Engine misfire/cutting out

[Brenton M.]

65 396/425 After driving my car for a while on yesterday it started to misfire and cutout upon acceleration, the engine finally stalled out, we had to jump it off, while trying to restart the engine I noticed smoke coming from my side exhaust pipes. It seemed to be flooded with gas. After getting it started it ran fine under normal conditions, but every time I would really accelerate it would cutout and sometime backfire through exhaust. I pulled the spark plugs and found six of them was wet with gas. I'm running R45XLS. Please help!!! this has been going on for a while.

[Frank D.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Well - I'd say to go through the usual troubleshooting steps -- carb, distributor, coil, plug wires and plugs.
Don't discount the midyear "red wire syndrome"....meaning corrosion at the bulkhead connectors near the bottom of the brake master cylinder in the engine compartment.

[Keith B.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Frank sounds more like a timming issue and vacuum advance not working.

[Frank D.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Possibly - but there has been a couple of cases of mysterious backfiring on midyears the last few months and it turned out to be bulkhead connector issues.

[Douglas L.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

What do you mean by "jump it off"? Do you mean that after it died it wouldn't crank over and had to be jumpstarted with jumper cables to restart?

[Carl N.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Possible stuck float on primary bowl or faulty accelerator pump or "tip" in setting on pump. Also have you adjusted valve lash in the past.

[George W.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

The '65 396/425 should have TI; the "misfire and cutout on acceleration" issue sounds like a timing problem. I have seen the 396/425 TI system run good on slow/normal acceleration, but when you punch it the engine cuts out or misfires; this can mean you need more total advance. I would start with timing advance.
Get the engine to run and then look into the fuel concern. Good luck.

[Brenton M.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Well - I'd say to go through the usual troubleshooting steps -- carb, distributor, coil, plug wires and plugs.
Don't discount the midyear "red wire syndrome"....meaning corrosion at the bulkhead connectors near the bottom of the brake master cylinder in the engine compartment.

Thanks Frank. I did a total frame off restoration on the car in 2008 including engine rebuild, all new wiring harness, etc. It's been about a year since I adjusted the valves and checked the timing. I haven't put many miles on the engine since the rebuild maybe 300 miles. If I remember correctly it did this once before, I think it was a timing issue. The part that I don't understand is that it runs fine for a while, until engine really warm up.

[Leif A.]

Re: Engine misfire/cutting out

Brenton,
Odds are it's the ignition coil. To me, when you say "it runs fine for a while, until engine really warms up" indicates a failing coil. Go to your local FLAPS and pick up a coil (fairly inexpensive) and give it a try. May save you a ton of time and angst.