Engine idle / running issue

So first let me start with what I have: 67 a108 with a 318 v8 that i recently purchased. The van seemed to run okay on the 1hr + drive back home except for an excessive fuel smell and some rough Idling when at a stop (almost to point of stalling, but never did). Wanted to give it an initial tune up to make sure everything was running smooth, so I did the following: replace, spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor,coil, condenser, points. noticed fuel leaking out from below the fuel pump so i also replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, some of the flexible fuel hose, and I replaced the carter 2 barrel carb with a fully refurbished / rebuilt stock carter 2 barrel carb from Carb X (the old carb was dumping a lot of fuel onto the intake manifold). There is a dist. vacuum control valve that was not hooked up to anything (which I left unhooked) the vacuum port at the back of the intake manifold was plugged and there was an additional port at the base of the new carb (next the crankcase vent. port) that is for a heated air inlet from air cleaner that was not part of the old carb that I plugged as well. Everything seemed to be working fine at initial test start ups. Took it for a small trip today and I started, idled & drove perfect to the 7 mile away destination. Was stopped there for 45 minutes and then after a few miles on the way back it started to run real rough (hesitations & not smooth accelerations) Then along with the rough running it started dying at every stop. Was able to get it home to the driveway, but not even able to get it into the garage from there. Cant seem to get it to idle long enough to get it in the garage; very rough idle even when giving it gas and it dies when I put it in drive. HELP, any ideas, tips etc. When i look down the throat of the carb i can see gas spray when i hit the accelerator. I plan on re-checking the points, checking the spark at the plugs. Could there be an issue with the jets somehow getting clogged? (would i be able to see gas spraying down the throat if they were?) Thanks in advance for any ideas in figuring it out.

Checked the fuel filter? it might be clogged up...

I guess as a Dodge guy,,, you  got to be ready for timing chain problems,,,,,,so put the timing mark on 0,,,,,,,peak under the distributor cap,,,,,see if the rotor is where it should be,,,,pointing to #1 or if it points someplace else,,,,

Not an expert on Carter, but it sounds like a plugged idle port on the carb, if it were a Weber I would pull the idle jets and check them, being a rebuild it does not take much left over crud/shaving/particle to plug the idle passage/port. Anytime I get a new carb (rebuilt in your case) first thing I do is take it apart and blow it out and spray carb cleaner through it, always backwards, form the exit port into the carb that way any particle does not get run deeper into the passage.

Im leaning toward a fuel issue as well; specifically clogged idle / main jet. I relaxed the fuel filter so I'm wondering if something broke loose beyond the fuel filter and worked its way into clogging the jets. Or even if the some crud didn't get completely cleaned out when the carb company rebuilt the carb and worked its way into the jets. Like it said it ran beautifully for the first 8 - 9 miles then it just started with the roughness , hesitation and idle problems. First thing I'm going to do is pull the fuel line and give a crank to see what comes out. Then i guess i will tear into the carb and try and locate the jets pull them out, clean them and blow them through. Thanks again for the ideas and tips keep em coming I appreciate all the help.

I mean "replaced" the fuel filter ha! guess I better check my typing before I post….

If the carb squirts when you work it (engine off) it's not likely a fuel delivery issue. It could be a clogged idle passage, but I'd lean more toward the points closing up (did you put point lube on them?) so check the dwell. Also, I've seen new condensers that were bad from the start. Swap out the old one and see if it runs. Once you have got that right, THEN check the carb or swap it if they frown on opening it up while still under warranty.

I have a similar prob and will be watching.

In the end it seemed to end up being the ignition points / condenser that were the issue. I ended up pulling the carb apart first (before I read Rod's advice) and blowing everything out put it back together and on to no avail. So I ended up putting the points and condenser back in, re-set the point and got it to idle/run although with a little too much hesitation / un-eveness for my liking so I ended up switching them out to a Pertronix ignitor pointless system and that really seemed to smooth things out. Time will tell, but so far I am pretty happy with the switch. Im keeping the points, condenser & a back up ballast resistor in the van for back up purposes. It seems that I am missing the belly pan in mine so I am going to fabricate one out of wood and add a air ramp / wing to try and help direct more air up through the radiator and into the engine compartment. Also even though I'm not a fan of the shiny aftermarket air filters, I did change out the original oil bath filter out for one as I didn't like how the original sat down around the carb and seemed to really block air flow around the carb and top of the engine. The aftermarket one sits on top of the carb as opposed to down around it. Hoping that will help with keeping the temps down.

