'75 with no idle

[TXSpider1992]

Hello all,

A few days ago while driving to work my '75 spider died suddenly at a stop. I had never had any issues with the idle, so I restarted the car assuming it was just a one time thing... yet when I got to the next stop it died again.

The car now will not idle, and backfires terribly when giving it gas in a low gear. Once I get passed second gear it seems to drive just fine, as long as I never come to a stop..

I checked for a vacuum leak in any of the hoses coming off of the carburetor, and they seem to be just fine. The carburetor seems to be functioning fine as well (rebuilt less than a month ago as well). I am using an electric ignition box, which removes the two sets of points that others have had issues with. The only other thing I can think of causing the problem would be a leak in the head gasket somewhere, which I am hoping is not the case.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? Most of the posts I've seen on here have been about '79 and newer models.

I also realized that the gas gauge, fuel gauge, and oil pressure gauge all stopped working at the time that this issue first started. Could they be related at all? Or just a bad ground somewhere that occurred at the same time?

Thank you for reading.

[So Cal Mark]

probably a plugged low speed jet. Do the gauges actually quit, or do they just read 0 once the engine dies. If the gauges turn off I'd suspect an ignition switch problem

[TXSpider1992]

Mark,

Thanks for the reply! I will take apart my carburetor tonight and let you know what I find.

As for the gauges, all gauges read 0, all of the time. All were working perfectly before the engine experienced the issue.

I have also replaced the ignition switch within the past month.

-Eric

[So Cal Mark]

no need to disassemble the carb to get to the low speed jet. It goes in from the outside just above the accelerator pump cover

[TXSpider1992]

I was able to take a look at the car this morning, and after some trial and error I believe I have discovered the issue.

There is no power going to my idle solenoid, which seems to be causing the idle issue. I hooked up a wire from a separate power source to the solenoid and it idles perfectly again.

Which brings me to my next question, does anyone know what could be causing this power issue?

I don't have any power going to the gauges (fuel, oil, and temp), the idle solenoid, and my fan (though I can hear the fan relay clicking on, just no power).

Thanks,
-Eric

[So Cal Mark]

check the fuses and their connections