Malibu just died while idling in my driveway... (Solved!)

[evil80]

Ok, here's my issue. Two days ago i'm getting ready to head out to a local cruise, so I pull out the Malibu of the garage and let it idle in my driveway while i'm locking up the garage and the house. But as i'm locking up the car starts hesitating and making sounds like its missfiring and then suddenly dies. I have not been able to start it since. When I crank it over it sputters and tried a little bit to start, but not even close.

I have checked all fuses, any wiring near any hot exhaust or any place it may have been able to get cut. I checked fuel pressure. I have removed and checked resistance in all spark plug wires, and through all my spark plugs. And have replaced my coil and ignition module in my MSD HEI distributor. NOTHING! I even inspected the magnetic pickup in my distributor to make sure it wasn't loose or broken.

My spark plugs now look fouled and have lots of fuel on them...seems like a spark issue to me, but can't find the issue. Any ideas guys?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[bowtie81]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Hey Jim
try also checking the floats in the carb aswell. put a new set of plugs in and double check the carb. Are you running a electric or mechanical pump? if it was running fine before im leaning towards a bad needle and seat.

 

[evil80]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Yeah... thats gonna be my next move. Its a mechanical pump..seems like its getting gas, well i can smell it anyways. but when i give it a shot of gas while trying to start it it seems to almost try and start... but it just never gets going. And now that I think of it.... I actually removed the carb, emptied it right out and checked everything on it. After checking it out for any visible signs of something wrong, I put it back on and tried starting it again with no luck, and the fuel level in the bowls stays right at about half way in the windows...so i'm not sure the needle and seats are bad. When I have time next I will also change to a new set of plugs. Starting tomorrow I'm busy with a wedding all weekend and will not have time to work on the car. I'll keep yah posted.

Jim

 

[t5montecarlo]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Shouldn't the fuel level be at the base of the window, and not higher?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Shouldn't the fuel level be at the base of the window, and not higher?

Yes.

Don't pump the carb, spray it with some starting fluid and see if it runs for a few secs. If so, of course, you have a fuel issue, not an ignition issue.

Sounds to me like it is flooding if the plugs are wet.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Just out of curiosity, what kind of fuel filter are you running and what location(s)?

 

[evil80]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

I checked and cleaned the fuel filter... but its a washable earls fuel filter located directly after the fuel pump.

When i have time next I'll try the starting fluid idea. never thought of that.

Thanks so far guys.

Jim

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

Shouldn't the fuel level be at the base of the window, and not higher?

Yup. Right to the bottom of the window.

Tommy

 

[gbodystuff]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

If you have a stock wiring harness under hood, pull the black flexible conduit apart right behind your distributor (with the battery dis-connected btw) and look for signs of the wiring having been burned through and possibly shorting out one of the 10-gauge red wire leads which ultimately feed your fuse panel with 12V battery source which then goes back out to give your dist. coil 12V via the 10 gauge pink wire. You can try re-routing a new 10 gauge wire directly off your battery and then try cranking-if the engine starts right up, check your wiring in the conduit. I've seen them melt/burn through over the years from the shear heat that gets trapped back there over the years...wires get brittle, plastic loom cracks apart...then you have exposed wire insulation that won't take long to melt/burn through as it comes into contact with the hot engine block and/or transmission.

 

[Doober]

Re: Malibu just died while idling in my driveway...

If you have a tach connected also make sure the wire coming from the tach terminal on the distributor cap isn't grounded. I chased that gremlin for a couple days... the car would randomly start and run fine, then occasionally sputter, and sometimes die and then it wouldn't start back up. I had even disconnected the tach terminal, and hooked it back up, so I was sure that wasn't the culprit, but it actually was #-o