Looking for a little guidance on troubleshooting steps. I've been slowly redoing the interior on my Maverick, usually starting it and letting it run every couple of months. Recently I put the interior back together and was planning to sell it. Got the car fired up and it was running perfectly. Topped off the coolant in the radiator, then took it to the car wash. I got a temp light on the way and the overflow hose on the radiator was steaming when I got there. Only ran it for about a minute after the temp light had come on. Washed the car and immediately afterwards it would not stay running without giving it some throttle. I limped it home and started trying to figure out the issue (no temp light or overheating on the way back). Used a compressor to blow out all the spark plug wires, around the outside of the spark plugs, and inside the distributor. It ran perfectly again for about 10-15 seconds and then died. It is back to dying instantly after trying to start and you have to hold down the throttle to keep it going. In the recent past I have replaced: - Fuel pump (mechanical) - Fuel filter - Fuel line coming out of the gas tank that was deteriorating (this was shortly before the drive to the car wash) - Spark plugs and wires - Carburetor, tuned with a vacuum gauge - Battery If anyone has any thoughts on what the issue might be or recommendations for troubleshooting steps, please share them.
Either something electrical is still wet or you have a fuel delivery problem. Does it run smooth when you feather the throttle to keep it running or does it struggle/misfire? Any black smoke out the exhaust when this happens?
It runs a little rough when I use the throttle to keep it running. I just used a spark checker to check each cylinder and they were all good. At the advice of a family friend, I shot some carb cleaner into the carb while keeping it running. The RPMs increased and it ran smoother each time I tried it. I guess that indicates a fuel issue?
Ditto, pull the carb off, pull the cover off the carb, blow it out with air and some carb cleaner. You may not even need to do a full rebuild or even buy a kit, I've fixed many this way. Sometimes they look spotlessly clean inside yet blowing them out fixes the problem. Good Luck!
