Engine not running very well when its cold -- anyone help? - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

Russell · 09-06-2003, 09:10 PM

Hey Everyone!

I recently tuned up my engine, it totally runs awesome now, except when it is cold... It misses a bunch of cylinders and stalls out like right away if you try to let it idle... I recently cleaned and gapped my plugs, and cleaned my plug cables (still not 100% but this isn't the source of the problem) checked the distributer (which looked pretty much brand new still, with all the components of it running perfectly) tuned the carb, and put in a new air filter so the truck could actually run. My father and myself assume that when we took the distributer or something else apart we disconnected something... I know that the distributer has different wires coming out of it that cause it to act differently depending on the temperature of the engine, but I dunno what to be looking for. The engine ran fine when it was cold before we did the tuneup, but now it doesn't at all...

My father had a Chrysler Fury at one point, and it did the same thing becuase the previous owner ripped all that stuff out thinking it had something to do with emissions... My father ended up setting the engine to run at a very high idle when it was cold so it wouldn't stall out until it got warm and ran just fine....

Any suggestions from you engine gurus?

Canadian-Ron · 09-06-2003, 09:31 PM

are you 100% sure you have the wires on right? Sounds to me like you've possibly crossed a couple, vacuum lines are all hooked up?

Russell · 09-06-2003, 10:33 PM

I'm sure, I labled all the cables with whiteout to make 100% sure I got them back on correctly...

The truck won't even start anymore something is terribly wrong with it... Before it would at least start and run if you gave it some gas to go at a fast idle until it warmed up in about ten minutes, then it ran absolutely perfectly. I took a close look, and I can't see anything that is disconnected, and the plugs are all still looking just fine...

**BillGent** · 09-06-2003, 11:24 PM

my truck does that in cold weather...could it be the automatic choke?

Hard_Core_Hick · 09-06-2003, 11:49 PM

Ok F'uck the automatic choke disconect the dam thing no good at all ( well unless you dont want to flood it leave it on there).

or try going to auto zone or parts plus and get a preheater hose which runs from the heat sheild to air cleaner

Russell · 09-07-2003, 12:44 AM

The choke seems to be running fine...

We got to thinking that maybe the spark was going elsewhere as the thing stalls randomly, and the misfiring cylinders are not rythmic... This lead us to think that maybe when we touched the distributer, we provided a path for the spark to follow instead of going down the cable, so we turned off the lights and fired her up, sure enough, there were a couple sparks... So we cleaned up the distributer with a nonconductive solvent, and put it back together, still no go, this leads us to believe that it has something to do with the cables, so I am gonna talk to my ex-neighbour and see if he still has those 4 new cables, and try putting 2 new ones on each side while cleaning up the best looking ones as best I can... Hopefully we can get it going, but we are sure it has to do with ignition, as it backfired through the carb, a sure sign of a plug going off at the wrong time... All the vaccume stuff works just fine, by the way...

Canadian-Ron · 09-07-2003, 10:31 AM

If you have backfiring through the carb I strongly suspect either VERY bad wires or a case of two wires in the wrong spot. If you think about it the only way to get a backfire through the carb is by having a problem with the timing, ie: An intake valve is open while during the detonation process. My suggestion is to pull ALL the wires and start from scratch.

Russell · 09-07-2003, 11:18 AM

Thats my plan Ron

We came to the same conclusion, I know they are in the same spot as before, I only took two off at a time, and I marked them with whiteout so I would know where they went then tied each pair together with a peice of electrical tape. Unless my grandfather and my uncle put the distributer on wrong ten years ago, then it is on correctly. The firing order doesn't match, but it has run properly in the recent past. We were looking at cables and I noticed that one has a rubbed out / melted covering... I am wondering if there are others like it, so I am planning on replacing as many as I can (4) and cleaning up and covering the rest with electrical tape.

