Engine Trouble. Any Ideas?

[ryhan87]

I have a 72 LWB with a 250ci I6. With a single barrel rochester carb. Since i got the truck i have rebuilt my head with a new top end set and head gasket when it went back on. I have new spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor, new points. I put on new exhaust, checked my timing and its correct. I have also put in a carb kit. When i did all the this work my truck ran excellent. Now i am having starting issues. From cold I give it full choke and pump the gas three or four times and it fires up runs for a few seconds than dies, it does this about three times than it will run on high idle. If i take it off high idle it slowly idles down than dies. Also when i try to drive when its still cold it hesitates really bad. But when the engine has warmed up a bit, it will sit at about 700 rpm and runs perfect with plenty of power. Any ideas of what i should look at? Im thinking its probably a carb issue. Might have been a poor quality rebuild kit I put in. Any ideas? Also i would like to go to something other than the manual choke? Would would be the best?

[berencam]

sounds like a combination of choke and timing a little off.

[treveiger]

I would get a new hei distributor and see if that helps.

[tex_waco_usmc]

Definitely sounds like a points/distributor issue!

[cdowns]

i'd try resetting points and adjusting the dizzy position first b4 jumping into the parts changining mode suggested

[slomotion]

Do you have the heat riser valve between your exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe? If so, you may find it sticking. Wire it open and see if there's any change in cold running.

[tqlspec]

What your describing sounds perfectly normal when it's cold. When you say 'cold' - what temperature are we talking? Also, don't pump the accelerator. Push it to the floor once, then start it and let it run at fast idle for 30 seconds or so and then take it off fast idle.

Hesitation until the engine warms up is not abnormal.

On a side note - get a oil pan heater from Wolverine. Does wonders for quicker warm ups. I use one if the outside temp is going to dip below 40°.

[faribran]

sounds like the typical characteristics of the inline 6... had one for years...

[mrhino]

Sounds like a typical choke issue.

[ryhan87]

I got too looking for a cause for my problem. Found my points are worn out. Im not an expert on points style distributors but I think this sounds a little odd. The arm of my points set-up where it contacts the cam lobes on the shaft in the distributor is worn right out. It bad enough that i cant adjust the gap anymore. Is this kinda weird because i put in this new set of points about 8 months ago? I figured that I would have to adjust them every so often but not that they would wear out that fast. Gonna replace them tomorrow and see if that solves my problem. Also does anyone now a factory vehicle combination that came with a HEI in a 250ci I6? I would like to get an HEI distributor but dont want to buy a new one.

[Shyguy]

I think the one on my L6 came from a '78 Chevy truck. I am sure one from a Chevy car around that year will work also.

[cdowns]

Originally Posted by ryhan87

I got too looking for a cause for my problem. Found my points are worn out. Im not an expert on points style distributors but I think this sounds a little odd. The arm of my points set-up where it contacts the cam lobes on the shaft in the distributor is worn right out. It bad enough that i cant adjust the gap anymore. Is this kinda weird because i put in this new set of points about 8 months ago? I figured that I would have to adjust them every so often but not that they would wear out that fast. Gonna replace them tomorrow and see if that solves my problem. Also does anyone now a factory vehicle combination that came with a HEI in a 250ci I6? I would like to get an HEI distributor but dont want to buy a new one.

did you clean the point cam lobe and lubricate it b4 installing the points??

the cheapo chain store parts isn't the best of quality either

[ryhan87]

Thanks. I did wipe the cam lobe clean. What would I lubrictate it with though? Just some dielectric grease or something?

[swamp rat]

Did you freshen the top end and not the rings and bearings? if so i'd run cpmpression tests and make sure your still good, usually just doing a top end will accelerate ring failure.

[697498chevy]

Echlin points from NAPA used to come with a little tube of lube . Guess they still do .