# 74AMC Gremlin dying **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** amc, gremlin\ **Created:** [July 21, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456 "2018-07-21T20:38:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scrapyard-John](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Scrapyard-John](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scrapyard-John)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/41 "2018-09-23T18:51:20Z")
Ah well, can ignore my ignition control module theory, if that is the case. I thought most mfrs went to electronic ignition in the early 70’s or so. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/42 "2018-09-23T19:58:06Z")
New thought, too much crap floating around in the carb bowl,. ---
**Author:** ![74AMCGrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/5daacb/32.png) [@74AMCGrem](https://community.cartalk.com/u/74AMCGrem)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/43 "2019-03-25T23:42:40Z")
Still having the same issues…heard from many people that it may be fuel may be electronic but I’m not sure where to even start… anyone have any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/44 "2019-03-26T00:04:53Z")
IIRC some cars of this era had an issue with a wire that got “tugged” on when the car went around a corner. It would start as the car got older and the motor mounts got softer or looser. When it got tugged on, it would rub against a metal part and short. I believe this was an ignition wire possibly from the ballast to the coil. The other possibility that I can think of is that the float in the carburetor is a little too high. When you go around a corner in one direction, it allows too much gas into the fuel bowl, as soon as you straighten up, the fuel sloshes into the intake and floods the engine. IIRC this only happened with the one barrel carb. If you have the two barrel, then it probably isn’t this. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/45 "2019-03-26T01:05:23Z")
Have you checked the fuel pressure? ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 2:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/46 "2019-03-26T02:52:54Z")
I think a 74 Gremlin probably uses a carburetor rather than fuel injection. If there’s good sparks visible at the spark plugs during cranking, and nothing else above has worked, I’d probably opt to rebuild the carburetor. If this is an electronically controlled carburetor it may require replacement than rebuilding, but the electronic controlled carbs seem to be more from the late 70’s, early 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/47 "2019-03-26T03:09:34Z")
The reason you don/t want to run a wire to the coil is because your car starts on 12 volts and runs on 6, that That is why there are 2 wires going to one side of the coil.When you turn the key to start, a wire from the start terminal bypasses the ballast resistor and supplies battery voltage to the coil. The wire from run terminal of the switch goes through the ballast resistor and supplies 6 volts to the coil. If the coil gets 12 volts all the time you will burn your points a nice bright blue. I used to see hot rodders in the 50s making this mistake doing engine swaps. How long is it before your car will start back up? If it is more than a couple of minutes, carry a can of starting fluid and a 2 liter bottle of water with you. If the ether starts it right up it is fuel. Then pour water over the coil, if that starts it up, replace the coil. Another possibility, I am guessing you are going faster on left hand turns than right ones. If this car has a neoprene float, they have a tendency to absorb gas over time and get heavier raising the fuel level in the float bowl which can spill over and flood the engine, do you smell a lot of gas after it quits? ---
**Author:** ![74AMCGrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/5daacb/32.png) [@74AMCGrem](https://community.cartalk.com/u/74AMCGrem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 7:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/48 "2019-06-25T07:59:53Z")
Finally think I have got the problem figured out…and you probably wont believe it. This car was converted to automatic choke so the engine heats up and the spring opens the choke. The spring was not set correctly and stayed open but VERY loose. When I took left hand turns the butterfly would tip and choke out the engine on acceleration. The problem goes away after the motor heats up and spring fully engages. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/49 "2019-06-25T12:27:59Z")
AMC products always had automatic chokes. However, you seem to have found the problem. ---
**Author:** ![74AMCGrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/5daacb/32.png) [@74AMCGrem](https://community.cartalk.com/u/74AMCGrem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/50 "2019-06-25T14:02:01Z")
Really? There is a knob for a manual choke so I just assumed that it had been switched over to automatic. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/51 "2019-06-25T14:03:43Z")
I can’t think of any manual choke car past the mid '60s at the latest. I bet that manual choke was put on years ago when the owner couldn’t get the automatic choke to work. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456/52 "2019-06-25T14:29:19Z")
I agree with @texases. I had a 1955 Pontiac and the automatic choke gave me problems, so I converted it to a manual choke. I actually preferred a manual choke back in those days. My 78 Oldsmobile Cutlass had an automatic choke. It worked fine above 50 degrees and below 30 degrees. However, between 30 and 50 degrees, the car would run fine the first half mile after a cold start, then stumble for about a half mile and then be fine. The choke would open too soon in that temperature range. I put up with it for the 33 years I owned the car. Automatic chokes were finicky, so I didn’t try to adjust it. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/74amc-gremlin-dying/121456.md?page=2)