Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349895
06/17/09 12:10 PM
06/17/09 12:10 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,584 MD
p d'ro
pro stock
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pro stock
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Posts: 1,584
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If you can see gas going into carb when you throttle, it probably isn't vapor lock....Although, if it starts after sitting for 30-45 min, I would check routing of your fuel line around the block/exhaust.. Do you have points or Pertronix....???
Last edited by p d'ro; 06/17/09 12:11 PM.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: p d'ro]
#349896
06/17/09 12:24 PM
06/17/09 12:24 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Alright, I'm safely at work via my MINI, and now I can update a little better. I got AAA to tow, so to the people who will say something about me calling towing first, I did. There was definitely fuel dripping into the carb venturi, and the carb itself was cold, if you can believe it. So there was no vapor lock from the carb itself, either I will check ballast first I think. I have an extra one, but what's weird is that the entire ignition system (MP electronic) has maybe 4 hours of driving time on it. The other weird thing was that if I cranked for about ten seconds, you'd hear a rumble like it really wanted to start. I even got it to start once, but it was at really low RPM. I tried to hold it up by pressing the throttle lever on the carb, and it did something of interest - whenever I left it at idle, it ran (albeit rough), but whenever I pushed the throttle lever back, it would stop combustion. I just hope I didn't wipe a lobe on the cam
Last edited by sharpie; 06/17/09 12:25 PM.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349897
06/17/09 12:30 PM
06/17/09 12:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,439 So Cal
Sinitro
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master
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So Cal
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A couple of things to test.. 1. A qwikee test of the ballast resistor is just jump it for a very short time.. 2. Check the reluctor inside the distributor, sometime the gap is too wide. Works inconsistently, regap it and see what happens. Just my $0.025...
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: RodStRace]
#349899
06/17/09 01:23 PM
06/17/09 01:23 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Quote:
Check for spark before worrying about the individual components.
If you have spark and fuel, it sounds mechanical. How old are the timing chain/gears?
The part that scares me is that everything's new. Like, four hours of run-time new.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349900
06/17/09 01:35 PM
06/17/09 01:35 PM
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 12,481 Chino Valley
RodStRace
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Okay, that's better. As I said, check for a good spark first. The three things you need are air/fuel (you say the carb is not hot and there is fuel coming out), spark (there is good stuff on electronic ignitions in the tech section), and compression. Since the motor is fresh, we will assume at this point that the rings and timing are okay. The part that worries me is the slowing down before dying. That's usually not a sign of an electrical issue, although it can happen. Did the engine get hot, did the oil pressure drop? When you can check for spark, let us know.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: RodStRace]
#349901
06/17/09 01:43 PM
06/17/09 01:43 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Oil pressure seemed to drop , but I don't know whether that was a consequence of the oil pump not spinning fast enough or whether it was a factor in why it was dying. When I hold the starter for ten seconds, it does have a bit of pressure on the gauge (10lbs maybe?) but it doesn't build to like 40-50lbs. But that doesn't mean much to me - when we started the motor for the first time, it didn't show oil pressure building, but when it's on, it's had 75lbs cold and 40-50lbs hot like clockwork. The engine didn't get that warm overall, and never overheated before this happened. I am going to check for spark and change the oil tonight.
Last edited by sharpie; 06/17/09 01:44 PM.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349904
06/17/09 03:53 PM
06/17/09 03:53 PM
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 9,312 SoCal
68HemiB
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Hey Brian - I just saw this thread. As sort of already stated before:
a. Immediate diagnosis is checking for fuel and spark. If not present, or in insufficient quantity/quality, chase those things.
b. IFF (obscure nerdy acronym, not a typo) all the stuff in a. pans out, THEN worry about the scary stuff (timing chain, cam lobes, etc) and dig deeper with a compression test.
Down to just a blue car now.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: Hoof Hearted]
#349907
06/17/09 04:55 PM
06/17/09 04:55 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Quote:
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm mostly impressed that though Sharpie's 20th century technology ridin relic broke down, this guy's using up to the minute 21st century technology (Laptop?), and is posting to us members From The Side Of The Road!
Kudos!
