Hi all,
Got a huge problem with my 225 slant six. It's in a 84 dodge truck with electronic spark computer on the air cleaner. The carb is a holley 6145, it think thats the model #. Anyways the other day the engine died on me. I've got spark and fuel is present at carb, but the engine will either idle and shut off when you give it gas or it will imediately shut off when you try starting it. Does anyone know if I should tear into the carb to see if there is something blocking after the fuel come into it? Or do you think the Electronic spark is killing it. Would the engine shut off if the float was was stuck in the up position or really close to it. Kinda using up what gas it had and the starving it out? I'm in a fix with this thing due to it being my work vehicle. Any help would be awesome Is there any way to just bypass the electronic spark computer if its the problem?

The "Electronic Spark Control" is a renamed Lean Burn setup. This is a very picky and failure-prone engine management system. It works OK (just OK, not better than that) when everything is in perfect condition and adjustment. When parts get old and/or out of adjustment, problems result. First question: Where do you live, and what kind of emission tests and underhood inspections must your truck pass?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Well i live in washinton state where they still do emission testing on the truck but no visual tests. would there be a way to delete or bypass this system for the time being until i have time and money to look at other options? Right now the truck is broke down at work and i dont have any financial way to get it home. I eventually want to try switching it to fuel injection but thats way down the road. Right now i'm just trying to get it home before my boss complains.

What part of Washington State?

There are no emissions testing in Black Diamond, Maple Valley, Enumclaw, Buckley, etc....

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Vancouver area unfortunatly. too close to portland I guess. Currently in the middle of tearing apart carb. Lots of debris in bowl area. Looks like coffee ground just alot harder. charcoal from the canister maybe? If thats even possible, never had a canister apart to see what the insides of that looks like. Getting it all cleaned out now along with all of the passages thruought the carb. the was only about 1/4 of a inch of gas in the bowl if even that. Is this normal? Couldnt tell if float was stuck or not.

I would eventually retrofit this with standard electronic ignition, and distributor, but you need to get it home. Is there no way to tow it home so you can take your time and fix it? When carb floats stick, they usually stick open, not closed, but in any event, a carb rebuild is a pretty obvious first step here. I don;t think charcole from the vapor cannister could get in your fuel. The vapor is sucked into the air stream, not the fuel stream. There is a vent from the fuel bowel to the charcole canister though. I suppose charcole could somewho get up that line into the fuel. I suspect though that something else has contaminated your fuel. Have you looked at your fuel filter? I had an AMC Hornet which had a baffle in the tank that was made from plastic. It came apart and fouled everything up pretty badly. I don;t know if Mopar ever used such a thing, but if they did, at the age of your truck, things like that would be about time to come apart and fail.

Just kind of idle rambling here hoping something is useful or appropriate.

Sam

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ok, carb is all back together. It ran for a few minutes on high idle then shut off. I have the curb idle screw is in far enough that the idle stop selenoid isn't contacting the arm. Now it it tries to start then shuts off. I have tried to adjust the curb idle screw in an attempt to at least get it running, but it doesnt help. Am i barking up the wrong tree with thinking the carb is the problem? I tested the Spark Control Computer and its at 10 volt at the number one pin instead of being at at least 11 volt. also noticed that my distributor has only one set of wires from the pick up coils, but there is what looks to be another set that is not hooked up. The distributor has only pick up coil in it. Does this truck have the wrong distributor in it?

Fuel filter is new and I took it back off and blew thru it and it is just like it was when I put it on last week.

It's possible that it has the wrong distributor. Some ESC versions had a second pick-up coil used for cranking timing. If you do replace the distributor, it might make more sense to put in a non-ESC distributor with a HEI module or standard Mopar ignition.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

A friend of mine has a MSD 6 ignition box, if I used a vacuum advance style distributor with a pick up coil instead of points, could that be a quick way to bypass the ESC?

Yes.

I'm not sure if the ESC controls anything on the carb; if it does, you can probably share the signal from the pick-up coil between the MSD box and the ESC to give it the signal it needs.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

The carb only has a idle stop solenoid on it. only work when key turns off.
Could i use the original distributor that has a single pickup coil? Or am I going to have to locate a vacuum advance style one. I'm only trying to get the engine started and running enough to get it home. This isn't a long term fix, just a quick fix for this situation.

If your up against the wall that bad, just get a used points distributor and use it. You just need a hot wire to the coil, preferably from the key switch. The single distributor wire goes to the negative terminal on the coil. Be sure and note which way the rotor is pointing when you pull it out and put the new one back in so the timing stays close enough to get it running. I had to do this once on a 76 Dodge van when the ECU went out to get it home!

You can always pull it back out and trouble shoot everything later.

In fact, I ran it that way the next 6 years.

How many miles do you need to go?

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

On the charcoal canister thing, yeah it can come apart and find its way into the float bowl. On the 2nd diplomat, ex-squad I had, i had exactly that happen. I de lean burned it, and put an emission version Carter AFB on it and my canister spilled its guts and filled the bowl so that the float couldnt fall and open up the needle and seat. Upon rebuild I was sure to leave the canister disconnected!

Ok, sounds like something you could rig without the ESC. If you had a feedback carb, you'd have more headaches.
As a quick fix, yes, provided you set the base timing correctly. It will not advance or retard, so power, mileage, and drivability will all suffer. But an engine can run under these circumstances if nothing else is acting up.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair