car is an automatic column shift. this is what happens. The car is on park and i turn it on. When I change into drive or reverse, the car turns off. I bought the car with almost no gas at all and i havent filled the tank yet, so maybe its just that it doesnt have any gas. I wont get to see the car until the weekend and then I will fill the gas tank. Anyhow lets say when I fill the gas tank all the way it still turns off when i change the gear. I remember the previous owner saying that something might be wrong the carburetors timing or something like that. what do yall think the problem is and how could I fix it? any possibility it could actually be that the car has almost no gas?
sounds like it needs a tune up. best guess without being there. are you letting it warm up before you put it in gear?
maybe it's idling too low. that would be my best guess. it sounds like it's idling high enouph to start but once you put it in gear the idle drops too low to keep it running.
Only change the idle if it's not within the normal range. I would say 550 to 700 rpms should be ok. There are several reasons why the idle might be out of spec. if it is. I would check things like timing, vacuum leaks, cap and rotor, wires, coil. Rarely is it a simple adjusting of a screw.
i wouldnt fill it. put 5 or 6 gal in it. just incase it turns out to be a clogged tank pick up. its a pain having to take out a full tank. or pump it dry first.
you say "turns off"...does this mean...it dies... are the dash lights on when "it turns off"?...frank...
i would suspect a vaccuum leak. also check the fuel lines and filter. could be clogged and not getting enough gas. does it run okay if you rev the engine up? make sur the line is not kinked. like was said don't fill it up. just put about 5 gallons in it until you get it figured out.
My car was column shift as well, and when id put it into gear it would idle down and shut off, like everyone else said check for vacuum leaks and choke.
The problem sounds very much like the 'throttle stop solenoid' has come loose or out of adjustment. This electrical device is powered up with the ignition and becomes the idle stop while the engine is running by extending to a position that does not let the throttle go all the way closed. The reason this device was put there was to allow the carb to fully close at turn off so there would be no 'dieseling' at hot shut down. This closes off the air enough to stop the engine from trying to run after shut off. Without it's operation, the engine becomes loaded by the auto trans and stalls it due to the idle speed being to low. You have to find some one who understands what this is or get a copy of Haynes book and look in the carb section were all the info is speced for idle speeds and adjustments etc..
Or just take it off and throw it in the garbage like I did because it's a piece of worthless crap. As other said, how does it run when you rev it up? Can you hear any hissing noise under the hood?
what i mean by it turns off is that the engine dies, all the dash lights are still on and everything. When i rev the car it sounds good and there is no hissing noise. another thing is that the day before this happened i could change gear no problem with out the engine dying, but the day after when i changed gears, the engine shut off. Could it still be a vaccuum leak? do i need to take it to a mechanic to get this fixed?
update I hope somenone reads this post. I put in a little gas in the car and the car actually did run and move, but i didnt go more than 5 miles an hour since i dont have any brakes. Thanks everyone for your great help