Re: WAH! I need help (what's new)

[Steve Stegmann <stegmann@domain.elided>]

Mine used to backfire something awful.  Finally blew the muffler
completely up.  Nearly scared my son to death.

Turns out all the backfiring was the ignition system cutting out for a
very short periods.  Finally got to where the engine would just die, then
restart sometime later.  Cured the whole mess with a new distributor.  The
Prestolite that they used in my 79 was noted for failing like that.

Steve

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven A. Stegmann
     _/_/_/    _/      _/_/_/ "No free man shall ever be debarred the use
   _/    _/   _/_/   _/    _/  of arms.  The strongest reason for the 
   _/        _/ _/   _/        people to retain the right to keep and bear
    _/_/    _/  _/    _/_/     arms is, as a last resort, to protect 
       _/  _/_/_//       _/    themselves against tyranny in government"
 _/    _/ _/    _/ _/    _/    
 _/_/_/  _/     _/ _/_/_/         Thomas Jefferson, June 1776
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Mon, 31 May 1999, Heather & Bryan wrote:

> Hi guys-
> GOOD NEWS: Well, we went to our only friend who has a house's house
> Saturday and took the top off and set it on a couple of barrels.  First
> time with the top off and I LIKE IT!  I have never owned a convertible
> before.
> BAD NEWS: On the freeway home it started backfiring.  We knew we had a
> little exhaust leak before.  Never had a car backfire on me so my
> expertise on this area is NIL.  I need you mechanics to explain it to
> me.  Not only that, we changed some light bulbs and the flasher cuz the
> turn signals stopped working and the front marker lights (under
> headlights) come on when we put the brakes on.  So I did that and
> NOTHING.  Then we had added some fluid to the radiator, so we were gonna
> start that bad boy up and he wouldn't!  EEEEK!  When we bought it the
> starter died and the guy replaced it and drove it down here for us.  I
> don't believe it is the starter.  I am gonna go get a multimeter today
> and try to figure out what's wrong.  Like I said before, I am
> mechanically minded, but never took a class or anything, but am smart
> enough to learn from experience and follow directions. Also, have only a
> carport and a toolbox amount of tools.  I still have not ordered a book
> (from SSS I think for $50 is the one that I would like to have) so I
> have NO reference points here.  I need to fix the electrical problem
> soon, but not right now.  I am sure that some wires are just rubbing
> together or one came undone. So, any suggestions from pros?
> BTW, does the padded part of the dash come off to reveal the wiring
> easily and then I don't have to do anything with the vertical part of
> the dash?
> Thanks in advance.
> Heather & Bryan
> 
>