73 351C Starts, Sputters, Dies

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angelog596

New member
Joined
May 25, 2020
Messages
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Location
Massachusetts
My Car
1973 Mach 1 Fastback
Hey all! I have a 73 Mach 1. Took it for a drive back and forth to gas station today and started and ran good. Got home parked it for a few hours. 

Ended up getting a new Cap, Rotors, and plug wires today in mail today and installing (did plugs a few weeks ago) 

After I went to start it up was getting a real rough idle, wouldn't idle past 500 when normally at 800-900 range and would only stay running while giving her gas but without will sputter & die out within seconds. I do believe the starter is on its way out because it is loud and continues whirling after it stalls, can a failing starter show these symptoms?  I just wanted to get some better opinions! (I'm a newbie) 

Checked the firing order and that's correct as well

 
Firing order would be my first guess. SB 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

---Remember the distributor rotates counter clockwise!!!

The only thing that changed was wires, cap and rotor, correct?

When you installed the rotor was there any play in it?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bad gas, clogging the pick up in the tank or fuel filter? 

Pull the cap and look to make sure all of the metal tabs are there and complete to transfer the power from rotor to the plug wires, I have seen a brand new cap that one of them was almost completely covered in the plastic of the cap. 

 
If I read that correctly that the starter still spins after you let the key off then maybe you have a solenoid on its way out.

If the distributor wasn't tight maybe the timing changed during the tune up.

 
Last week I went to help a friend with his 67 mustang coupe 302 that had sat for 10 years. I had put him a fuel pump on several months ago and he was going to clean up the fuel lines and finish. He had not. He could not get the car to stay running. I pulled the rubber line off the gas tank and put a longer piece on and tried to blow through it. Nothing could not. So we pulled the tank and dumped the 5 gallons of gas he had added. Tank a rusty mess and the pick up screen was blocked solid. He is ordering new tank and sending unit.

 
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