starting and cooling
 

Hi,
Hopefully there is somone who has some ideas and can point me in the right direction. I have an ERA with a 351, built in 96, has 8,000 miles.

#1: I have not had much time to run it this year and it has become increasingly difficult to start. Only way this weekend, was to squirt a generous amount of starting fluid into the carburator after I let it sit for about four hours after giving up. I also recharged the battery to make sure it was 100%. Before that, it just turned, but would not fire.
Also after it was running for about 3-4 minutes, it suddenly shut down and would not fire again. Suspected culprits: bad gas (it has been in the car a few months and I added fuel stabilizer), battery or what? Any ideas would be appreciated.

#2: I also discovered that the expansion tank for the coolant was empty. It has always been at a constant half -- to the point where I sometimes forget to check it. So I filled it up, and when I got the car started (before it shut down), it warmed up much faster than usual. It was a hot day but I have not seen the car warm up that fast ever. Within minutes it was at 180 degrees. It usually take 5-6 minutes to get to 140, which is usually my take off point. And it takes a while before the needle moves at all. How did I mysteriously lose the coolant? Is it the usual suspect, the thermostat? Even though the car was heating up, the hose to the radiator was still cool - so no coolant was apparently passing through. . . No obvious sign of leakage anywhere.
Again, would appreciate any useful ideas.

Thanks.
OMathisen
ERA 427

:confused:

Did you perhaps overheat this engine just before these problems became apparent?

Starting and cooling
 

Not that I have noticed. The car has always been a little tricky to start when it has been sitting for a while. But nothing ever like this. The car has a 750 cfm Holley four barrel, a Holley electric fuel pump and Ford electronic performance ignition.
Omathisen

mabey check the butterfly setting on the bottom of carb to start with. i run mine at about .040 slot trans showing. then adjust your air mixture. this is assuming that the timing is correct, no bad gas present, and plugs are good.

are you still losing coolant?

starting and coolant
 

Thanks so far. Will look into it, but have to let the car sit until two weekends due to work. Meanwhile, I will continue to ponder the mysteries.
OMathisen

Omathisen -
It's certainly possible that the two problems you describe are unrelated. But I asked about the possibility of an overheat because a warped head / blown head gasket could also account for both symptoms. White smoke from one side of the engine, or the aroma of anti-freeze in the exhaust would be other symptoms of that problem. A shop could pressurize the cooling system overnight and check for water leakis to determine where the coolant is going. Good luck.

back to work
 

Back to work on the car this weekend. Started with taking out the thermostat, tracing the loss of coolant/overheating. Tested it and opens at about 200. Will put in a new one anyways to see if any change, but suspect problem lies elsewhere. New battery is going in to.
Then we'll see.
Receptive to any ideas.
Omathisen