Hey All,
Once again Lorrie Van Haul, a 1967 Dodge P200 Postal Van with a 225 Slant Six Engine equipped with a Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor from Slant Six Dan, and the HEI conversion delineated here at the Slant Six Forum has started her old antics of being recalcitrant.

She has been running perfectly for as long as I can remember.

Last Tuesday we went to a doctor's appointment and she performed perfectly. We came home and she was shut down and everything was fine as she was running a good as she has ever run since she came to live with me in 1975.

Due to circumstance beyond my control, I was forced to get up on Wednesday morning to go to the emergency room at the hospital.

Went out and Lorrie would not start. Gave her a shot of Start Fluid. It didn't even make her cough.

A friend took me to the emergency room, and another friend made sure I got back home.

Then on Thursday morning, went out see if Lorrie would start. She wouldn't.

I proceeded to do the following:
Checked the Battery Voltage. It was 12.67 Volts.
Checked the Voltage at the Fuse Panel. It was 12. 62 Volts.
Checked to see if the Run Switch was getting current. It was.
Checked to see if the Wire FROM the Run Switch TO the Ignition Terminal of the Electronic Voltage Regulator was getting current. It was.
Checked to see if the Wire FROM the Run Switch TO the Control Module was getting current. It was (11.97 Volts).
Pulled the Number 4 Spark Plug, grounded it and cranked the Engine with the Run Switch on and got a fat blue Spark.
Concluded that the electrical from the Battery to the Spark Plugs was flawless.

Decided that maybe Lorrie's mighty 225 Slant Six was flooded, and did the following:
Took out all the Spark Plugs and let her sit in the Texas heat till late-mid-afternoon to dry out the cylinder if indeed THAT was the problem.
Then instead of reinstalling the NKG ZFR5N Spark Plugs gapped to .045, I put in another set of NKG ZFR5N Plugs that had been sitting here for about nine months. They had previous been replaced because they, it was suspected, had gotten fuel soaked.
Once everything was put back together, attempted to start Lorrie. Gave her a shot of Start Fluid, cranked the Engine with the Run Switch on. She didn't even cough.

I am sitting here awaiting the arrival of a brand NEW set of NKG ZFR5N Spark Plugs which will be here late this afternoon. Will install them tomorrow morning and see if Lorrie will fire up.

A trusted source of automotive advice asked if I was sure that the Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor wasn't leaking down into the Intake Manifold and then into the Cylinders after the Engine was shut down, or after it is cranked.

My answer to him was that I didn't know, and didn't know how to diagnose THAT situation. I have yet to hear back from him.

Once again Lorrie has baffled me, and I am in need of help and suggestions. I can give answers about anything with a high degree of accuracy as I have all the equipment necessary to do anything that needs doing.

Would appreciate any help that you might deign appropriate.

Thanks in advance.

Hope you all are well.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Sorry to hear about your troubles! I thought you had this no-start problem licked.

I agree that it sounds like your ignition system is working fine PROVIDED that you have verified that the plastic distributor gear is not damaged in some way. I once owned a 1976 Plymouth Volare with a slant six. The plastic distributor gear sheared off half of a few teeth and a crack went up one side of the gear (making it a "c" instead of an "o"). The end result was the car would run fine for a while, then run rough, then stall and not start, then crank over for about 30s seconds, then catch and run poorly, then run fine, and then repeat the whole process. It drove me nuts trying to track the problem down because I thought that if the rotor was turning in the distributor then the plastic drive gear must be fine. I discovered that the drive gear had enough teeth left to turn the shaft but the missing teeth combined with the flex in the gear due to the crack allowed the rotor to slowly work its way out of time and then slowly back into time so the motor would run.

To check if the fuel in the carb is either (a) draining down into the intake when the motor is shut off or (b) evaporating in the Texas heat, you have to remove the air cleaner and hold open the choke while you work the throttle and watch for a squirt of gas from the accelerator pump.

Hey Reed,
Me too.
Will check this.
Have done that. It is fine.

