Re: [Chrysler300] Ram K Blues

[John Holst <jholst@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello George,

I also own a 1964 300K, and for awhile when taken 
out of storage I encountered similar problems. 
The car had been run routinely while in a metal 
shed on the place where I live. I would run it up 
to operating temp and then shut it down. I was 
always amazed that it ran at all. Eventually I 
built a secure shed that would work as a service 
garage and storage building. One of the first 
things that I did was drain the fuel tank and 
replace the fuel with 91 octane gas. It still 
seemed to run normally on short trips, but 
occasionally it would just die on trips to town 
(got towed home twice after dark). Once my wife 
bought a tow strap and we moved it to the 
mechanic at the local Chrysler dealer. They 
diagnosed rust in the filter and replaced the 
filter and again and with some regularity it did 
the same thing. No combination of temp, run time 
or situation seemed to give a clue. I would 
regularly change the filter and went to the clear 
filters to see what might be going on.

My first go at solving the problem was to remove 
the tank and have it cleaned by a radiator shop 
in town. This should have worked, but the problem 
still continued. Then we cleaned the tank again 
and lined the inside with an Epoxy mix that 
coated the entire inside of the tank. At this 
time we also noticed that the fuel sending unit 
was more encrusted with fine rust that was 
probably the source of the contaminate in the 
filters. By this time I  had also replaced the 
cap with a new vented cap to help vent the 
system, changed out the fuel pump to be sure that 
it was pumping properly, cleaned out all of the 
lines and bought a new sending unit. The first 
few times we fired up the engine we still noticed 
some fine grain rust filling into the filter and 
changed it out 3-4 more times after short runs. 
Then I had the inspiration to double filter the 
line -  just before and after the fuel pump to 
stop any further infiltration of fine rust if it 
still was there. I added some additional line 
material so that if on the road I could remove 
the filter and run the line to the pump or carb 
line if necessary. I also made sure that I was 
using new gas and always added a can of Sea Foam 
the mix to be sure that the gas was viable. After 
about 50 miles of running the car - at first 
never further than I would be willing to walk 
home if necessary - the engine runs perfectly and 
the clear filters remain contaminant free. I 
guess that I was lucky that the rust never did 
make it into the carb or this would be a longer story.

Collectively I still cannot say what was the 
final solution, but the rust contaminant 
certainly was the culprit. I have not changed out 
the filters for over a year now and the car hums 
just like it did new, and I have taken the car on 
several longer trips without any hint of the 
previous problem. The electronics may be the 
problem, but fuel may be also part of the problem 
and may prove to be the solution.

Hopefully this will help,

John Holst Iowa 300K ready for it's winter hibernation...

At 07:31 PM 11/23/2012, you wrote:
>
>
>
>Hello Group,
>
>I'm hoping someone can help diagnose some strange happenings with my K.
>
>About a half hour into a 2 hour trip a couple 
>weeks ago, the car shut off while going a 
>steady, smooth 60 mph. It was like the car ran 
>out of gas, which was not possible. I looked 
>under the hood, saw nothing wrong and started it 
>up. It ran terribly. After letting it sit for 15 
>minutes, I started it again. It ran badly, but I 
>was able to get it going by feathering the gas 
>and brake. It then ran ok at highway speeds, but 
>it didn't want to leave stop signs, and it 
>wouldn't idle without giving it some throttle. I 
>completed the trip and just to try something, I 
>changed the fuel filter. That didn't seem to 
>help, although I was able to get it the 2 hours 
>home by doing a lot of feathering. When I got 
>home, it would idle without giving it throttle, but idled very roughly.
>
>A week later, I took it to the local Mopar 
>mechanic. It started and idled ok, but still 
>needed a little feathering at stop signs. When I 
>got it there, of course it ran fine. He couldn't 
>find anything wrong with it. When I left the 
>shop it ran well, but it would stumble and cough 
>when stepping on it at a steady 40 mph.
>
>The latest episode was today/tonight, when I 
>drove the car and it was fine, until tonight I 
>started it, backed it out of the garage, let it 
>idle a minute and it died. Then it wouldn't 
>start. 5 minutes later it did start and I was 
>able to get it back into the garage.
>
>I was thinking it was some kind of fuel problem, 
>because if it was electrical it seems that it 
>would either run or not run and not have these 
>weird random symptoms. Now I'm beginning to 
>wonder if it could be the Pertronix unit 
>malfunctioning. Could this be possible?
>
>Anybody have any ideas?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>George Clineman
>
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>
>


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