Engine having problems.

[chongo25]

A little update on the car, My dad and I did a little tune up on Sunday. Switch out the spark plugs and did the timing, seem to do the trick that day, it started up right when I turned the Barracuda on. Well today i took it out and within a quarter mile the engine seem to lose some power and it did this twice. After the two times it seemed to run great. I was wondering if I should just take the car in to see what the problem is. There is a place in Sacramento called GearHead Garage, I think they were on the speed channel so i figured they would know how to diagnosed the problem. It cost about 147 dollars to go over the car and the guy that emailed me said we could to a compression test to check the health of the vehicle. I really just hate to see my car sitting in the garage doing nothing right now because i am afraid to drive it. Any advice would  be appreciated. I called the guy that sold the car to me to ask where the oil leak is coming from because there is no way he would not have known about it because you cant drive for more the 10 miles without the oil being on the hood underneath but of course he does not respond to emails or phone calls. Lesson learned I guess LOL. I think we figured out the leak spot anyway because the bolt was loose.

[PlumCraZRT]

If it means you're not gonna drive it, you might as well bring it in assuming you can't/won't do the work yourself.

$150 just to take a look seems a little strange to me.  You may see if there are other reputable shops in the area willing to do the work for cheaper.  At $100 an hour (which seems high to me) that's an hour and a half just to diagnose.  I'm thinking that shop might be riding the wave of TV popularity.  I don't think you're looking at high-tech stuff here.

Can someone in the Sacramento area recommend a good shop for this guy?

[chongo25]

Yeah it seems high to me also, with the inspection and compression test on the engine they want me to pay 242 dollars. I am still debating, I made an appointment next Thursday. It is kind of hard trying to find a  mechanic shop that works on classic cars around here, thanks for you response

[Chryco Psycho]

if it is leaking at the back by the dist it has to either be the oil pressure sender right beside the dist or the rear of the intake .
 Yoou can easily buy a compression tester & do a compression test yourself .
 Losing power means not much , is it misfiring or does it feel like it is running out of fuel , is it at a given RPM or what .
Any info would be helpful

[chongo25]

The leak seems to be coming on the left side if you are looking at the motor from the from. Ill have to look into the compression test and do it myself, it seems it might be misfiring, when i pull out of the driveway i go around the corner and stop at the stop sign, right about this time it seems to skip right when I accelerate/, its weird though because it only seems to be doing it in the first few mins of driving.  I wish it would of acted up like this while my dad was here because it drove smooth while he was here. Sorry if it sounds confusing,

[4 speed fish]

What did your plugs look like when you replaced them?
If the car does run good for awhile I don't think it would be internal.It would run rough all the time.My guess is carb or distributor, maybe fuel pump.

[chongo25]

Some were real filthy and others were not horrible, well that was what my dad said, I found a shop that works on classic cars and they charge an inspection fee of 80 dollars so i am thinking i might take it to them. My carb was running rich though, maybe that is what the problem is. We adjusted it and it doesnt run so rich now. Also when I am at a stop light or just letting it run in the garage, during the idle it seems like there is a pause every 15 or so seconds like it is skipping and then it continues to idle again, it doesnt stop or anything it is just not a continuous idle, if that makes sense to you guys.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

This is a shot in the dark.

Once I had the same problem with the engine pausing at random times at idle. Other than that, it was running fine. I don't know if you have headers, but my problem was a spark plug wire got too close to the headers and cracked. It was arching at random times against my power steering box.

Unbelievable.   

[bad440]

Might want to check oil pressure sender in back of engine also, when they leak you can get the oil problem you are describing; that would be my first check before pulling intake.

[chongo25]

Thanks for the replies i am going to try to look up this stuff and get on it today.

[GreenFish]

This is a shot in the dark.

Once I had the same problem with the engine pausing at random times at idle. Other than that, it was running fine. I don't know if you have headers, but my problem was a spark plug wire got too close to the headers and cracked. It was arching at random times against my power steering box.

Unbelievable.   

I had a similar issue but it would sort of back fire out the exhaust when it arched.  You dont hear any poping through the exhaust do you? I would double check to make sure you have all your spark plug wires tight and none of them have burn holes. 

[GreenFish]

By the way, welcome to the forum.  Lots of great folks around here will give you great help.  Feel free to always ask questions but when you do describe the problem as best you can.  Take and post pics if you can.  You see to be getting the hang of it.  Good to have you around.

and nice ride!

[jimynick]

Since it seems that you described the distributor holdown bolt as loose, it's possible that the O-ring on the distributor may be either missing or just not sealing and it would leak oil if it was, but the advice to check the oil pressure sender and manifold is good advice, too. With the engine off, take a can of brake cleaner and wash the oil off the area around the distributor and the rear of the intake. When the engine is dry and not before, start it up and get in, under the hood and look at the area. If it's leaking as bad as you say, it shouldn't take long to push some oil out from where ever it's coming from and then, at least, you can perform a repair. Good luck 

[chongo25]

Thanks for the advice,

I decided to take into a shop on Saturday and left it with them until they could get to it today and this is what they found out for me. I got lost on the way and had to pull over and notice that my temp was around 205 degrees, just wondering if this is ok, it was hot that day. The reason I bring this up is because when I drive it on hot days, it seems to have that "dieseling" effect when I park and turn off and wont start for 10 mins afterwards. This happen because i got lost and had to pull over to figure out how to the shop and it did it again.

1. Steering Box is wore out. Cost= didn't have a quote on it yet
2. I guess in 65 they only made Single cylinder and they recommended me to upgrade to a dual for the brakes. Cost=70 to 80 dollars plus Labor $250
3. Minor tranny Leak.
4.Alternator was going at 56 amps, and battery was around 30 max , so he is saying this is probably the reason i am having start up problems after driving around for a while. I am taking a stab and thinking this might be the cause of the cd player turning off when I put on the blinker. Also the alternator is getting really hot on days and he recommended me to add a temp blanket for the alternator and this might be the cause of the starting problem too.-Cost 28 dollars for the Temp blanket, Replace Starter- Cost=$100-300 depending on what i want.
5 K-member is loose.

He just recommended me these things to take care of, he never seemed to be pressuring me into getting it all done at once, he did say I should fix alternator and starter so i dont get stranded again LOL. Then upgrade to dual cylinder.

Well let me know what you think, I am just curios what you guys would do if you were in my shoes, shop is going to call with exact pricing tomorrow.
 

[72cudamaan]

I won't even get into the (mechanic's?) opinions, but what was said about the oil leak and the gas smell?