Stalling while going in reverse...

I just changed all the spark plugs on my 327, because the old ones were wearing out....so i put them all in, and the thing wont start...it would try to turn over, but it wouldnt fire...so i put some high octane gasoline with some gas additives to clean out the gas tank...it runs great now...but every time i take it out of park, and into reverse, the engine runs like its about to stall, then when i start to reverse it stalls...it goes forward with ease tho...anybody know whats wrong?

nick

If you did not disturb the timing, I would suggest the plug wires are not on the right plugs. Check the firing order.
Also, you DID gap the plugs correctly, right??
If you have a 327, its an old engine, (perhaps a pre '70 Chevy?) with a points ignition (if unmodified). These need a plug gap of .035 inch. However, most new plugs these days are pre gapped for .045 to .060 (for electronic ignitions) The points ignition does not have the voltage to jump the bigger gap reliably.

...but every time i take it out of park, and into reverse, the engine runs like its about to stall, then when i start to reverse it stalls...it goes forward with ease tho...anybody know whats wrong?
nick

That is sure a strange problem. It runs fine in drive but stalls in reverse. Even if the transmission was siezed the torque converter should still allow the engine to run. About the only thing that the engine might see is the additional load of the back up lights. Maybe the lights have a short or something. Try measuring the battery voltage when it is put in reverse. If it drops much below twelve volts then it could be an electrical problem

Good luck.

alright....i did gap the spark plugs to .035....and yes, it is only in reverse...and it also stalls when i take a really sharp turn and dont give it gas...i think this is just because of the power steering...any other advise on how to diagnose my engine?

nick

Hmm, this problem gets weirder all the time. Those plugs are they resistor plugs by any chance? Way back when you could have plain wire and resistor plugs or resistor wire and plain plugs. If you used plain wire with plain plugs you got lots of radio noise which I know about because I did it. I suppose that resistor plugs with resistor wires might give too weak a spark. Can you use a points file to dress the electrodes of the old plugs and reinstall them? If the problem goes away then the plugs might be the problem.

umm, do you know what your idle is set at, when its in gear? (RPM's) im going to asume its a auto trans, it just simply sounds like the idle is to low. the only thing that makes me think its not is that you said it only die in revers and not in drive or otehr gears. when you set the idle you know that what is listed is the speed when its in drive corect? when you put a auto trans in a gear the idle speed drops a couple hundred RPM's. and also if you ahve power stearing, witch you said you do, when you turn the wheels when you are stoped it drops your RPM's also. i guess if your idle is to low and you go slowly around a corner that it is posible for the poswer stearing to kill the engine. so that is the first thing i would check is what your idle is set at.

alright...i turned my idle up quite a bit...it sounds good...and when i go in reverse, it doesnt stall, but the engine does still sound like its going to die...and now when im in drive...when i start to speed up, the engine backfires....now what?

nick

I'm going to say what MagicRat said.... re-check the firing order. Also, check the wires for proper resistance. You may have a wire that is broken or worn through.
Does it run smooth? Does it sound like it's missing?
From what you're saying, it sounds like a timing problem imo.....