I was once cranking down the road, around 100mph or better, in my Chevy Celebrity and it lost spark. There was one hell of a fireball out the exhaust that I could see in my mirror... and it was daylight, lol.
CK5
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Random Backfire after header swap. (Solved)
- Thread starter shady
- Start date
I was once cranking down the road, around 100mph or better, in my Chevy Celebrity and it lost spark. There was one hell of a fireball out the exhaust that I could see in my mirror... and it was daylight, lol.
I had a close call when I was ~16, this was long enough ago I'll put it on here, back in late 1995.
So I was driving my 81 Regal, going down a country road. It was a long straight empty asphalt road. My regal at that time had a 412 CID SBC that burned oil, stock crank, stock iron heads, headers, with a Holley carb. It also had a used TH400 and an old 12 bolt out of a 72 Monte. Sometimes I would just let it coast. So I ripped it through 1st, bumped second, and let it eat until I would need to shift to 3rd, then I bumped it to neutral at about 90 MPH so I could just coast for a while.
Only I didn't bump neutral, it was a column shifter and I went one too many! I shifted into reverse going 90 MPH!
I was immediately slammed forward into the seatbelt while I fiddled trying to get it back into neutral while keeping it straight. I got it back into neutral after a second or two, only to look in the rearview mirror and see two streaks of smoke with two black marks under them, you travel quite far in that short time at that speed.
I immediately thought, the engine is still running, but I had to break something. It never stalled, so I coasted to a stop, still no one around. Tested reverse, tested forward gears, revved the engine a little. Nothing seemed wrong. I drove that car for over a decade with the same trans and rear axle parts, still worked when I removed them.
But I don't recommend trying that, I could of been in the ditch flipping over and over and dead just from bumping one notch too far! Learned a big lesson that day, I had done that a lot of times, but I didn't do it anymore. Eventually I got a ratchet shifter, for safety, and fun, at the track.
So I was driving my 81 Regal, going down a country road. It was a long straight empty asphalt road. My regal at that time had a 412 CID SBC that burned oil, stock crank, stock iron heads, headers, with a Holley carb. It also had a used TH400 and an old 12 bolt out of a 72 Monte. Sometimes I would just let it coast. So I ripped it through 1st, bumped second, and let it eat until I would need to shift to 3rd, then I bumped it to neutral at about 90 MPH so I could just coast for a while.
Only I didn't bump neutral, it was a column shifter and I went one too many! I shifted into reverse going 90 MPH!
I was immediately slammed forward into the seatbelt while I fiddled trying to get it back into neutral while keeping it straight. I got it back into neutral after a second or two, only to look in the rearview mirror and see two streaks of smoke with two black marks under them, you travel quite far in that short time at that speed.
I immediately thought, the engine is still running, but I had to break something. It never stalled, so I coasted to a stop, still no one around. Tested reverse, tested forward gears, revved the engine a little. Nothing seemed wrong. I drove that car for over a decade with the same trans and rear axle parts, still worked when I removed them.
But I don't recommend trying that, I could of been in the ditch flipping over and over and dead just from bumping one notch too far! Learned a big lesson that day, I had done that a lot of times, but I didn't do it anymore. Eventually I got a ratchet shifter, for safety, and fun, at the track.
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I did it at about 65 in my V8 Monza. It immediately started doing a flat spin down the highway.
Got it under control and straight, back in drive... Drove down the road far enough to find good shoulder . Then got out and paced the adrenaline off for about 10 minutes lol.
It was on a stretch of road with 1' shoulders that drop off pretty steep for quite a ways. I flat spun right down the center line about 3 times before I got her straight and back in gear lol.
Same thing, all worked good and just kept driving it.
Got it under control and straight, back in drive... Drove down the road far enough to find good shoulder . Then got out and paced the adrenaline off for about 10 minutes lol.
It was on a stretch of road with 1' shoulders that drop off pretty steep for quite a ways. I flat spun right down the center line about 3 times before I got her straight and back in gear lol.
Same thing, all worked good and just kept driving it.
TH400 strength test, lol.
Even though my speed was higher it sounds like your pucker factor was higher...
My dumb ass was trying to trouble shoot my stereo while driving. One side was cutting out so I leaned down and reached around behind the shifter console from the passenger side to check my RCAs.
Lockout button didn't work and my bicep/shoulder hit the stick. So I wasn't even head above the dash when it started lol.
If I had been it may not have started the spin and could have caught it quicker. As it was I shouldn't have been down that far on that stretch of road even without it getting put in reverse
Lockout button didn't work and my bicep/shoulder hit the stick. So I wasn't even head above the dash when it started lol.
If I had been it may not have started the spin and could have caught it quicker. As it was I shouldn't have been down that far on that stretch of road even without it getting put in reverse
At least you spun out for a reason, lol. When I was a kid in the mid 80's, I remember riding in the back seat of my grandparents AMC Matador wagon on our way up to see my aunt in Ontario. Mom was driving, grandma was riding shotgun. We were on the interstate and mom turned around to yell at my little brother, when the ill-handling AMC whipped around and started spinning down the interstate. I don't remember how many times we spun, but we ended up facing the right way, and my mom was screaming the whole time lol.
My college roommate one year was tooling around sliding the car on icy roads. He was done and returned the wheel "to center" to continue on his way, then the car caught traction while the steering wheel was actually a full rotation from center, shooting the car off the road at speed 
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Was he OK?My college roommate one year was tooling around sliding the car on icy roads. He was done and returned the wheel "to center" to continue on his way, then the car caught traction while the steering wheel was actually a full rotation from center, shooting the car off the road at speed
Maybe I should have included that information. He was fine and I think the car was mostly unharmed.
It changed from sad to funny then...
Ukjimmyfan
Registered Member
I did bump start a van. after about a 1000yrds it fired.
With a bang.
In the rear view mirror was a man in the hedge with deerstalker hat (like sherlock Holmes).
I don't trust electronic ignition now. 1mm of distributor play caused havoc.
Ps I've idiot proofed my ignition leads. Used those tiny colored tie wraps, 8 for plug no. 8 etc. Can feel them in the dark.
With a bang.
In the rear view mirror was a man in the hedge with deerstalker hat (like sherlock Holmes).
I don't trust electronic ignition now. 1mm of distributor play caused havoc.
Ps I've idiot proofed my ignition leads. Used those tiny colored tie wraps, 8 for plug no. 8 etc. Can feel them in the dark.
My 2001 CCLB Duramax Alison truck went into 4low at 65MPH on the freeway in the rain. 2 rotations and did not hit anyone. The wet road probably saved a roll over. The 4wd controller failed. Warrantied a new rear end, transfer case and transmission. 18k miles.
