Hi we just bought a 67 Dodge Dart GT with a slant six at an auction. The car has been mostly stored for the past 8 years. The former owner said that he took it to town to get it washed and it started running funny.

It is not hitting on cylindars 1,2, or 5. It also has white smoke from the exhaust...I don't smell antifreeze in the exhaust, but that doesn't mean it's not there. There is no water in the oil.

Could it be that the old gas fouled the plugs? Where would you start?
Thanks

Running an engine on stale gas can really mess up an engine. Usually the valves and valve guides get clogged up with thick varnish like crud. This causes them to stick together and your push rods bend. I would pull the valve cover and plugs to see if this is the case. Any car that sat for 8 years it wouldn't be a bad idea to change the head gasket and then go through the fuel an ignition systems just for preventative maintenance.
Good luck!
D150

yeah, at least go through the basics and change the plugs/cap/rotor, drain the gas tank and refill with fresh gas, put in some "water remover", you might need to rebuild the carb too (not hard or expensive), change the fuel filter... new wires.. etc...

after washing the car, the guy probably had gotten water in the ignition or something, it's a good idea once it's all running good to put some RTV around the bottom of the distributor cap (very thin bead) so it seals out water, I have driven through numerous rainstorms and had sudden sputtering problems because of slight water in the cap (remember the distributor IS down low by the wheel!), some people might say "dont put RTV on the cap because it could get into the points" but if you only use a tiny bit and are neat, it's a great way to drive through any rainstorm without problems... also a Pertronix Ignitor kit is a cheap way to upgrade to electronic ignition $70 from the local speed shop and about 20 min. to install...

Thanks for the suggestions. I have new plugs and will pull the valve cover tomorrow to see if I can find what's up.

Would you leave the intake and exhaust on when changing the head gasket and pull it as a unit?

I would separate the intake/exhaust from the head, it's more work but taking the head off with this stuff attached is going to be really hard to work with.. sitting for that long, the intake/exhaust gaskets could probably use a re-fresh anyway....

I would separate the intake/exhaust from the head, it's more work but taking the head off with this stuff attached is going to be really hard to work with.. sitting for that long, the intake/exhaust gaskets could probably use a re-fresh anyway....

Thanks for the advice so far...We pulled the valve cover and had three bent pushrods

What do you think about the idea of replacing those three pushrods and see how it runs?

My dilemma is that I need to have it up and running before the title gets here and my wonderful understanding wife finds out we bought a car that is only running on three cylinders. Thanks

I'd say replace them and see how it does, my guess is that there was possible water in the cylinder and this bent the pushrods, or like the above guy said, it could have been the old gas... but varnish needs some time to build up.. water will do instant damage, instant lock up! in a cylinder that is trying to compress it....

anyway... give it a shot and see how it does, at least you can try this first without pulling the head...

This is what happens when bad gas varnish gets in the valve guides.

Replace the bent push rods and get fresh gas into the tank, spray the top of the valve guides with carb cleaner, followed by WD-40, PB Blaster or other light penetrating oil.
Tap on the top of the rocker tip with a hammer to help loosed the guides / get the solvent down into the guides. You will quickly find the sticky ones by tapping on them. Keep spraying and tapping until all the guides are loose.

Try a restart and pour motor oil over the valve springs to help get the stems lubed. A little oil "pre-mix" in a small can of gas can be plumbed directly into the inlet of the fuel pump to get the engine going, then switch back to the car's fuel tank.

I have gotten "varnished" engines running again so have at it.
DD

Thanks...I will pull the sparkplugs and turn it over a few times to make sure there is no water in the cylinders before I try to start it.

There is no place close to get new pushrods so I will have to grab some from a junk yard.

When we pulled the valve cover there was rust on the springs and rockers. Do you think that is just from sitting in a shed for so long?(condensation) There does not appear to be water in the oil.

Thanks again!

It might be a combination of rust and varnish on the valve guides and stems...I will clean/lube them as you suggested prior to trying to bend the new pushrods! Thanks

I tapped on the tops of the valve stems that had the bent push rods...and sure enough they were stuck. I used the majority of a can of carb cleaner on the entire rocker arm assembly and springs, followed by a liberal dose of WD 40.

They are all bouncing nicely when I tap on them with the hammer...I will let it soak overnight as I don't yet have the pushrods...cross your fingers and say a prayer for us!

Thanks to all! I'll keep you posted!

sounds like it was that darned varnish! i can't remember how tight the pushrod holes are, but spraying it all down good will loosen 'em up... change the oil after getting it going of course...