Sorry for the long post, I was hoping someone out there can point me in the right direction. I have poked around on the forum in search of answers and I’m coming up a bit short. The wife and I took my 74 Challenger for a drive two weeks ago before it gets too hot here in AZ.
We drove for 80+ miles without any problems until we exited the freeway to head into Sedona. As soon as I approached the stop sign the car died. The engine would crank and I had spark, it just wouldn’t fire. It has an Edelbrock multi-port EFI and I checked the gauge under the hood and showed 60 pounds of pressure. There was no overheating issues, temp gauge was perfect and there was no boiling or steam in the radiator. We let the car sit for 30 minutes and it fires right up and we decided to head back to Phoenix.
I drove about 15 miles to a gas station to get gas and it died again as soon was we came to a stop at the station. I let it sit for 30 minutes and it fired up. I drove it to some nearby by shade with the hood up and let it cool for an hour. After that I drove it home without incident. In hindsight I noticed there was some slight throttle response delay when I eased off the accelerator and then got back on it. That was after we had been climbing hills and been out for an hour. Everything seemed ok.
Since then we have been able to drive it around town without issue. I decided to check my lines and see what happened. My best guess is the lines got hot enough to cause air gaps or bubbles in the lines. That caused the hesitation when driving but since the engine was rotating and I was back on the accelerator it pushed the air through the EFI but when stopped the amount to fuel being pushed through the lines was less and the rpm’s dropped allowing the car to die.
The fuels lines have the metal dressed sleeves on them and are a few inches from the exhaust and the engine. The electronic fuel pump is under the passenger door and is a good 8-10 inches from the exhaust. The fuel filter in is line right after the pump.
I’ve heard the new gas, at higher octane has a lower boiling point. I’m going to try a lower octane rating gas to start. I know vapor lock is more common in carbs so I’m a bit at a loss other that fuel line placement that seems to be ok.
Any advice is much appreciated.
We drove for 80+ miles without any problems until we exited the freeway to head into Sedona. As soon as I approached the stop sign the car died. The engine would crank and I had spark, it just wouldn’t fire. It has an Edelbrock multi-port EFI and I checked the gauge under the hood and showed 60 pounds of pressure. There was no overheating issues, temp gauge was perfect and there was no boiling or steam in the radiator. We let the car sit for 30 minutes and it fires right up and we decided to head back to Phoenix.
I drove about 15 miles to a gas station to get gas and it died again as soon was we came to a stop at the station. I let it sit for 30 minutes and it fired up. I drove it to some nearby by shade with the hood up and let it cool for an hour. After that I drove it home without incident. In hindsight I noticed there was some slight throttle response delay when I eased off the accelerator and then got back on it. That was after we had been climbing hills and been out for an hour. Everything seemed ok.
Since then we have been able to drive it around town without issue. I decided to check my lines and see what happened. My best guess is the lines got hot enough to cause air gaps or bubbles in the lines. That caused the hesitation when driving but since the engine was rotating and I was back on the accelerator it pushed the air through the EFI but when stopped the amount to fuel being pushed through the lines was less and the rpm’s dropped allowing the car to die.
The fuels lines have the metal dressed sleeves on them and are a few inches from the exhaust and the engine. The electronic fuel pump is under the passenger door and is a good 8-10 inches from the exhaust. The fuel filter in is line right after the pump.
I’ve heard the new gas, at higher octane has a lower boiling point. I’m going to try a lower octane rating gas to start. I know vapor lock is more common in carbs so I’m a bit at a loss other that fuel line placement that seems to be ok.
Any advice is much appreciated.