deltahunters

Hoping someone can help. I've got an 86 TA. When I got this car a couple of months ago, it had an eldebrock carb that wouldn't pass aircare. The owner told me a garage told him that the original Q-jet had to be rebuilt and put back on in order to pass aircare. I've rebuilt the Q-jet 17086580 and rehooked up all the vacuum hoses. Tried some adjustments/tricks, but can't pass aircare. fails on high CO (6.5%) driving mode.
Here's what I think is the problem.
The mixture control solenoid is not hooked up. I cannot find the wire c/w 2 terminal connector any where under the hood.
Would the lack of hook up cause the high CO?
How do I find or trace the connection? What color are the wires and where do they originate from?
PS, this appears to be the only electrical connection to the carb (besides electric choke) which is odd according to most literature I've seen.

Apeiron

Canadian LG4? Your car probably wasn't computer-controlled to begin with, and now you've got the wrong carb.

deltahunters

VIN decoding indicates that eng is LG4
RPO decoding NM5 indicates "Emission System, Canadian Requirements"
Does this mean it's not computer controlled?
Stupid question: How do I tell? by the presence of an ECM? where would I look for the ECM?

I do know that the carb I put back on is the stock carb. The previous owner kept it when he had the eldebrock carb put on. It is possible that the MC solenoid never was hooked up and that's why I can't find the wire for it.

If this is the case (not computer controlled), any ideas what's causing the high CO?
Thanks

Apeiron

Do you still have the emissions sticker? Is there a vacuum hose to the distributor?

deltahunters

No, emissions sticker's been lost.
Yes, dist. has vac hose routed from ported vac to vac delay valve which is attached to thermo vac switch then to dist.

Another source just told me that device on carb is "cold enrichment solenoid" not mixture control solenoid. This is specific to Canadian cars.
He's confirmed that car is not computer controlled. He's also checking propoer wiring for solenoid.

Apeiron

It would have originally been wired to a thermal switch in the waterneck.

deltahunters

Still trying to figure out the wiring for this solenoid.
My plan is to connect one of the two solenoid terminals to any 12 v source that's hot when ingition is on. The other solenoid terminal needs to connect to ground via a thermal switch. There appears to be a single terminal thermal switch screwed into the thermostat housing. It has 3/8 male NPT threads and "CS175" stamped on the bottom (coolant side). This switch appears to be inoperative because it never switches to ground, not even in a pot of boiling water.
A local auto parts shop sold me what I think is a coolant sending unit which won't work because it's resistance is too high (180 ohms at 175 deg F). The GM dealer can't identify the part unless I bring it in. I'm sure the dealer price will be very expensive.
Any thoughts on my wiring plan or where to get a reasonably priced thermal switch?

motorman

the cold enrichment device just allows for a bigger accellerator pump shot when the engine is cold

83_1/2 L69

Sounds like what you really need is info on how to lower your CO output. If I were you, I would try re-posting with a new subject like "How to lower Carbon Monoxide?"
Might increase the odds of getting a good answer.

QUESTION: Can we Edit a post's subject? I'll have to try sometime!

nsimmons

Look into the cat. My qjet is sickly rich but my co is almost non existent 0.09 idle, 0.00 driving. Also a malfunctioning AIR system would effect co readings.

deltahunters

Sorry, it's been a while since I logged in. In case it helps, I'll detail what I did to get thru aircare.
As noted previously, the solenoid on the carb doesn't really play a part in emissions once the engine's warm, but I did finally get it wired-up.
The real trick was getting advice from the local aircare research center. They had a wealth of good info on likely causes of high CO and how to adjust for my engine.
Both adjustments were on the Qjet carb. I first adjusted the lean stop on the power valve by 1/2 turn clockwise (leaner). This left it only 1/2 turn from bottom. This brought the driving CO into compliance, but now the idle was too lean. Next I adjusted the idle mixture by conventional rpm method moving towards a more rich condition. Passed aircare with room to spare. I was very relieved.
Thanks to all who helped out with their suggestions.