Charged the battery some more this morning. Decided to see if Lorrie would start.

SHE STARTED RIGHT UP!

Have brought her up to operating temperature and then shut her down. Will let her sit for a half an hour and see if she will start again. If the Carburetor is leaking down, she will be flooded. If it isn't she will start.

Will keep you all updated.

And Reed, thanks for the response.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Well, I guess you have made some progress- at least she starts now. Keep us posted.

Hey Reed,
Went to the Conoco and put $20.00 worth the gas in Lorrie, then went and did the shopping for food. She started right up when necessary.

Am home now and it is starting to thunder storm. Got to get the computer off the electrical grid.

Will keep you updated. Next event will be tomorrow morning.

Thanks again for the responsed.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey All,
Went out this morning, turned on the Run Switch, pushed the Acceleration Pedal to the floor once, activated the Start Switch, and Lorrie couldn't fire up fast enough. The first NGK ZFR5N Spark Plug fired, and the mighty 225 Slant Six Engine was running!

Checked the Battery's Voltage with the Engine running. It is at 14.30 Volts at idle, and 14.50 Volts with the Engine revved up.

Turned off the Engine after it reached operating temperature, checked the Battery's Voltage and it was 13.30 Volts. That may be just surface charge. Will check it again later today.

All that had changed from the other day when she wouldn't even cough on Start Fluid, was that the NKG ZFR5N Spark Plugs had been changed.

Am going to let her sit for the rest of the day, and then do this same routine tomorrow. If she is still ammenable to starting for me, will reinstall the Removable Floor, the Removable Access Port, and the Engine Cabinetry, and hope that she will continue to function in a reasonable manner for the 8:30 a.m. appointment with the MDeity in Livingston on Monday morning.

Am filing this whole episode in the "Why can't anything be easy?" folder.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

I have had plugs fire and run an engine that were really really dirty, so I don't know if the plug change is what did it.

The only thing I can think of is maybe there wasn't enough voltage reaching the HEI control module. Is it installed with a relay in power feed to the module?

Hey Reed,
Don't know if the plugs were what did it either because right after they were installed, Lorrie's mighty 225 Slant Six was given a shot of Start Fluid, and cranked, and she didn't even cough.
The voltage to the HEI Control Module was measured after having had three cranking sessions on a fully charged Battery. The Battery's Voltage was at something like 12.36 Volts and the Voltage at the Control Module was 11.98. Then the Battery had the Charger put on it and was brought up to 12.67 Volts, and Lorrie was once again cranked with a shot of Start Fluid and nary a cough. So the Battery Charger was left on the Battery till the Multi-Tester said that the Voltage was at 13.33 Volts. Lorrie was once again given a shot of Start Fluid, and she started right up.

As was mentioned previously, while idling, the Battery Voltage reads 14.30 and revved up is up to 4.50. Didn't check the Voltage at the Control Module with the Battery at 13.33 Volts though.
No. It just has a wire coming from the Fuse Panel with a 30 Amp/12 Volt Type I Breaker, which means that it has to have power to it turned off to let it reset, which also means that it has to be removed from the Fuse Holder in order to turn the power to it off. That wire goes from the output of the Breaker in the Fuse Panel to a MilSpec Switch and through a Number 12 Wire to the Control Module. There is not more than about twenty-four inches of wire between the output of the Fuse Panel and the input of the Switch, and then about forty-eight inches of Wire from the Swith to the Control module. In that length of wire the voltage appears to drop about half a volt.

Nonetheless, Lorrie started thrice this morning without incident, and then at 10:00 a.m. she started again without incident and we went to the local computer shop. She then started yet again to bring me home at about 3:30 p.m.

If she starts tomorrow morning without incident, am going to replace the Removable Floor and Access Panel, and reinstall the Engine Cabinetry in preparation for Monday Morning at which time we will be heading for Livingston for an MDeity appointment.

Am hoping that she will cooperate this time.

Anyway, again thanks for the response. Hope you are well.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor