78 FJ40 - Loud exhaust pop now stranded (1 Viewer)

[Kboyd]

I was driving my 78 FJ40 going about 40 mph down the road earlier today. There was a loud pop from the exhaust and the engine shut completely down. Nothing is leaking and didn’t feel anything when it happened. Water temp and oil pressure were fine while driving. Half a tank of gas so that isn’t the issue. It will attempt to start but engine won’t fire. Luckily was around the corner from the house so nice guy pulled me home. I won’t get a chance to look at it for a few days but open to any recommendations on where to start. New to FJ40s but not afraid to get my hands dirty and learn from all the great folks on this forum.

Kevin

 

[B y r o n]

Try starting with the distributor and see if the rotor or cap failed.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

What distributer are you running? Wild guess here but is it an HEI from a Chevrolet?

 

[3_puppies]

What distributer are you running? Wild guess here but is it an HEI from a Chevrolet?

looks like an imported cruiser, hard to say what is under the hood.
does the engine turn over?
start with the basics, spark and fuel,

 

[SteveH]

Your distributor may have just slipped and your timing is way off, but I suspect the others are right - check out all the ignition components first. A timing light will be helpful once you get it running.

 

[4Cruisers]

Are you sure it was an exhaust pop? I've had a distributor cap explode (yes, they can do that) in my '71 FJ40 with a non-US distributor. It was pretty loud.

 

[greenbeasty]

What have you found?

 

[Advrider639]

I had an old carburetor that would run very rich, back fire out TP and then give out. The plugs can get damp/fouled where it would turn over and not start. Then while your trying to start it your just making the problem worse.

Check the basics, fuel, plugs and distributor and report back.