Hello,

I am looking for some input on some issues I am having, like I said they are across the spectrum.

1. The car stays in fast idle when coming to a stop. Usually its when going about 30mph and slowing to a stoplight, car is in high idle and you have to bump, or tap, the gas pedal and it drops down. It is almost constant.

2. A few days ago for no reason other than impulse I put a new ground cable from the battery to the engine (the old one was showing some bare areas). Now my guages are playing easter bunny, hippity hoppity all over the place. I have rally guages and the temp rises and falls, fuel will not recover after a turn, and oil press drops to nothing (on the guage). D/C stays the same though. I know i am experiencing a ground loop, but with such a straight forward replacement I cant figure it out. I didnt buy the lead with the pigtail, they old one didnt have anything attached to it so I continued the tread of sans pigtail. Now I hear that that pigtail is supposed to goto the fender, is that my problem?

and 3.

The car feels like you are always driving it on a real windy day. The steering is what I consider super sensitive (has the short ratio steering box)but at speed it seems to really drift back and forth, alot of nights I think, "I bet everyone around you thinks your drunk"...its all over the place. The steering wheel dosent have any play in it, am I looking in the wrong area and is it more body chassis parts, tierods, bushings ect. than steering. I've crawled under it and and everything seems tight componant wise.

If anyone has experienced any of this, I'd appreciate your knowledge on it.

the car is a daily driver 68 400 HO coupe, holley 750 double pumper, mechanical choke, and currently feeling the economic slowdown on repairs! Hence the 5.00 O'Rieleys battery cable that is giving me 10.00 worth of heartache.

on 1. have you checked that the return spring on the carb is working freely ? it could also be that the cable needs lubricant...or the arm on the carb needs lube?

on 3. at what speed? if drifting at 80 plus ,you may need a front end spoiler...

Agree with Bjorn, check the return spring.
I have to use one alot stronger one on my holley vs q-jet.
Maybe the throttle shaft is sticking/bent.

Gauge problem.
Have to think that over a while.

Power steering?
I dont like it on the older cars.
Feels like driving a boat.

I'll check the spring and see if that is it....

we are talking about maybe 50-60 MPH with the drifting, just kinda floats all over even when the steering wheel is held tight

What size tires do you have? Sometimes tall tires can make some cars "float" on a small wind at highway speeds.

I am running 235/60r14 up front and 245/60r14 in back. I am wondering if it is not in the sway bar area....or maybe bad shocks? to much play allowing them to rise and far catching the wind a bit? Not that that is noticeable but....

1)Make sure your choke is completely off and the choke plate has some tension holding it open, not flopping. Sounds like your fast idle cam is engaging.

2)Yes, that's most likely your problem. Install a ground between the engine and the body or from the ground cable to the body.

3)Get the front end checked out by an alignment shop. Most likely a wear issue.

My car is dead stable up to 150 mph (indicated) with the fast ratio box (no boat feeling here!) but I've gone through all the suspension, good shocks, big front and rear sway bars. No front spoiler so lots of nose lift at high speed but no wandering.

Those tires don't seem tall. I think TOHCan has the right idea with the suspension. I wouldn't rule out bad shocks though.

1)I say chekc for a vacuum leak? 2) check the one on the body to frame?? 3)check tie rods for wear (worn out or close to unbolted!)

Hi there.

As far as the drifting goes, have your ball joints, tie rod ends and steering box checked for play.
Have your alignment shop check the toe setting and the caster.It could also be a result of a tight or semi seized ball joint or tie rod.Are the front tyres showing any abnormal wear?

loosen your throttle cable at both ends and see if it needs some lube.

Rob

check the block to make sure its grounded to the body. there should be a strap from the body to the back of the block and the battery ground should be on the engine head bolt also on the core support in connection with a black wire.

68 400h.o 4spd all numbers matching

Hmmmm something else to check is the rear axle shackle bushes.If they are worn you will get this drifting effect from the rear axle floating around.Try accelerating and decelerating and see if the car changes direction.Torque steering.

Rob

I grounded the body and that seems to have fixed the ground loop. There is uneven wear on the tires, insides are wearing faster. Tierods seem good, but that was me checking them, I am going to have a shop look at them.

Wear on the inside of the tyres would indicate either toe out or negative camber or both.Toe out would cause the car to wander.This is adjustable at any alignment shop.Negative camber or the top of the wheel leaning inwards is adjustable to a degree but is normally caused by sagging coil springs(obviously common on older cars)and or worn control arm bushings.These can be pinpointed at your alignment shop .Hope this helps.

Regards Rob

A wide tire is going to track in the 'ruts' more than a narrow tire. Do you feel slop in the wheel? The gear box could be in need of adjustment. Also all steering linkage should be checked for excessive ware as stated in previous posts. Anti-sway bar end links are another thing to check on. Worn or loose end links will give you a control problem when cornering. Bad shocks will give you bouncing/hopping.
With your description, I'm leaning to worn linkage or gear adjustment. It could also be what I experienced last summer. Look for broken mounting points on the steering gear.

The drifting problem sounds like ball joints to me...ask a good suspension/alignment shop.

It almost seems like the gear box is in hyper drive, at high speep, small movements in the steering wheel cause more than anticipated movement in the wheels

My gauges are really messin with me now. I thought I had it fixed. Battery neg post to heads, neg lead to the fender, cant seem to find a ground strap any place. I have been up underneath it looking. My gauges work fine until (1) I put a blinker on, then they "bob" with the blinker light, or (2) I turn my headlights on then the fuel gauge goes to zero, and temp rides a bit high, oil press barely reads.

here are some photos for the ground points

68 all #matching 400h.o 4spd posi to go.

Thanks for the pics, I found the ground strap from the body to the frame, looks like I am missing the upper one thats by the dist. (3rd pic). Is there a ground on the gauges? everything revolves around if the headlights (gauge lights) are on or off.

Yes, there is a stiff wire type ground that grounds the gauges to the dash (It's not a typical ground strap per say). It is located under the top left screw of the gauge assembly bezel. It is not the easiest to get too and can get a bit corroded over the years.

I am going hunting for it then....that would answer alot of questions if that has come loose