(cough)iphone(cough)
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: Hoof Hearted]
#349908
06/17/09 04:55 PM
06/17/09 04:55 PM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 15,487 Florida
scratchnfotraction
I Live Here
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but what else would he have to do waitin on the tow truck? bet he used a cell phone to call AAA or did you send them an e mail? I am with you there sharpie,butterflys all in the stomich over what all could be bad wrong.. thats a very short run time for a prob to show up good luck and keep us posted scratchin
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: strokin73cuda]
#349916
06/17/09 08:48 PM
06/17/09 08:48 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,200 Someplace you aren't
SomeCarGuy
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I wouldn't worry about it being something big at this point. 4 hours run time isn't very long, and gremlins can take some time to flush out. Could be as easy as something loose that worked on out in the run time.
I had a slow to a stop deal a few weeks back. It was the VR. I also heard a real loud pop when it fully died. Do you have voltage in the rest of the car?
I want my fair share
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: SomeCarGuy]
#349917
06/18/09 02:13 AM
06/18/09 02:13 AM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Alright, I am back and with some long-winded updates. Bear with me.
I got home this afternoon from work, and immediately jumped in the car and tried to start it. I cranked on the starter for a good three seconds, and it still didn't start. Cranked like a champ, but no start.
Then my neighbors came around to help. I had one crank on the starter while I held the coil wire out of the distributor and near a ground. It arced, I got a nice shock, so I knew I had spark. We then tested the voltage at the coil, and came up with approximately 8-9v, while the resistor had 12v on its hot side.
I then pulled the plugs. HIGHLY carbon-fouled, and reeked of gasoline. I'm not sure if they reeked of gasoline because I completely doused them with gas trying to get the car moving this morning or not, but they smelled of gas and looked of charcoal.
I put new plugs in and hooked this fancy old contraption (read: test light) up between a spark plug wire and the plug itself. Then I cranked the starter and it arced inside the contraption.
So from here, I know I have:
12v to the resistor 9v to the coil spark to the distributor spark to the spark plugs good new gapped (.040) plugs fuel is spraying into the carb when the butterflies open up
Larry (MrBelvedere2 on Moparts) comes over, and we try to start it again, and it starts up without issue. We let it run, and it sounds a bit rough, so we put the vacuum gauge on it. I lean it out and it sounds better and is at 15" of vacuum, so I lean it to the point that it gets rough, and then turn it 1/2-turn richer. It idles fine, and as we're congratulating ourselves, right in front of us, not thirty seconds from finishing the adjustments, the car sputters and dies. It runs strong for the 20-25 seconds that it's idling, then slowly dies. It takes maybe 5 seconds to die, and during this time, it loses about half its RPM. I will have to have Larry corroborate the sound it made, but to me, it sounded like the engine was gasping and trying to breathe as it died. It didn't sound like the 'knocking' sound you get when you run out of gas.
So we then thought it might be the carb. Maybe something's stuck in the idle air bleeds or something? Anyway, so I took my entire carb apart (Holley 4160), cleaned it with brake cleaner (half of which I got in my eyes), and then blew it out with compressed air. I also checked the power valve by sucking on the large end, and it was able to pull the diaphragm and the spring/metal piece inward and hold it there. So the power valve seems to be good.
I finished too late to try to start it again, so I will test it with the cleaned carb tomorrow. If anyone has any other tests that I can do, or has any other ideas or advice, please post them. I'm kind of frustrated and really lost at this point.
What gets me is, the damn car runs fine for a little bit. And it ran fine before this morning. It just suddenly took a turn for the worse, and I can't find what's causing it.
Thanks for listening, and again, any information is appreciated.
Last edited by sharpie; 06/18/09 02:26 AM.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349918
06/18/09 02:19 AM
06/18/09 02:19 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,200 Someplace you aren't
SomeCarGuy
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Bad ECU box
or
bad ground to the ECU.
Try a new box and run a dedicated ground to it to rule that out and prevent problems down the road.
Might get by just cleaning the box back and the firewall with some sandpaper.
The ECU can do some wierd s*** sometimes.
I want my fair share
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: 1965_PLYMOUTH]
#349926
06/18/09 10:37 AM
06/18/09 10:37 AM
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 12,481 Chino Valley
RodStRace
I Live Here
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I Live Here
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Posts: 12,481
Chino Valley
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Be happy the coondition is present often enough to diagnose and fix! It's those "every two weeks after driving 50 miles at 65" that can make you drink! Before you install the carb, check the plug's condition. Install the carb and run it again. Be ready to look down the carb when it acts up (flooding?), and have the MM connected to the coil to see if the input changes. If the carb isn't flooding and the voltage doesn't crop, it's most likely going to be the coil or ECU or ECU ground. Also be happy it isn't the expensive internal stuff!
