[Halowse]

Ok, so we have our trusty 455 in a 78.

Went out just now, started it up. No problem, vroom! I let it heat up for about 10m. I like to get it to temp before we drive and it's cold out right now so I let it warm up.

Forgot to put something in the trunk, turned the car off, pulled the key, jumped back in 30 seconds later to fire it back up and it just cranks. Puffs of whitish mist coming out of the breathers on both sides. Slow creeping fog of whitish mist trickling from the exhaust both sides. Smell of fuel in the air.

Checked the fuel filter... gas seems to flowing. Checked the fuel pump gauge, right around 5lbs, OK. Pulled the air filter. Choke seems to be working, I could see gas squirting into the carb. No air blockage. Carb looks clean.

Had plenty of crank in the battery. Starter sounds normal. Timing gun says there is juice on the spark wires. I guess I can pull the spark plugs and visually confirm but they didn't just all go bad at once right?

Waited 15m, maybe it flooded somehow? Nope, no start.

I'm kinda stuck as what to do here on the street without towing it to a shop.

 

[sea dog]

I had a 74 corvette with a quadrajet. One day I drove car to store. When I came back out 10 minutes later the car wouldn't run. Could smell strong gas smell. It turned out that in that 10 minute period between shutting car off and coming back, the float level had somehow changed. It got very high and flooded engine bad enough to not run.

Just a shot in the dark.

 

[Halowse]

Hmm I think that requires changing the gasket. I wonder if any are in stock around here.

 

[billymagg]

Hmm I think that requires changing the gasket. I wonder if any are in stock around here.

Well, did you get it running again???

 

[Halowse]

A couple of days later it fired right up.... then after we shut it off, right back to no-start. No idea why. Ran like a champ during the one successful fire.

I'm not even sure where to start, especially because it's on the street and we can't get it up in the air to work on it.

 

[JoePeek]

I would pull a few plugs and see if they are wet with gas. Once plugs are fuel fouled, sometimes even taking them out and cleaning/drying them does not do the trick. I would try a new set of plugs.