Hey..got the 7 on the road again. Took out the rats nest and such. The backfiring is INSANE! all the time constintley! And i also noticed that it got glowing red hot, right after the cat!!!! whats up with that? As well its shooting flames with the stock exhaust... does this seem right?

 

is it firing out the tailpipe or the carb? if its backfiring out the carb the apex seals are shot (or stuck.. you can wish)

flames are cool though... i need to figure out how to get em...

 

I assume he means backfiring out the exhaust which, while it is rather common, it should not be doing it nearly to the extent you are describing. Have you checked your timing lately? The timing being off can often cause backfiring. Good luck tracking down your problem.

 

I agree that it is most likely a timing issue. You may have bumped something and lost your leading ignition altogether, or you might have missed a vacuum line somewhere. Is your vacuum advance hooked up?

 

I agree with Kentetsu. When I removed mine, and got everything set, I had no backfire and it ran very smooth with the exception of the carb was not flowing very good. After I rebuilt it everything was great. Recheck the timing and spray some carb cleaner all around the carb and intake to check for any vacuum leaks.
Todd

 

do what todd is saying works good, BUT dont spray too much; i and the few members have got flames from the exhaust.

 

well the tach stops working occasionaly, and then it comes back to life. So would the car still run even if the dizzy was off one tooth ???

 

I had a serious backfiring problem for years (flames included). Turned out to be that my TPS was out of adjustment.

Adjusted and the backfire went away completely.

Steve
1984 GSL-SE

 

all right. Ill give that a try. But why would it be glowing red right after my cat ?? And what is the "stock" air fuel mixture, I have heard, 3 turns... as well as one and a half. What one is it ?

So just did some research, and im a little confused, does the carb'd have a TPS?? And if so how do i adjust it... even if that is my problem. I do belive that my timming is right.

 

Ditto with the timing being the issue, just some FYI - the rats nests not only serves for emissions purposes - it also advances your timing at higher power - notice that there are two hoses running from the rats nest to the distributor That's why it's better just to leave the rats nest alone.
So does the backfiring look like this? -heh

 

lol nice. but wirth the removal you also hjjook up the vaccum lines back up. so u still get the advance

 

But where would you hook them back up to, to get the timing advance back?

 

it goes into the 2nd hole from the left on the carb spacer, if im not mistaken. And why would everyone be doing it, if it doesnt provide the advance. Since if it didnt advance, it would be running slightly rougher in the higher RPMS.... would it not ?

 

Glowing exhaust is usually either caused by an ignition issue, or clogged cats. I'm going to stick with ignition at this point, due to your other symptoms. Chances are, either your timing is too far retarded or not firing at all. Late ignition of the fuel causes it to still be burning when it enters the exhaust system, hence the glowing exhaust.

 

exhaust leaks caused massive backfires for me. soon as i patched that up, they almost completely went away except for the normal rotary "pops" that come out during deceleration...

i actually found that timing doesnt cause the car to backfire. things like float bowls on the carb set too high can cause backfires aswell, but its more likely a exhaust leak, specially if its around the header.

 

all right ... so i guess i need to do a MAJOR tune up... lol TPS, AIR/FUEL, Timming, IDLE, that about sums it up.

I know how to do most... but the TPS baffles me.. Can someone explain please.

 

Actually, I would say that timing is the major cause of backfiring. Next would be exhaust leaks, which tend to cause backfiring when decelerating. Just get a timing light on it and see where you're at for starters, it only takes a minute once you have the timing light. Good luck.

 

lol Got 2.. so i might just go and do that right now...... And then u figure its exhaust leaks.. cause i knwo i have some, (and i know everything else is off...)

 

ok.. that didnt go as planned, lol I took it down to a parking lot cause my mom would flipped.!!! and so i got there... hooked the timming light up.. and it was out, so i pulled i aligned it all and tried startting.. and nothing. tried several different ways, till i killed the bat!!! so now my car is sitting in the parking lot! But on the way home i rememberd that its out of phase 180 either the pully, or the dizzy. So getting another bat tomorrow

 

Guys

Are we so set in our opinions about "backfire" that we fail to listen?!!!

The tach drops out! At least that is a symtom noted in the question.

The leaks in the exhaust, the removal of the rat's nest, the condition of the carbie, the setting of the timing,... These things have nothing to do with "the tach stops working , then comes back".

Or do they?

I do know on my '79, the tach doubles duty as the volt meter. Exactly how the meter knows which signal to follow (Volts or RPM) I don;t know yet. But if the tack display drops with the misfire /backfire, that would indicate an ignition problem.

Points? (I didn't catch which model year you have zduford)
loose wires, bad connectors, what else?


Let's try to figure this one out.

CalG

 

Yah.. i would like my tach to work again! It did work at one point in time. Its an 82 engine, so no points. Its really odd though I almost think that it is a loose wire. I drive along it starts.. it could run for 1 min, or it could work for 20. But then it just drops out. Also sometimes when it is working, ill put the turn signal on and the it jumps up and down with the turn signal! not to sure once again.

If i knew what wires the tach hooked up to that may help out.

Oh yeah and one more thing, i dont think that its the ignitor, because of them being solid state, they either work, or they dont. Is that not correct? i have tried different ignitors i have 5 in total.

 

Bump, sorry guys i need help though

 

I would think it is the ignitors

 

Clean up your battery cables (at both ends, batt and starter). Then start looking for loose connections. If you have a bad coil or ignitor, then it should be obvious when you put the timing light on it (which is why I didn't bother going into those possibilties at the time). Let us know how the timing goes.