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: SomeCarGuy]
#349930
06/18/09 01:53 PM
06/18/09 01:53 PM
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,363 Iowa
burdar
Owen's Dad
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Owen's Dad
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,363
Iowa
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Quote:
Might get by just cleaning the box back and the firewall with some sandpaper.
SAND his firewall...he just got it painted.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: burdar]
#349931
06/18/09 06:13 PM
06/18/09 06:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
OP
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Yeah, I don't actually mind sanding it, and I'd probably sand it just enough to ground. Does the ECU ground through its box or does it use one of the wiring harness grounds (i.e. coil connection)? Also, I wonder if the ECU is going bad because it's laying on the inner fenderwell instead of being vertical on the firewall? I heard the connections might get problematic, but I thought it'd take a while for the connections to fail because of water-log or corrosion. Anyway, I will do a loaded voltage test this evening, as well as hooking a MM to the coil and letting it idle till it dies (if it dies). I do have a pretty dirty fuel filter. I wonder if that is maybe restricting fuel flow? But I adjusted the floats and the level of fuel seemed to be reactive Also, is it a problem to run two fuel filters - one before the pump and one after? I am scared of what's in my fuel tank from all those years. But I also know the tank is venting fine. Is the fuel cap vent the same thing, or does it need to vent from the fuel cap and the tank?
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349932
06/18/09 06:54 PM
06/18/09 06:54 PM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345 Marysville, O-H-I-O
70Cuda383
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Posts: 21,345
Marysville, O-H-I-O
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if the tank has a vent, then it shouldn't need a vented cap, unless you're pulling more fuel out of the tank than what the vent can let in, but that is highly unlikely...you'd have to be at WOT, 7500 rpm, for like...5 minutes for that to be your problem.
**Photobucket sucks**
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: Mike H]
#349935
06/19/09 12:50 AM
06/19/09 12:50 AM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 15,487 Florida
scratchnfotraction
I Live Here
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I Live Here
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Florida
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I had a slanty that would do that cause of a clogged up filter..full of rust start out and be going then drop off and die if you gased it when it stummbled, and you let off and let it coast and slow down it would catch up and go about 1/8 mile and start dieing again drove it under 30 mph all day but 45-55 was out the window and would die off till slowed down so yea a dirty filter could cause it, and just cause I could blow through it,didnt mean zip it was a metal one,I cut open and had a hand full of rust powder and the filter media was clogged full of it swap on a filter and it ran fine for about a yr and then again it was clogged scratchin
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349936
06/19/09 01:14 AM
06/19/09 01:14 AM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,759 So Cal
HealthServices
Why would you even post that?
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Why would you even post that?
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,759
So Cal
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What do you have for a fuel pump and what is the pressure? When the motor starts crapping out (but way before it's ready to die) pinch the fuel line close and rev the motor once to clean it out and see if it idles ok for a while with the line pinched. Before the motor runs out of fuel release the fuel flow again. See if it wants to crap out, Repeat
Just something to try.
Allen
Here's a novel idea, let's not throw a bunch of parts at the car hoping it will fix the problem and instead spend a little time diagnosing it first.
Life was a little easier when I was just a wrench.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: meepmeep70]
#349938
06/19/09 10:00 AM
06/19/09 10:00 AM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: HealthServices]
#349942
06/19/09 03:05 PM
06/19/09 03:05 PM
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 9,312 SoCal
68HemiB
master
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master
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SoCal
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Quote:
When the motor starts crapping out (but way before it's ready to die) pinch the fuel line close and rev the motor once to clean it out and see if it idles ok for a while with the line pinched. Before the motor runs out of fuel release the fuel flow again. See if it wants to crap out, Repeat
Brian, from the symptoms, it sounds like too much gas is getting dumped into the engine. In the long run, this is not a good thing for the health of the rings, nor the lubricating ability of the oil. Once this problem is resolved, do an oil change pronto.
What Allen is suggesting above has merit as an easy diagnostic tool. If you stop the incoming flow of fuel and the engine can clear out the excess gas and run well for a short time, you have confirmed that fuel is getting past one or both needle valve/seat pairs when it shouldn't be.
