Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

I have a 1972 Chevy C10, 350 2wd.
Recently it starts up fine but when I get around 2 miles down the road it will die. After trying to start it a couple it times it will barely turn over almost like the battery is dead but it hasn't been turned over enough to drain the battery. After I leave it for 45 minutes to 1 hour it will start back up no problem. It has done this three times and it dies at about the exact same distance from my house each time.
When it dies it immediately does so. No sputtering or misfiring. Just stops. I recently replaced the coild wire thinking that may be it but it didn'thelp.
I have a few ideas of what it may be but I need opinions before I just start blindly replacing stuff.

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

What does it do after you wait and start it up again, does it die again, or keep going?

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

mine is doing the same thing and i have 2 batterys.i also loose gas in the bowl. Crazy i have tried mine diffrent things.if you find out something please post on here and i will do the same

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

It will eventually die again. Everytime I have managed to start it again I just take it straight home so I don't go far with it.
One of the theories that keeps coming up is the ignition coil is over heating. This would explain why it is starting after it sits. Anyone know if this is true???

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

My 69 C10 used to do that, it turned out the float had a hole in it. I tried to buy a new float but no one had one, it had a Rochester "two jet" carb. The float had actually broken apart at the seam, I took it out an soldered it back together and havent had any problems again.
It was a pain soldering the float, every time I would get it almost sealed the heat would blow out the last bit of solder, I finally submerged the lower part in water and soldered the last bit closed.

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

First make absolutely sure you have good cables and connections to the starter and ground. The cable posts can get corroded internally and is not visible unless you peel back the sheathing.

Second, buy or borrow a volt meter and place it across the battery posts and with the engine idling insure you are getting at least 13 vdc or more it may read betseen 12-14.5vdc depending on battery charge.

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

HEI or points?

Gary

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

I'd guess a loose wire in the ignition circuit...

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

It has points

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Id start with a coil ( or maybe relocate yours to keep it cool) a condencer...I think your on the right track...another dumb thing loosen the gas cap and see if the vent is toast

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

i'd start by removing battery cables and clean up all 4ends and where they mount next i'd clean and gap the points and plugs then i'd replace the gas filter (if quadrajet) it is inside the carb body i'd also blow out the air filter while i'm at it

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Check the condenser in the points ignition sysytem.

Gary

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Well I figured I would update for anyone that runs in to this same problem. Turns out the problem was in the distributor. It would just quit working for no real reason and at times the coil would quit. The coil issues was most likely the negative post going out from the distributor going out.
Needless to say, everything I researched said that the points are very unreliable so it has been converted to an HEI set up now.

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Glad you found the problem. I had the same thing happen to me on my 69 with an HEI dis so I should have considered the distributor/coil as a possibility. What threw me off is when you mentioned the engine barely turning like the battery low on voltage.

Thanks for update.

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Did you swap the hole Dizzy?? if you did remember that the voltage from the yellow wire isn't a full 12V so you need to run a new wire....

as far as being unreliable?? well they have been run for a loooooooooong time..I have no choice except an update for my Caddy and it runs fine..

Glad you got it fixed reguardless

Re: Need Help....72 C10 Keeps Dying
 

Yeah the whole thing has been swapped. I guess unreliable isn't the word to use. KNown for causing some headaches and alot more maintenance is what I should be saying.