is it a standard SU fuel pump? If so you should hear it when you first turn on the ignition but then it will stop ticking when float bowls are full. If it carries on ticking then you have fuel starvation caused by a blockage between tank and pump, or its leaking air on the tank side of the pump. Do you have a replacement fuel cap? I had a cheapo one and it didn't breathe. This caused a vacumn in the tank which then led to the fuel pump starting to make the clattering noise. It usually happened when tank got down to about half full. Removing the cap automatically solved the problem temporarily. Took me a while to figure out what was going on. Replaced the cap, problem solved.
 
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