At the risk of stating the obvious, consider the function of the needle valves, seats, and floats. The job of the floats is to "float" (duh) on top of the fuel in the bowl. At a preset height, the float presses on the needle valve hard enough so that it "seats" in the seat (double duh) and stops the incoming flow of gas. My educated guess is that this is not happening in your carb. Some of the reasons that spring to mind are:
a. Crazy high fuel pump pressure. b. Crap in the fuel wedging between the needle valve and seat. c. Lousy/broken/worn out tip on the needle valve. d. "Sunk" float. The soldered seams on the brass ones can give out. The phenolic/composite/plastic ones get can get porous over time.
Down to just a blue car now.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: 68HemiB]
#349943
06/19/09 04:16 PM
06/19/09 04:16 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Steve, the diagnostic makes sense. I'll try that today definitely.
I did check the needle and seat in my carb when I took it apart. It, and the floats, looked alright. I suspect that when I put the Edelbrock carb onto the car, it'll run. Maybe rich, but it will still run.
If so, I will just have to look more into whether it's a fuel pressure problem (can fix with a regulator), or a carb adjustment or float issue. It makes sense that it's doing this, because now that I think about it, I checked the floats before I ran the engine and set them perfectly, then right after I checked them again and fuel poured out of the sight plug when I opened it.
I will also definitely do an oil change. It is almost time anyway, plus I want to take off the Fram filter that I used for break-in (had it lying around, so it was free).
My next question would be - what made the car run fine for four hours, but then suddenly gain this issue while I was idling?
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: SomeCarGuy]
#349945
06/20/09 01:10 AM
06/20/09 01:10 AM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,037 hi
sharpie
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Well, I 'fixed' it today. I borrowed my friend's Edelbrock 625 or 650 or whatever, slapped it on, fired it up, and it's trouble-free. I know, I know, that's 'parts replacement'. Not helpful. Well, at least now I know it's the carb. I'm going to accumulate some money and look into a Proform metering block (the ported vacuum port on mine is blocked off by a broken tube) and a rebuild kit.
In fact, I have an extra set of fuel bowls with brass floats. I might try them instead of the plastic floats. Anyway, the needles and seats will get replaced as well.
I did notice that the center of the main body that attaches to the metering plate wasn't true, and was bowed inward by about .006 in the center. Maybe that had something to do with everything not working right? I will also stick some carb cleaning pipe cleaner in through every hole.
Just so everyone knows, I'm not giving up on the Holley. I am just glad the issue is resolved.
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349946
06/20/09 01:53 AM
06/20/09 01:53 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 70,126 Here
DirectSubjection
Tacohead. The First and Only
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Tacohead. The First and Only
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 70,126
Here
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If you stick with it, I have a rod and spring tuning set around left over from my Olds I'd send you.
i do like the Holleys though, love the 750hp on my Duster.
Ride eternal, shiny and chrome
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349947
06/20/09 08:48 AM
06/20/09 08:48 AM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,414 St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
David_in_St_Croi
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,414
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
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Fuel pouring out of the sight plug is a symptom of a float that is adjusted too high or alternatively as mentioned a sunk float. In addition, the fuel dripping after shut off is a symnptom of too high a fuel level in the bowls.
On our 70 RR with a 383 and a Holley 950 vacuum secondary carb it used to act as if it were running out of fuel at the track, when we were doing 1/8th mile. I finally did the obvious, checked the floats, and they were too low. Fixed it and the problem went away and the car will go full throttle to the 1/4 (finally got back to the 1/4). The running out of fuel symptom just showed up as before the car ran fine, so the float levels can change on their own.n It also said to em that they are pretty sensitive to float levels as it was not many flats on the adjusting nut I had to turn.
A check for a sunk float is when you have the carby apart is to take the float and shake it. If you can hear liquid sloshing, the float is leaking.
Good luck!
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Re: Stuck on side of the road
[Re: sharpie]
#349950
06/20/09 05:28 PM
06/20/09 05:28 PM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 4,280 Medford OR
FrankenScamp
master
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master
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Medford OR
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Quote:
Well, I 'fixed' it today.
ssswwweeeeeeet! sure they're a pain when they aren't running but once they are you tend to forget about all that.
Now go tear it up some more
Cheers Brian.... see ya @ Jimmy's this year....right?
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