araj

My stang was running fine, then one day a spade connector fell off of my electric fan and the engine overheated. I got it home and it was hissing coolent out of the overflow. It wouldnt start so i decided to try the next day, So i went to autozone and bought a new set of spade connectors and rewired the fan and its running like a champ. I go to start the car and it roars to life no problems, so i went to BP and filled up, this is where my problems started. When i went to start the car it wouldnt start no matter what i did so i rolled it away from the pump and called my mechanic. He told me to stomp the gas and eventually it would fire up, and after about 3 minutes it did in a big way. Well halfway home it died on me at a stoplight so again i did the same thing and it started back up, i did frighten a biker in front of me due to my flowmaster exhaust system. SO i got it home and i have had trouble starting it ever since. I put octane booster in but still it starts rough, now i have to take the air filter off and it will eventually start once i hook a battery charger up to it but it shoots a flame out of the carb. I do know that right now with my cam the time is to far advanced but i cant turn the distributor anymore until i have ground down my water neck. Now my question is this what could be causing this? Timing? Bad Gas? I have a holley 650 cfm carb, edlebrock torquer II intake, holley fuel pressure regulator, gt 40 heads, 8mm plug wires, 3g alternator, the biggest cam comp cams makes, among other things. Could it just be i need to take off the carb and give it a through cleaning? Or is the fireball a result of having to flood the carb to start it?

araj

i forgot i am running the stock intank fuel pump, would switching to a mechanical pump help?

mattdel

i can only assume you're running a pressure regulator for that pump, designed for carb PSI, otherwise it wouldn't run.
as long as the regulator is working properly, you shouldn't need to switch pumps.

timing is your problem here, as a backfire through the intake is strictly timing related.
if you have a points style distributor, it might be time for an upgrade, but i doubt you do.

projectresto83

There is no reason to have to grind into the water neck to get your timing right. Sounds like you need to start over and restab the dizzy correctly.Your timing is definitly off. You may have also blown a seal in your regulator and it might not be functioning properly. Your fuel pump could also be dieing on you. That being the reason you have to have the pedal to floor to try to start it. You also probably need to learn how to tune your carb. Another question, did you build the motor?

araj

no i wished i had built the motor but the previous owner did an he didnt o a very good job and i am trying to figure out the mess. Thanks for all the tips guys.

projectresto83

I know it does sound wierd thinking that the timing may be that far off after something like having to fix the fan's wiring but I have had something like that happen too. I accidentally pulled my connectors apart that run my dizzy, didn't even tug on it really. The car ran just fine except I couldn't get my vac advance to work correctly and after I reconnected the wire the car wouldn't even start. Pulled out the light and had to set the timing again and for some odd reason the vac advance worked out just fine afterward. Who knows lol. Good luck on yours. I do recommend removing the stock fuel pump and putting in a holley blue or just converting it over to a mechanical pump though.

tinman

If that regulator is for a carb application and you have a factory EFI pump against it that is at least part of the problem.
Need to get rid of that pump in the tank and get a Holley Blue type pump and a new regulator........

araj

I bought a holley blue and im about to install it, now i read that it is a gravity feed pump. So any good spots to mount it? Also im going to rip out the original pump and im thinking about putting in new lines, should i use the original pickup? I have never swapped a efi pump for a gravity feed, i have always swapped efi for efi. I was originally going to go straight to a mechanical pump but quite a few mustang enthusiasts told me not to do so, including a guy that all his job is, is to restore classic mustangs. So any help on a mounting location? Pickup? Another guy told me to just leave the original pump in the tank but cut off its power, is this wise? I really would rather just rip it out.

mjr46

grannetelli makes a pick up you can install in place of the efi set up

Stinger

Ok before people have you off doing stuff to your car you might want to know for sure what you have in parts(etc). Do the basics before you spend a dime. Check all vacume hoses, check to make sure you are getting plenty of fuel or too much fuel. Lots of people have used efi pumps and apparently your car was working fine until it over heated. So either take a fuel sample or maybe get some HEAT from autozone to make sure there is no water in ur tank. Could of overheated and blown a head gasket so check your water levels for oil and check ur oil for white milky sludge. Wait to install the holley blue. Get some help from a friend so you can keep the car ideling and get a timing light and check ur timing. This could be just some bad gas!