63 Riviera Dies while going around corners

[Bill Stoneberg]

A friend called me today and her 63 Riviera is continuing to die going aroun d corners. Not all the time, but sometimes.

She has had the carb rebuilt and the engine tuned. We have taken the gas tank out and cleaned it and checked the pickup.

We were suspecting the neuteral safty switch, but after taking the seats out of mine, I noticed that my car ran with the switch disconnected so we ruled that out.

Any ideas on this ? I think its electrical but we dont see anything obvious.

[NTX5467]

I somewhat doubt it's carb-related as the float bowl configuration on either the Carter AFB or the Rochester 4GC as they have dual float bowls which are tall enough to prevent fuel slosh in them during lateral accelerations.

What about the baffles in the gas tank? I believe there should be one in there to somewhat discourage fuel movement?

But, if there's an internal issue with the battery, letting the plates in one cell short out against each other during turning maneuvers of particular velocities, with the alternator not putting out lots of juice at (basically) idle, that might be a possibility.

And, it could also be an intermittant fuel pump issue.

Both not much money to replace (other than labor charges) and might need replacing anyway.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[tim63riv]

Bill,

I remember back in the day that there would occasionally be a problem with the igntion coil. They would have a chunk of insulation come off of the windings and under cornering manuvers, the windings would short to the case or the primary winding would short to the secondary windings and the engine would die. Willis offers some good ideas too, the thing I always try to remember when I am diagnosing a driveability concern is what changes from when the vehicle exhibits the issue as to when it does not?

If tthe car restarts immediately, the problem is usually electrical. If the car starts hard or has extended cranking before it restarts, the fuel system is the likely cause. Seems strange to say it, but what actually is the best for diagnosing the stalling issue is to have it stall and not restart, much easier to locate the culprit that way!

Good Luck,

Tim

[imported_buick5563]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tim63riv</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bill,

If the car restarts immediately, the problem is usually electrical. If the car starts hard or has extended cranking before it restarts, the fuel system is the likely cause. </div></div>

Good call Tim,

I never thought about it that way.

Mike

[1965rivgs]

Hi Bill,

Make sure the battery is properly secured and not allowing the positive post to short against sheetmetal when cornering.

Tom Mooney

[cheech]

Also check the wire inside the distributor, it may short out against the base in turns. It's possible the insulation is wearing.

[jrbartlett]

I've seen faulty lead wires from coil to distributor cause this problem -- the wire swung a bit going around a curve, breaking the connection at the poorly-soldered terminal end. I'd also check the carb float setting myself, just in case the rebuilder missed it.