09-06-2003, 09:10 PM	#1
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Engine not running very well when its cold -- anyone help? Hey Everyone! I recently tuned up my engine, it totally runs awesome now, except when it is cold... It misses a bunch of cylinders and stalls out like right away if you try to let it idle... I recently cleaned and gapped my plugs, and cleaned my plug cables (still not 100% but this isn't the source of the problem) checked the distributer (which looked pretty much brand new still, with all the components of it running perfectly) tuned the carb, and put in a new air filter so the truck could actually run. My father and myself assume that when we took the distributer or something else apart we disconnected something... I know that the distributer has different wires coming out of it that cause it to act differently depending on the temperature of the engine, but I dunno what to be looking for. The engine ran fine when it was cold before we did the tuneup, but now it doesn't at all... My father had a Chrysler Fury at one point, and it did the same thing becuase the previous owner ripped all that stuff out thinking it had something to do with emissions... My father ended up setting the engine to run at a very high idle when it was cold so it wouldn't stall out until it got warm and ran just fine.... Any suggestions from you engine gurus? __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

09-06-2003, 09:31 PM	#2
Canadian-Ron Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: canada Posts: 43	are you 100% sure you have the wires on right? Sounds to me like you've possibly crossed a couple, vacuum lines are all hooked up? __________________ my project........... my hell......... http://members.shaw.ca/ronmccoy/

09-06-2003, 10:33 PM	#3
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	I'm sure, I labled all the cables with whiteout to make 100% sure I got them back on correctly... The truck won't even start anymore something is terribly wrong with it... Before it would at least start and run if you gave it some gas to go at a fast idle until it warmed up in about ten minutes, then it ran absolutely perfectly. I took a close look, and I can't see anything that is disconnected, and the plugs are all still looking just fine... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

09-06-2003, 11:49 PM	#5
Hard_Core_Hick Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 133	Ok F'uck the automatic choke disconect the dam thing no good at all ( well unless you dont want to flood it leave it on there). or try going to auto zone or parts plus and get a preheater hose which runs from the heat sheild to air cleaner __________________ I need a 454 4 barrel and dad wont let me get one

09-07-2003, 12:44 AM	#6
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	The choke seems to be running fine... We got to thinking that maybe the spark was going elsewhere as the thing stalls randomly, and the misfiring cylinders are not rythmic... This lead us to think that maybe when we touched the distributer, we provided a path for the spark to follow instead of going down the cable, so we turned off the lights and fired her up, sure enough, there were a couple sparks... So we cleaned up the distributer with a nonconductive solvent, and put it back together, still no go, this leads us to believe that it has something to do with the cables, so I am gonna talk to my ex-neighbour and see if he still has those 4 new cables, and try putting 2 new ones on each side while cleaning up the best looking ones as best I can... Hopefully we can get it going, but we are sure it has to do with ignition, as it backfired through the carb, a sure sign of a plug going off at the wrong time... All the vaccume stuff works just fine, by the way... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

09-06-2003, 11:24 PM	#4
BillGent Pretty But Evil Doggy Woggy. Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ft Worth Posts: 6,302	my truck does that in cold weather...could it be the automatic choke?

09-07-2003, 10:31 AM	#7
Canadian-Ron Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: canada Posts: 43	If you have backfiring through the carb I strongly suspect either VERY bad wires or a case of two wires in the wrong spot. If you think about it the only way to get a backfire through the carb is by having a problem with the timing, ie: An intake valve is open while during the detonation process. My suggestion is to pull ALL the wires and start from scratch. __________________ my project........... my hell......... http://members.shaw.ca/ronmccoy/

09-07-2003, 11:18 AM	#8
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Thats my plan Ron We came to the same conclusion, I know they are in the same spot as before, I only took two off at a time, and I marked them with whiteout so I would know where they went then tied each pair together with a peice of electrical tape. Unless my grandfather and my uncle put the distributer on wrong ten years ago, then it is on correctly. The firing order doesn't match, but it has run properly in the recent past. We were looking at cables and I noticed that one has a rubbed out / melted covering... I am wondering if there are others like it, so I am planning on replacing as many as I can (4) and cleaning up and covering the rest with electrical tape. __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)



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