Hot Engine Stalling

[VETTE57]

hAVING A PROBLEM THAT IS DRIVING ME NUTS. i HAVE HAD THIS CAR FOR 10 YEARS AND END OF LAST YEAR AND SO FAR THIS SPRING IT HAS BEEN STALLING WHEN HOT.SEEMS TO RUN FINE WHILE BELOW 160, BUT STARTS RUNNING ROUGH AND STARTS STALLING AT TAKE OFF WHEN HOT.245 HP 283 2 4'S

[poncho62]

vapour lock in the fuel system due to the heat.....................

[rebel8324]

Yea i had the same problem with my engine. It would stall at around 180 or so and i couldnt figure out why. Cuz that isnt hot enough for it to overheat. So i must be vapor lock. Try insulating ur gas lines or rerouting em like streets said.

[drg84]

My Oldsmobile used to do the same thing. If it isnt the Fuel lines, take a look to the choke pulloff. Thatll kill a warm engine rather quickly.

[hambiskit]

it's definately starving for fuel, vapor lock, or clogged fuel filters would be my guess.
Also- I'd check for fuel delivery.......of course if those carbs haven't been overhauled in ten years.......

[Bob Parmenter]

While what the other guys are saying is plausible, let's back up a step. What, if anything, was done to the car (no matter how unrelated you may think it is) before the problem showed up? Is this happening on the same load of fuel, or has it continued over more than two fills? Are you using any fuel "improvement" additives?

If the car ran well for 9 years it's unlikely that the fuel line routing is the issue unless something else has changed to now impact them. Keep in mind that vapor locking just about always occurs at the fuel pump (it's designed to pump liquid not vapor). Jim's comment about the filter could be true if there's a filter before the pump, while you're thinking it's temp related it could be time related and the filter becomes more restrictive after each startup. Likewise, if ther'e a "sock" on the fuel pickup in the tank, it could be getting plugged or collapsing as the fuel pump "sucks" in tank bottom junk. Once you stop the car for some period of time the "junk" sloughs off, only to be picked up again during the first minutes of use the next time. If it were the filter(s) after the pump, that would more likely be noticed at higher speeds rather than at idle or slightly above (fuel bowls can't fill fast enough to keep up with demand).

[Mike P]

If the car has run for 10 years and just recently started showing these problems I think I would look elsewhere than a vaporlock problem.....UNLESS the quality of gas your using has changed (some brands do tend to vaporlock more easily than others), you have moved to a different altitude/climate, you have added accessories that would raise the under hood temperature.

3 arears that I would look at first:

The rubber lines that attach from the fuel tank to the steel body line, and the rubber line that attaches from the body to the fuel pump.

The fuel pump (it could just be getting weak).

The fuel filters both any inline units and any that may be locaed in the carb inlet.

[moparfever]

I had a piece of dirt stuck in an idle jet(Weber) cause the same problem. The mixture was rich enough when cold due to the choke, but when the choke was off it leaned out. Maybe you got something in your idle circuit?

[VETTE57]

Thank you all for trying to trouble shoot my old vette. Turns out the points were barely opening and the hotter it got the more closed they became.A guy ,that used to work closely with jenkins in the early years ,said right at the get go that it's the dual point. He was correct. Car runs like a banshee now, in fact never quicker , and has never run cooler. thanks again,
Tom

[moparfever]

That's one for the books! Glad to hear you got it smoothed out.