Nice update thanks. I changed my points out but not the condenser.

hmm, Im going to look into those petronix setups myself, got a part number by chance?

I have the 318 V8 so the pertronix part number was 1381A, If you have a diff. motor you would need to get the distributor number off of the distributor body and do a search on the pertronix web site to find the one you need for that distributor. To be safe you should probably pull your distributor number and double check there website anyways as their systems are tied to the distributors and not the engine size. I am just running the points replacement with a stock coil and ballast resistor and not running their flamethrower coil. If you plan on running the stock coil make sure you run the red wire to the ignition side of your ballast resistor as per their instructions. Good luck.

Does anyone make sure they set the points witha =? DWELL METER???????????????   or do we still eye thepoints gap or set it with a match book cover??   

tower9 wrote:I have the 318 V8 so the pertronix part number was 1381A, If you have a diff. motor you would need to get the distributor number off of the distributor body and do a search on the pertronix web site to find the one you need for that distributor. To be safe you should probably pull your distributor number and double check there website anyways as their systems are tied to the distributors and not the engine size. I am just running the points replacement with a stock coil and ballast resistor and not running their flamethrower coil. If you plan on running the stock coil make sure you run the red wire to the ignition side of your ballast resistor as per their instructions. Good luck.

thanks for the info, does it help with engine response and general drivability?

I GOT THE PERTRONIX KIT THAT HAS A HIGHER VOLTAGE COIL WITH IT, MY VAN NEVER RUN SO GOOD,

I only acquired the van about a month ago and as soon as I got It I started with going through the motor and giving it a thorough once over as it was idling rough when I bought it, so I don't have a lot of experience driving it pre-electronic ignition. That being said it has in the little I've driven it since the swap seemed to really help smooth out the rough idle and the throttle response that I have seems to be smooth and linear. I just finished having the entire brake system rebuilt so now she stops as well as she goes. I also just finished up with belly pan I fabricated with an air ramp. Im hoping with a belly pan in place and the addition of the air ramp ill get a lot more air up in through the radiator / engine compartment to help keep it cooler. Now hopefully its finally on to the fun stuff like, wood floor in rear cargo area, new upholstery and carpet, make curtains for the windows, new wheels / tires then she's ready for some beach camping.

tower9 wrote:I only acquired the van about a month ago and as soon as I got It I started with going through the motor and giving it a thorough once over as it was idling rough when I bought it, so I don't have a lot of experience driving it pre-electronic ignition. That being said it has in the little I've driven it since the swap seemed to really help smooth out the rough idle and the throttle response that I have seems to be smooth and linear. I just finished having the entire brake system rebuilt so now she stops as well as she goes. I also just finished up with belly pan I fabricated with an air ramp. Im hoping with a belly pan in place and the addition of the air ramp ill get a lot more air up in through the radiator / engine compartment to help keep it cooler. Now hopefully its finally on to the fun stuff like, wood floor in rear cargo area, new upholstery and carpet, make curtains for the windows, new wheels / tires then she's ready for some beach camping.

Hey where did you have the brakes done at? I live in south OC and just notcied a tiny leak on my rear hydrolic line split above the axle. My wife would be happy to know a profesional did it!

I had it done at a little shop by my house here in Huntington Beach were I bring our daily drivers when I need regular maintenance work done. I think you can get one of those flaring tools pretty cheap and just buy the right size brake line & fittings and replace it yourself; or I'm sure there's probably a auto / brake shop closer to you that would be able to replace the line as well. I wouldn't think the hydraulic brake lines on our vans are any different then the lines on other vehicles. Let me know if you strike out and are still interested in bringing it up to Huntington.