Engine will not idle

Greetings, so after 3 years I went out today and try and start the car. I can get it to start and everything sounds great. Then after a second or two it just shuts off. Doesn't sputter or anything like that. Even when I hold down on the throttle it just shuts off. Choke is functioning as it should. Flow to the carb seems fine and the pump is relatively new. Now nothing would have changed between last time it ran and this engine wise. I can start the engine without pumping the gas and there is zero hesitation between starts.

I have an ignition coil, and petronics (however you spell it).

Any ideas?


Here is a video of it.

With the ignition in the run position take a volt meter to the positive side of the coil and confirm you have voltage.

Alternativly, take a wire from the positive on the battery to the positive on the coil and try starting the car. See if it keeps running. The only way to turn it off will be to pull this temporary wire so make sure the car is in park, parking brake is on and I even chock the wheels but I am careful that way.

When you are cranking the coil gets power from a connection on the solinoid, so it will 'run' while cranking.

Or are you saying it starts, runs while the ignition is in the run position for a few seconds and then dies.

is the gas 3 years old?

It runs in the run position for maybe a second or two. But to me it does feel like something ignition related. It's more like I shut off the key then it actually dying. Of course I have the key in the run position the whole time. But I will give that a shot anyways, thanks

Yes the gas is 3 years old, it did have stabilizer in it.

So on each post of my msd blaster 2 coil I am seeing 2.2 volts while in the run position.

is your distributor getting voltage from the original wiring harness? Do you have a tach? If you have a tach and it is unhooked it will do this. Also, in the engine harness there is a connector and if it isn't gully seated you might not have voltage to the ignition except during cranking.

A coil will hold enough voltage to run a second or two from the solenoid voltage even after you turn the key back to the run position

Ok, sorry I was incorrect on distributor. I have an accel 3 wire distributor. The red and yellow wires (2 outside ones) are showing 2.2v. The brown wire shows nothing, but I am assuming it is a ground.

The car does not have a factory tach. As far as I can see all wiring is correct and in decent condition.

Gas with stabil is only good for 6 months max.

Get a gas can and run a hose from the fuel pump to the can. If it runs clean out your gas tank and refill with fresh gas.

Or just skip ahead and clean the gunk out of the gas tank.

Ok will do, I dont think there was much gas in when I stored it so I will just syphon the tank out. Thanks

I would try a different coil. Also, check the plugs for residue if you suspect bad gas, but it seems to fire up fine which would not be the case if the gas was very bad. Pertronix is working since it fires up fine.

Thanks Bill, I am also coming to the same conclusion but I will not disregard the other good advice. I will be getting a jerry can full of gas today and test out to see if it is fuel.

One thing I did not mention and after some research I learned that I connected my starter incorrectly. I had misinterpreted the instructions and was getting a weird noise from the starter every couple starts. I had the starter solenoid switch wire connected to the 'I" connection on the remote solenoid. Apparently this can cause a backwards current as the starter then becomes a generator. I'm going to wire it differently today, kinda hoping the added electrical current was causing something to go weird.

Also I want to bring back the point that the distributor and the coil are seeing 2.2v, is this enough voltage?

Looking like I had a short. I removed the starter wire I had incorrectly wired and my coil voltage went from 2.2v to 12v in the on position. I haven't tested it as I found a fuel leak around one of the carb sight glass and am now waiting for the sealant to dry. Looks like I'm out of time so will have to rewire the starter next weekend. Really optimistic that this was the issue.

Ok I had some time to rewire the starter. It now runs. Looks like it was the ignition coil was starving for power.


Thanks again for all the awesome suggestions

Cool, glad you fixed it.