O.k. guys, I need a little assistance. I have a 69 camaro with a 408 sbc, a holley AED 750, Electric fuel pump with regulator (dead head), a MSD 6AL ignition and a petronix distributor. The car is a 4 speed with a Muncie.

After driving the car for a while on two warm days, 78 and 89 degrees, the problem occurred doing the same exact thing. I was on a business street and when I approached a stop light I pushed the clutch in and immediately the car stalled. It didn't sputter or anything, it just quit like I turned the key off. Now this has happened only twice. The first time I let the car sit (after pushing it off the road) for about 30 minutes and then it fired right up. The second time I tried starting it immediately and after a few tries it started up and ran a little rough. I pulled into a parking lot and just let it idle for a little bit and then it ran fine.

Two things I want to mention. I believe both times it occurred I had just below a half a tank of gas. The second thing is that my electric fuel pump needs to be relocated as I have it mounted to high as well as I need to install a sump into my gas tank. I noticed I begin to suck air into my pump when my gas gets below a 1/2 tank (fuel slosh) and my pump acts a little erratic.

Sorry for the long post but if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance.

What does your fuel pressure gauge read when this occurs?

Well, the second time it happened my gauge was bouncing back and forth from 7 psi to 3 psi. But that may happen due to my fuel pressure gauge being liquid filled and mounted on the fuel rail. I am going to relocate my gauge to the regulator this winter so the heat won't effect it.

I had a 68 Chevelle SS396 that did the same thing on very hot days, it refused to start till the fuel cooled down!....You could actually hear the fuel perculating in the carb bowls!....I believe what I done was relocated the fuel line away from the hot engine.

What about a vapor lock... Have you tried to undo the gas cap to see if it releases pressure, if so you should drill a small hole in the middle of the cap.

He may have stated his own correction. If the pump is mounted too high, then you will be sucking air. They need to be as close to the tank as possible and lower than its lowest point.

I had a 68 Chevelle SS396 that did the same thing on very hot days, it refused to start till the fuel cooled down!....You could actually hear the fuel perculating in the carb bowls!....I believe what I done was relocated the fuel line away from the hot engine.

Actually, I did this already after the first stall. I moved the fuel line up onto the fender well away from the header. So that didn't help the second time around.:sad:

What about a vapor lock... Have you tried to undo the gas cap to see if it releases pressure, if so you should drill a small hole in the middle of the cap.

I took care of this as well after the first stall. I vented the tank back at the filler neck. Again, no go.:sad:

He may have stated his own correction. If the pump is mounted too high, then you will be sucking air. They need to be as close to the tank as possible and lower than its lowest point.

I am hoping this is the problem. I will be taking care of this over the winter as I am installing a sump and fabricating a bracket to place the pump right in front of the sump so I can have the pump gravity fed (the way it is supposed to be).

But that leads to a question, when the car quit like that, no sputter as if in running out of gas, does that sound more like an ignition problem? I would think with vapor lock or fuel percolating wouldn't the car sputter as if you were running out of gas?

just to be sure... have you checked the barrels for fuel spillage when it stalls? Dirt in the needle/seat could give you a stalling when clutching ( or when braking on aut.trans )

just to be sure... have you checked the barrels for fuel spillage when it stalls? Dirt in the needle/seat could give you a stalling when clutching ( or when braking on aut.trans )

I have not looked into that yet. However, if that was the problem, wouldn't it have stalled more than twice? I have driven the car almost 1000 miles this summer.

Not necessarily... Dirt can come and go in the weirdest way. So I would check it if I where you, it propably is not your problem, but still :)

Not necessarily... Dirt can come and go in the weirdest way. So I would check it if I where you, it propably is not your problem, but still :)

Well, I pulled the needle and seat to check for any dirt and it was clean. Any other thoughts on would it could be?

First off you say it just dies like you turn the ignition switch off. If it was fuel related it would spit and sputter then die.

My fuel pump went out and that is how it acted when it died. I do not like a dead head fuel system. I always use the ones with the return. It keeps the pump cool and the pressure does not fluctate. I have used the BG 220HR pump and system.

I would look into possibily a bad MSD 6al box. My car did the same thing for like a year. I changed all the ignition stuff, coil, wires, cap, rotor , dist module. Car would run fine then take a crap. Sometimes it would start back up or would just backfire and die. I have a spare box and when it finally did it by the house I changed the box. It ran fine. Over the last 20 years of having msd boxes I have had them go out about 5 times. If you can borrow a box, swap it out and see if it still dies on you. You can send your box to MSD and they will repair it for about 40.00

First off you say it just dies like you turn the ignition switch off. If it was fuel related it would spit and sputter then die.

My fuel pump went out and that is how it acted when it died. I do not like a dead head fuel system. I always use the ones with the return. It keeps the pump cool and the pressure does not fluctate. I have used the BG 220HR pump and system.

I would look into possibily a bad MSD 6al box. My car did the same thing for like a year. I changed all the ignition stuff, coil, wires, cap, rotor , dist module. Car would run fine then take a crap. Sometimes it would start back up or would just backfire and die. I have a spare box and when it finally did it by the house I changed the box. It ran fine. Over the last 20 years of having msd boxes I have had them go out about 5 times. If you can borrow a box, swap it out and see if it still dies on you. You can send your box to MSD and they will repair it for about 40.00

Thanks for the reply. This has been my gut feeling after the second time around. To me it sounds and acts more like and ignition problem, more so than a fuel problem. My 6AL was used when I got it (it was free; probably for a reason). I had the same idea about sending it back to MSD and having them test it. I did talk to MSD and they will test it and fix it for a nominal fee. I will be doing that this winter amongst other projects. Hopefully, this will cure the problem. :confused:

Thanks for the reply. This has been my gut feeling after the second time around. To me it sounds and acts more like and ignition problem, more so than a fuel problem. My 6AL was used when I got it (it was free; probably for a reason). I had the same idea about sending it back to MSD and having them test it. I did talk to MSD and they will test it and fix it for a nominal fee. I will be doing that this winter amongst other projects. Hopefully, this will cure the problem. :confused:

Just to give an update. I did send in my MSD box and sure enough there was a problem, actually several. They had to replace the rev limiter and the box "had diminished spark." So they replaced a part for that as well. I asked the one tech if that could be the cause of the car stalling and he said very well could be. I guess I'll find out this summer. :noway: They also replaced all of the wiring and the fuse. They charged $55.00 to include shipping. That's not bad considering a new box is $240.00.

I'm hoping this was the problem. I'll keep you posted. One thing though, if it does happen again I guess that is one more thing to rule out. :yes: