The engine is a 1969 350 chevy. Has a quadrajet carb, new fuel pump and filter, new points, condensor, new coil. Problem is engine starts and idles fine but as soon as you give it gas it dies everytime. We tried a known good quadrajet off another car that was running fine and it still did the same. Could the points not be adjusted correctly, points were adjusted with a feeler guage and not a proper dwell meter. We are planing to adjust them next with a dwell meter. What other problems could cause this?
Get you timing close then adjust the carb. Only do one at a time like I said set the timing then the carb. Make sure your vacuum advance is working as well, and you have the vac lines right. then look for a carb air leak spray around the base with carb cleaner if it inporves the idel then you have a leak.
If you let off the gas for a couple of seconds and then hit it again will it take off an run for about the same period of time before it dies again? You don't say what the engine is in but is the rest of the fuel system up to the demands of a full throttle run from the 350. Can the fuel line flow enough gas to keep up with the carb? It sounds like either the float bowl is running out of fuel due to either a restriction in the fuel line of one sort or another. Common suspects are a twisted or kinked fuel line at or near the fuel inlet to the carb. Too small of a fitting or line in the system that restricts flow. sock on the pickup, or fuel filter plugged to the point it won't flow enough fuel. Non vented gas cap on a system that requires a vented cap. I got a three mile walk on that one when I thought my 51 Merc had run out of gas. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Check points wiring where it goes thru dist. maybe grounding out when va*** advance plate moves. To test just remove hose from dist and try.
That's where I'd look too. Disconnect the vac advance and see if it revs. If so, shorted wire in the distributor.
Make sure you are getting vac advance feed from the right source. If you are pulling from a manifold instead of venturi vac, then setting timing, you will be way off from the start and the advance will be working backwards, just making it worse.
Thanks for all the replies. The engine is in an OT 69 corvette. It starts up and runs fine just quits when you touch the gas. Will check some of the suggestions here, and i'll tighten up the rearend cover bolts tomorrow to see if that helps LOL.
My buddy had a similar thing happen on a sbc - it was the advance in the dizzy - when it advanced it shorted out internally - as it died it lost advance makign it run good again until it started to advance - it'd go on and on that way. Put a timing light on it and see what the ignition does during this and go from there.
If it quits just when you touch the gas I would suspect the accelerator pump. If you very gently open the throttle will it stay running? It may also have a vacuum leak that still lets it idle but causes too lean a condition when the throttle is opened.