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Re: The pause that makes you heart skip [message #70707 is a reply to message #70594]

Wed, 13 January 2010 07:51

Matt Colie

Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan

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Senior Member

jtblank wrote on Tue, 12 January 2010 02:49

Just in the last couple of days I have experienced the "pause that makes your heart skip". Under mild acceleration only occasionally the engine pauses for just a fraction of second and you think out of gas? bad coil? I've only noticed it under easy acceleration and while turning, no evidence while hard acceleration like freeway on ramp. I checked the distributor wire from battery and is hard as a rock and insulation was cracked in one spot so I wrapped with electrical tape but.... today it did it again pulling away from curb, just a quick fractional second lack of power like someone turned off key and back on as fast as you can.

Now this makes me start thinking... just recently I checked plugs and were light tan, no carbon or buildup, just what you want but I changed rotor as it was arced up a bit, I was going to change the cap also but couldn't find it, could of sworn I had a spare in my spare parts bin. Guess I'll find it when I look for something else! Besides changing the rotor I cleaned the buildup on the advance weights, springs and rest of distributor base and relubed sparingly with white lithium grease and silicon spray lube. Anyway, since I changed the rotor the tone of the exhaust seems a bit different kind of rich like the sound of stuck choke, popped off the air cleaner cover and choke wide open so it not that... now I'm wondering if I'm imagining it all! Having changed the rotor I can't imagine that the timing changed and did not use too much grease.

The good side of this story is that I think I have better acceleration and power. Cleaning and relubing the distributor and weights helps and sucking on the vac tube it seems the advance reacts better. I hope this is not just a placebo effect, but what about the "pause that makes your heart skip"?
Any ideas?

Thanks for pondering,

John Blankenship
'76 Palm Beach

John,

In the industry it is called a "mid-throttle miss" and it is a serious PITA to tie down. It is usually related to secondary ignition issues and that basically means the wires, cap, rotor and coil (inside the cap)in your case.

I can't give you any better ideas about where to start. I've had two of these of my very own and worked on several others. We either buy new parts one at a time or swap in parts from a donor until it goes away. There is just nothing else you can do. Even the OBD equipped vehicles only report it as a misfire, and if you have access to a real secondary ignition analyzer (big oscilloscope that shows spark plug voltage) there is no bet that you will see it.

I did find one with the "water mist in the dark" trick. (Spray a mist of tap water over the secondary stuff and see if something lights up.) That only worked for one (and that wasn't mine - **** - ).

Best bet (IMHO):
Start changing parts. If you have a friendly local men's mall, go see if you can grab a hand full of cap and wires from a BB Chevy, Toro or Caddy of close to the right period. (IIRC - that is almost any GM big block - you need the longer wires - from '75 to '95?.)

Good Luck and let us know when you find it.

Matt

Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit

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[Message index]

		The pause that makes you heart skip By: jtblank on Tue, 12 January 2010 01:49
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Tue, 12 January 2010 05:38
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: RF_Burns on Tue, 12 January 2010 07:45
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: Matt Colie on Wed, 13 January 2010 07:51
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Mike Kilroy on Wed, 13 January 2010 08:35
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: jtblank on Thu, 14 January 2010 02:55
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: midlf on Thu, 14 January 2010 03:17
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: jimk on Fri, 15 January 2010 09:18
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Fri, 15 January 2010 17:40
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: jimk on Fri, 15 January 2010 20:50
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: Duce Apocalypse on Thu, 14 January 2010 10:46
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Thu, 14 January 2010 19:42
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Bob de Kruyff on Fri, 15 January 2010 20:29
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Fri, 15 January 2010 21:28
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Bob de Kruyff on Fri, 15 January 2010 22:36
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Fri, 15 January 2010 22:45
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Bob de Kruyff on Fri, 15 January 2010 23:13
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Fri, 15 January 2010 23:29
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Fri, 15 January 2010 23:31
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Matt Colie on Sat, 16 January 2010 08:42
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sat, 16 January 2010 09:12
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Sat, 16 January 2010 09:44
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Sat, 16 January 2010 07:04
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: mike miller on Sat, 16 January 2010 10:52
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sat, 16 January 2010 13:38
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Matt Colie on Sat, 16 January 2010 13:46
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sat, 16 January 2010 16:28
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sat, 16 January 2010 17:01
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sat, 16 January 2010 17:16
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sat, 16 January 2010 21:28
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 07:35
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sun, 17 January 2010 07:38
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: bumpersticker on Sun, 17 January 2010 14:20
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 15:40
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sun, 17 January 2010 17:33
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Kosier on Sat, 16 January 2010 20:58
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 07:38
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: USAussie on Sun, 17 January 2010 07:40
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Sun, 17 January 2010 07:53
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 08:36
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Dennis S on Sun, 17 January 2010 09:37
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Dennis S on Sun, 17 January 2010 09:39
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Sun, 17 January 2010 09:51
		Re: [GMCnet] The pause that makes you heart skip By: Steven Ferguson on Sun, 17 January 2010 10:02
		[GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Bill Massey on Sun, 17 January 2010 10:12
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Steven Ferguson on Sun, 17 January 2010 10:27
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 15:19
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Byron Songer on Sun, 17 January 2010 17:03
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: GMCWiperMan on Sun, 17 January 2010 17:10
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Rick Denney on Tue, 19 January 2010 16:11
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes youheart skip) By: USAussie on Tue, 19 January 2010 16:41
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes youheart skip) By: Bill Massey on Tue, 19 January 2010 22:22
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: GMCWiperMan on Tue, 19 January 2010 18:28
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Bill Massey on Tue, 19 January 2010 21:43
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Rick Denney on Wed, 20 January 2010 11:04
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Bill Massey on Wed, 20 January 2010 17:05
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makesyou heart skip) By: USAussie on Wed, 20 January 2010 17:16
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing By: Bill Massey on Wed, 20 January 2010 17:52
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing By: Rick Denney on Wed, 20 January 2010 18:41
		Re: [GMCnet] Photo Site Editing (was: The pause that makes you heart skip) By: Bill Massey on Wed, 20 January 2010 18:46
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: Duce Apocalypse on Wed, 13 January 2010 10:52
		vapor lock By: bukzin on Thu, 14 January 2010 23:01
		Re: The pause that makes you heart skip By: RF_Burns on Sat, 16 January 2010 09:20

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