QuestionHello Dick, thanks for the quick reply!
Ok, now for some more info...
With the engine revving up, it's more or less whenever I'm going up a hill or even the slightest incline. It feels like...if I push down on the gas, it'll go almost slower than I was going, and if I take my foot off the gas a little bit, it'll speed up (not much, though). The gears still feel like they're gripping, so I'm not sure that the tranny would be at fault (eventhough it might be...I know nothing about older cars).
When I have the engine running, I usually have to throw it into N whenever I stop for the first 10 minutes or so or else it wants to stall. And I do feel alot of rocking going on, pretty much all the time (except at higher speeds).
There aren't any new sounds, but there has been a distinct clicking coming from under the hood. It's been happening for the past few years, and the belts looked ok, so I figured it was just age.
I haven't noticed any major difference in fuel consumption over the past few years, mind you it's always been a gas guzzler. Would a new air-filter help with that?
When I start it up in the morning, I usually have to resort to flooring the gas pedal, then starting it, and it starts up pretty good. I, and others, notice a pretty good sized plume of blackish exhaust coming out the back. On warm startups, I don't have to floor it, it starts up right away.
I live in Vancouver BC, so the weather conditions can range from warm to freezing, but right now with fall, it's about 50-60(?)F at night. Most of the time it's raining.
Thank you once again,
Graham
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Followup To
Question -
Hi there,
I own a '69 Dodge Dart Custom with an automatic 318 V8. For the past little while, I've been noticing a bit of a lull from when I push down the gas, and when the car really starts going. The engine sounds like it's doing alot of work, but I'm not seeing many results from it. It never used to be like this...any suggestion of what could be the cause to my lack of power? I'm a student driving it back and forth from home to university and so on...any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Graham
Answer -
I need a little more information:
When you say the engine sounds like it's doing a lot of work, do you mean that it seems to be spinning faster ("revving up")? If not that, what exactly do you hear or feel?
When the engine is running, do you note any vibration or roughness, either at idle or under load (accelerating from a low speed)?
Any new sounds?
Do you keep records of fuel consumption? If so, do you note any recent change?
When you start the engine after a complete cooldown, is there any recent difference in how quickly it starts?
Have someone stand behind the car and watch the tailpipe emmissions during a cold start, report the color of the smoke/vapor emission
What are the weather conditions where you park the car overnight?
With this information I can perhaps track down the problem. I'll certainly try.
Dick
AnswerThis is a guess, but I beleive your choke is sticking in the "on" position.
To confirm this, in the cool of the morning before you start the car, remove the air cleaner from the top of the carburetor (probably one "wing" nut in the center of the lid, plus possibly some vacuum hoses - be sure to pay attention to where they fasten).
Now look at the top of your carburetor: you'll note there is a metal flap covering the opening at the top of the carburetor, toward the front of the car. Press this metal plate down with your finger - it should open easily, like a trap door, and let you see down into the maw of the carburetor. When you release it, it should spring shut freely. If you feel any stickiness or reluctance to move of this flap, we're probably on the right track here.
Next, arm yourself with a spray can of "carburetor/choke cleaner" - available at any auto parts store. Gunk is a good brand, and widely available. Note that this is a powerful solvent, so don't get it in your eyes or on any painted surface that you care about.
Spray this stuff around all the carburetor moving parts, paying special attention to the pivot point for the choke flap, and all items that have to move to allow it to move freely. While you perform this operation, have a friend hold the accelerator pedal to the floor (this releases all constraints on choke flap motion). Squirt the beejabbers out of all these parts, and keep exercising the flap manually until it feels free and easy.
Let the spray stuff evaporate for a while before trying to start the engine, as we have flooded it with all the stuff we've used. This won't hurt anything, but it will make it hard to start the first time.
Now, reinstall the air cleaner (and certainly, yes, if the element looks dirty, put in a new one, but don't expect any magical transformation from it).
The "clicking" concerns me, but I don't see how I can help you with that from here - you may have to have a mechanic listen to it to diagnose that. If it is a light sounding click, it is probably not serious - if it is more like a knock, it could be very serious, start saving your loonies and toonies!
It's a coincidence, but we're just back from visiting friends in BC - on Vancouver island - Sooke to be specific. Beautiful country. We took the ferry over to Swartz Bay from the mainland (we had been in the Banff area on a vacation trip in our 1981 Imperial, with the same 318 engine as your car, although with fuel injection, not carburetion.) Our car gets around 22-25 MPG in trip driving, so yours should definitely be doing much better than you describe. It may be time to replace the carburetor with a new (not "rebuilt") one. But try this method first, and perhaps save yourself $300.
If you have not performed a normal "tune up" in the last couple of years, you may also be due for new spark plugs, plug wires, points, condensor, rotor, distributor cap - a complete ignition system tune-up in other words. But the black smoke is a sure sign of choke problems, so do this operation first to see what improvements you can make.
Good Luck, and let me know if it helps.
Dick.
