Weird stalling problem

'79 Dodge D100, V8 318 engine, 3-speed auto transmission, 1 barrel carb.

Had the carb tuned up in the fall of '04, timing and spark plugs checked
at the same time.

Northern Minnesota climate, so recent weather has been 5F for the low,
35F for the high. (Yes, I envy most of you.)

A few days ago, the truck started to have severe problems with stalling.
If I put it into drive, it would stall. If I put it into reverse, it
would stall. Today it became so bad that I could drive 30 mph, take my
foot off the gas (coast) and the engine would die.

The choke seems to be working fine, and the vehicle doesn't otherwise
lack for power -- I took it for a brief run on the highway and it
reached 60 mph without a problem. The air filter was a little dirty
(replaced last fall) but nothing that should cause a problem. Nothing
that my (mostly carb-ignorant) mind could see wrong with the carb.

[Disturbing Story Alert]
I took it over to a local garage to see what was wrong. Without even
listening to the vehicle run, I was told that it needed the carb tuned
up and rebuilt, at the cost of 'a few hundred dollars'. When I asked if
that would fix the problem, I was told that he couldn't be sure, but he
needed to do that just to properly diagnose the vehicle. I emphasized
the sudden nature of this problem and the previous tune-up 6 months ago
but the story didn't change. Needless to say, I quickly left the place.
[/Story]

Later that day my wife drove the vehicle down to the store to pick me up
some supplies for an unrelated automobile project. When she returned,
she told me that she was in reverse, parking the vehicle, and she
noticed that the truck was still running.

I drove the truck around some more, and it seems to be running fine.

One final bit of the puzzle: About a week ago, I took a nice 45 mile
drive down a rather rough highway at a nice 60 mph. The highway was in
such bad shape that I've had high-speed flats that resulted in less
vibration.

Any Ideas?

--
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is
not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they
are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them
as they fly overhead. -- RFC 1925

Jesse Meyer wrote:

> '79 Dodge D100, V8 318 engine, 3-speed auto transmission, 1 barrel carb.
>
> Had the carb tuned up in the fall of '04, timing and spark plugs checked
> at the same time.
>
> Northern Minnesota climate, so recent weather has been 5F for the low,
> 35F for the high. (Yes, I envy most of you.)
>
> A few days ago, the truck started to have severe problems with stalling.
> If I put it into drive, it would stall. If I put it into reverse, it
> would stall. Today it became so bad that I could drive 30 mph, take my
> foot off the gas (coast) and the engine would die.
>
> The choke seems to be working fine, and the vehicle doesn't otherwise
> lack for power -- I took it for a brief run on the highway and it
> reached 60 mph without a problem. The air filter was a little dirty
> (replaced last fall) but nothing that should cause a problem. Nothing
> that my (mostly carb-ignorant) mind could see wrong with the carb.
>
> [Disturbing Story Alert]
> I took it over to a local garage to see what was wrong. Without even
> listening to the vehicle run, I was told that it needed the carb tuned
> up and rebuilt, at the cost of 'a few hundred dollars'. When I asked if
> that would fix the problem, I was told that he couldn't be sure, but he
> needed to do that just to properly diagnose the vehicle. I emphasized
> the sudden nature of this problem and the previous tune-up 6 months ago
> but the story didn't change. Needless to say, I quickly left the place.
> [/Story]
>
> Later that day my wife drove the vehicle down to the store to pick me up
> some supplies for an unrelated automobile project. When she returned,
> she told me that she was in reverse, parking the vehicle, and she
> noticed that the truck was still running.
>
> I drove the truck around some more, and it seems to be running fine.
>
> One final bit of the puzzle: About a week ago, I took a nice 45 mile
> drive down a rather rough highway at a nice 60 mph. The highway was in
> such bad shape that I've had high-speed flats that resulted in less
> vibration.
>
> Any Ideas?
>

My guess is dirt in the fuel system that got jogged loose by the rough
ride. Possibly in the carb. This is just a guess however and since a)
the problem is no longer there and b) I've never seen your vehicle, just
am throwing out ideas from behind a keyboard I wouldn't put too much
stock in it. Personally I would be happy it's OK and just change the
fuel filter as PM. If you can inspect the inside of the gas tank
without too much trouble I'd see if it has any noticeable rust
developing on the inside.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

You could be describing a gas filter getting to the end of it's life.
Vibrations are good for knocking rust flakes off the tank...

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Jesse Meyer wrote:
>
> '79 Dodge D100, V8 318 engine, 3-speed auto transmission, 1 barrel carb.
>
> Had the carb tuned up in the fall of '04, timing and spark plugs checked
> at the same time.
>
> Northern Minnesota climate, so recent weather has been 5F for the low,
> 35F for the high. (Yes, I envy most of you.)
>
> A few days ago, the truck started to have severe problems with stalling.
> If I put it into drive, it would stall. If I put it into reverse, it
> would stall. Today it became so bad that I could drive 30 mph, take my
> foot off the gas (coast) and the engine would die.
>
> The choke seems to be working fine, and the vehicle doesn't otherwise
> lack for power -- I took it for a brief run on the highway and it
> reached 60 mph without a problem. The air filter was a little dirty
> (replaced last fall) but nothing that should cause a problem. Nothing
> that my (mostly carb-ignorant) mind could see wrong with the carb.
>
> [Disturbing Story Alert]
> I took it over to a local garage to see what was wrong. Without even
> listening to the vehicle run, I was told that it needed the carb tuned
> up and rebuilt, at the cost of 'a few hundred dollars'. When I asked if
> that would fix the problem, I was told that he couldn't be sure, but he
> needed to do that just to properly diagnose the vehicle. I emphasized
> the sudden nature of this problem and the previous tune-up 6 months ago
> but the story didn't change. Needless to say, I quickly left the place.
> [/Story]
>
> Later that day my wife drove the vehicle down to the store to pick me up
> some supplies for an unrelated automobile project. When she returned,
> she told me that she was in reverse, parking the vehicle, and she
> noticed that the truck was still running.
>
> I drove the truck around some more, and it seems to be running fine.
>
> One final bit of the puzzle: About a week ago, I took a nice 45 mile
> drive down a rather rough highway at a nice 60 mph. The highway was in
> such bad shape that I've had high-speed flats that resulted in less
> vibration.
>
> Any Ideas?
>
> --
> With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is
> not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they
> are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them
> as they fly overhead. -- RFC 1925