Noob here, major engine troubles

[Aggie_Bronco]

Howdy y'all! I apologize in advance if I use the wrong terminology; I'm way out of my depth here. I've got a major problem with my engine. It started out just not really wanting to run when it was cold out, refusing to start, dying at some idles ,etc. Then this past weekend I was driving at it got so bad that it would only run if I got out, poured a little bit of gas into the carburetor, drove for 40-50 yards and then did it again. (normally would never do this, but I got stuck in the middle of the highway and had to get off somehow). Then it warmed up a little bit here in central Texas and I got it to start and run a little bit, but if I wasn't actively pressing on the gas it would die again. I was on my way to bring it to the shop, and had driven no more than 25 feet when it stalled out. No biggie, I'll restart it. I do crank it, and it runs for a second or two before shutting off again. silence for a second or two then it made this funny noise halfway between a grind and a pow! and smoke starts pouring our from under the hood. When I opened up the hood, I see that its pouring from the carburetor. After I pulled the air filter off, I was able to see it smoking still. I blew the smoke away and let if cool off. I then tried to start it again, after a few failed attempts it started and now runs really crazy. It sounds like I'm revving the engine for all its worth, even though I'm not touching the gas and the manual throttle is not engaged. It also picked up a squeak. I'm planning on getting a friend to tow me to a shop, but I was wondering if any of y'all might be able to tell me how badly I could have screwed up?

 

[Hozr]

Sounds like it was fuel starving then backfired through the carb. What carburetor are you running? May be you blew out the seals on the carb and it needs a rebuild? Also see where your fuel restriction is.

 

[Boss Hugg]

Sounds like the distributor is way out of time to me. maybe the timing chain was worn bad enough to jump a notch.. and if it fired in the wrong timing, causing a backfire, it can mess things up in the carb requiring a rebuild, like HOZR said.

Tell us what you know about the truck and engine and such, and how long you've had it, what part of the world you're in maybe.

And BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

[Aggie_Bronco]

edlebrock 4 barrel, it says 8867 on the top if that helps identify it. I'm not sure what you mean by fuel restriction

 

[Boss Hugg]

clogged fuel filter was my first thought, but then you described a backfire (thru the carb) which says to me it's timing. And I've never heard of one backfiring just because it's starving for fuel.

 

[Aggie_Bronco]

It's a 302, we had it totally rebuilt about 6 years ago. I bought it in Colorado, but it's been in central Texas pretty much for about 5 years now. Thanks for the welcome! I'm sorry j don't really know how to describe anything, I've always had my dad to help, but I'm alone at college now wishing I had paid way more attention to the words he used to describe things

 

[Aggie_Bronco]

I had pulled the clear fuel filter out and checked it the other day and there was nothing in it, maybe the fuel line from the gas tank was blocked?

 

[69red]

try blowing thru the filter. there should be little or no resistance.

how cold do you mean when you say cold? cold enough to freeze water in your gas tank? if you get water to freeze in your tank, the ice crystals will plug your filter, then disappear when the filter heats up..

is your distributor loose? it shouldn't budge if you twist on the cap.

 

[Aggie_Bronco]

No, I mean cold as in below 60. I think the coldest it got when I tried to drive it was 36ish with the windchill dropping it a few below that. There shouldn't have been any water in the gas, I have no idea how it would have gotten in there.

Through the air filter or the fuel filter?

I just went out and tried to twist the distributer cap, it twisted maybe a third of a centimeter horizontally with no vertical movement at all.

 

[69red]

thru the fuel filter. try not to get the gas in your mouth

did just the cap move or the whole metal part below move?

 

[Boss Hugg]

You don't really want to be twisting in the distributor without a timing light on it to set the timing. When you twist it a distributor 1/4" you're changing the timing 8-10 degrees, which could lead to big damage in the end.

 

[Aggie_Bronco]

Just the plastic on top, it has all the wires out the top and is help on by little metal clips

Good to know, I won't try to twist it again

 

[Whoaa]

fuel pump

 

[TN1776]

Definitely fuel starvation to start. Then maybe timing. Time to check your fuel system out from the tank to the carb. And yes you may have blew out some seals in the carb during that backfire.

 

[cldonley]

Where in central Texas are you? Lot of folks around that may be able to help. I'm in Robinson, just south of Waco.
x2 on the fuel pump, by the way. Really doesn't sound like a timing issue.

 

[blubuckaroo]

Noob here, major engine troubles

This doesn't sound "major" to me. It sounds like just about anything that happened to a '60s-'70s car.
First off, just push it out of traffic. Pouring fuel into a carb while in traffic is just going to make things worse.
Start by trouble shooting the fuel delivery because you already know the ignition will run the car.
Eliminate all sources of fuel blockage. I'd start by checking the position of the tank selector valve.

 

[Boss Hugg]

Are you running points in the distributor? If so, that will make it hard to run. What year model is it?

But it still sounds like a fuel problem.

 

[smokinjoe]

Get a cheap clear universal plastic fuel filter, if not now for the future. You can eliminate a lot of guesswork when you can see fuel in the filter. I agree with the other guys, fuel starvation clog or fuel pump. When you were pouring gas in the carb you were basically eliminating the problem and it was running, right? So it leads one to think it's a fuel starvation.

And like someone posted above you may need a carb rebuild now. Although in my experieince the Edelbrocks aren't as bad as the Holleys for blowing out seals.

Do you have a mechanical or electric fuel pump?

 

[73azbronco]

Fuel line freezing maybe, have you added any fuel anti freeze and water remover like HEAT?