I have a 1969 Cougar Convertible with 351 Windsor. Was running great until I took it on a long road trip a few weeks ago. Runs good at speed but now idles too low and stalls at stops. Hard to start and yesterday died completely a couple blocks from home and could not restart. Will turn over but won’t start.
Any ideas? Thanks
Sounds like a vacuum leak. Also could be a packed in fuel filter.
A little more info about your specific car would be helpful. For instance, is it an automatic or standard? If auto, does the idle recover if you put it in park or neutral? What kind of carb? Etc.
Anyhow, sounds like maybe the point gap has closed up and needs to be adjusted. Unless you’re running electronic ignition, in which case, nevermind.
Pull air cleaner off, work the accelerator and see if any gas is going into the carb, if yes and still wont start, then I would say ignition also.
It’s a 2 barrel, automatic, no electronic ignition.
Thanks. Based on that info., I’d first check for vacuum leaks as suggested above. If that’s not it, inspect points for pitting or excessive wear and reset gap. While you’re at it, check cap and rotor for cracks, wear or damage. Inspect plugs for proper gap and for carbon build-up. Verify good solid spark plug wire connections at both ends. If all that checks out, I’d look for fuel problems, starting with the filter. Good luck!
Sounds like bad points to me.
Andy, Your symptoms described here are a little different than what you told me in Morris on Saturday. However I agree on checking the points.
Monday I got stuck in some stop and go traffic and after about 5 minutes mine too started hesitating while sitting idling. Yesterday I pulled the distributor cap and sure enough the points gap had closed up. I reset and she’s running fine again. If yours are fine I’d follow up on the other suggestions here.
Condenser heat sensitive/bad.
Fuel line from pump touching hot metal.
As we know 3 things are needed to make the motor go. Air, fuel and spark.
Air is controlled by carb settings. If they were not changed or there is no obvious problem it should be good.
Fuel can clog in the filter or line. Remove existing filter and crank motor with the coil disabled or removed for safety. Make sure fuel is flowing well into a jar or has can. If not check filter, pump and lines.
Spark is a product of the coil then distributor, cap, rotor and points. Make sure all are in good order and you have spark at each location. Eventualy you will find where the spark stops. Points are always a solid starting point. Coil also.
If you are unsure how to check any of the components don’t hesitate to ask. Best of luck getting it started again.