engine quit, then restarted itself

[Ron Clark]

Driving down the freeway in our 78 GMC...the engine quit, then resumed
running a couple of seconds later. No recurrence of this in the next
400 miles. Any ideas?

Thanks,
ronC

Ron & Linda Clark
North Plains, ORYGUN
1978 Eleganza II

 

[Tom Newell]

Every old thing I have owned has done this at some point (except the Alfa Romeo, oddly). The Triumph was almost comical, as it seemed to understand
that "late-night-middle-of-nowhere" was the time-place to make this happen.

Ghosts, me thinks... :lol:

Good luck,

Tom Newell
San Pedro, California
--
Proud Citizen of
Los Angeles, California
Founded 1781 as
El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles, Alta California

 

[Jim Hupy]

Ron, more than likely a electrical issue. Probably a loose connector in the
ignition circuit. If you have HEI, I would remove the coil cover on top of
the cap and check the plug in connections. That is a frequent offender.
Other places to inspect is where the ignition primary circuit starts at the
base of the steering column. There is a multi-pin connector there that is
vulnerable to shoes and stuff like that. Also, the starter solenoid where
the starter primary wires hook up.
Jim Hupy

On Wed, Jun 5, 2019, 5:11 PM Tom Newell via Gmclist
wrote:

> Every old thing I have owned has done this at some point (except the Alfa
> Romeo, oddly). The Triumph was almost comical, as it seemed to understand
> that "late-night-middle-of-nowhere" was the time-place to make this happen.
>
> Ghosts, me thinks... :lol:
>
> Good luck,
>
> Tom Newell
> San Pedro, California
> --
> Proud Citizen of
> Los Angeles, California
> Founded 1781 as
> El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles, Alta California
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

 

[pvfjr]

First things that come to my mind are either an interruption in fuel delivery (as mentioned already) or intermittent ignition. For fuel, it could be a
lazy/inefficient pump, clogged filters, leaking tank-to-pump lines allowing air to get sucked into the lines, etc. For ignition, it could be an
intermittent coil, control module, or ignition power connection.

 

[gworobec]

I had the same issue, died and then pulled over and started right up. The next time it died was on the highway. Turns out the HEI coil was shorting. Changed the coil and it fired right up. You could see the arcing on the ground strap when I took the top of the distributor off. Replaced the coil and Dick Paterson said to put a little JB weld on the screws holding the coil because they just go into plastic and might come breaking the ground connection

Thanks,
Gary Worobec

>
> First things that come to my mind are either an interruption in fuel delivery (as mentioned already) or intermittent ignition. For fuel, it could be a
> lazy/inefficient pump, clogged filters, leaking tank-to-pump lines allowing air to get sucked into the lines, etc. For ignition, it could be an
> intermittent coil, control module, or ignition power connection.
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[Ken B]

Wait until that happens in the airplane that you are flying. That really gets your attention.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Stu Rasmussen]

> Wait until that happens in the airplane that you are flying. That really gets your attention.
>

Especially at night.

The instructions are:

1: Turn on the landing light.

2: If you don't like what you see, turn off the light.

Stu
'73 Gutted Eleganza II
Silverton, OR

The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and, a
good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few
opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same
time.

 

[johnny]

That's when you realize the fan on front is to keep the pilot cool. When it quits, you sweat. Happened twice...... Cub and Sundowner, for different
reasons.

As to the Triumph, there's a reason Joseph Lucas is known as The Prince of Darkness.

--johnny
--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell

 

[LarryW]

> > Wait until that happens in the airplane that you are flying. That really gets your attention.
> >
>
> Especially at night.
>
> The instructions are:
>
> 1: Turn on the landing light.
>
> 2: If you don't like what you see, turn off the light.
>
> Stu

A pilot friend of mine added to this:

3. As you are approaching the ground, put your head down between your legs.

4. Kiss your ass goodby.

--
Larry
78 Royale w/500 Caddy
Menomonie, WI.

 

[Randy Hecht]

Also why UK has warm beer.

Chaplain Randy Hecht
Chaplains are ready to Listen when you're ready to talk.

>
> That's when you realize the fan on front is to keep the pilot cool. When it quits, you sweat. Happened twice...... Cub and Sundowner, for different
> reasons.
>
> As to the Triumph, there's a reason Joseph Lucas is known as The Prince of Darkness.
>
> --johnny
> --
> Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
> Braselton, Ga.
> I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[sandra price]

This is better than the daily "funnies" we used to read. A good start to
our day. Thanks.

Sandra and Bob

On Thu, Jun 6, 2019, 7:53 AM Larry via Gmclist
wrote:

> > > Wait until that happens in the airplane that you are flying. That
> really gets your attention.
> > >
> >
> > Especially at night.
> >
> > The instructions are:
> >
> > 1: Turn on the landing light.
> >
> > 2: If you don't like what you see, turn off the light.
> >
> > Stu
>
> A pilot friend of mine added to this:
>
> 3. As you are approaching the ground, put your head down between your legs.
>
> 4. Kiss your ass goodby.
>
> --
> Larry
> 78 Royale w/500 Caddy
> Menomonie, WI.
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

 

[RF_Burns]

I would lean towards an electrical problem. In my experience fuel problems are usually more stumbling than On/Off/On issues.

I had a random issue with the engine cutting out. It finally happened at home and I was able to troubleshoot the problem. Turned out to be a poor
crimp on the conductor of the HEI power connector. The crimp on the insulation was good, but the conductor itself was loose. This was a factory
wiring harness crimp so it was likely giving issues over the past 40 years... getting worse as time when one with oxidation.

I also had a similar issue last summer with the engine randomly cutting out. I have the EBL EFI system and had noticed the speedometer on the EBL
display randomly jumping up by 30+ MPH. Randy V. told me to check the VSS filter. Increasing the filter setting smoothed out the speed readings and
the random cutout went away. The EBL system has an Overspeed control so I suspect it was seeing a random very high speed and reacted to it. I fixed
the VSS sensor as well (replaced the reed switch)

--
Bruce Hislop
ON Canada
77PB, 455 Dick P. rebuilt, DynamicEFI EBL EFI & ESC.1 ton front end
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=29001
My Staff says I never listen to them, or something like that

 

[john r. lebetski]

If the cut off was sudden as if you shut off the key--- most likely electrical.
If it sagged and faltered-- most likely fuel.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

 

[tmsnyder]

Sounds like the ignition module in an HEI distributor
--
Todd Snyder, Buffalo NY
1976 Eleganza II

 

[jim kanomata1]

WEre finding that the coil and module fight against each and have caused us
to replace both.
Should you have choice, get the higher priced ones as they seem to last. I
prefer to use the Delco brand on my personal coaches.

On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 9:29 AM Todd Snyder via Gmclist <

> Sounds like the ignition module in an HEI distributor
> --
> Todd Snyder, Buffalo NY
> 1976 Eleganza II
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

--
Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk
http://www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502