creepingdeath

Right now where i live the temp is like -15c -20c and my carb (or atleast i think its my carb) doesnt want to do anything right. my problems started yesterday. first i plugged my car in for about 2 hours (i should have plugged it in overnight but forgot) then i went to start it and it started up good but i have to always sit there and give it a little gas or it dies on me and it did then it didnt want to start again. I put started fluid in there i think it was called "fire bomb" and i got a boost and she finally came to life but struggled for about 15 minutes. Then today i was checking my fluids and other stuff and decided to go for a ride on the finally dry roads, and now my idle is at a constant 1600rpm and when i turn off the ignition it deisels and tries to start back up again. btw i did a search and didnt find the results i was looking for. does anyone know what this could be caused by? im thinking of getting a edelbrock carb for financial reasons

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

Well, the reason it diesels after shutoff is the high idle; that's the problem that needs to be addressed.

First things first, let's check the throttle cable for a bind. Extreme cold can do that. I learned about that in NW Ohio...

creepingdeath

ya i tried lifting my pedal and also checking for anything obstructing the cable i can't find anything also the throttle cable and springs look new. Im thinking it might be the choke??..

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure the car still has the q-jet on there?
The carb is probably terribly adjusted for winter, and just needs to be reset.
Are you in cowtown by chance? I've dinked around with Q-jets a fair bit, there's only a few things that are most likely wrong.

-fast idle set wrong
-choke isn't wired up, or misadjusted
-choke airblade misadjusted

Jonathan Dyer

iTrader: (5)

Sorry to butt in on your thread. I don't mean to seem like a complete moron but I've been clicking around for ages trying to work out how to start a new thread. Thanks.J

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

When you're in the tech/general engine forum, before you choose a thread like this one to view, hit "start new thread", in the top left, above all the existing threads.

creepingdeath

Ya it's a quadrajet it sias right on the side, i dont know what its from it might be from the original 305 that was on the car. Also the carb was tuned about 4 months ago i have the reciept for it from the guy i got it from. Do carbs have to be tuned for winter/summer? ive never had that problem before with a carb and my last carbed 350 had a qaudrajet in it also. Do you think the started fluid i used the other day has anything to do with this? keep in mind our average temp right now is like -20c damn cold. thanks for the replys
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Cowtown? haha I've never heard of that before, im from red deer

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Bah, it's not that cold in Red Deer, you're only a few degrees colder than us, and it's only -4 right here.

No, it shouldn't need to be tuned for winter/summer, but it needs to be set up correctly, ie so it works year round. The guy who tuned it may not have thought ahead about setting up the choke for winter driving, very few people know how to set up a q-jet right these days...

When it's running fine, flick it up onto the fast idle cam, the fastest step. Then screw in the phillips screw on the passenger side, below the choke, until the speed is ~2400RPM or so. When the engine is hot, that'll seem fast, but when it's stone cold that'll only be ~1300RPM or so.

Then when the engine is stone cold, before you try to start it, pop the hood and pull the air cleaner. Flick the throttle with your hand. Make sure you can see the choke air blade close completely. If not, adjust the choke thermostat until it just barely closes.

Then get a buddy to start it for you (must be stone cold). Flick the throttle once and get him to crank it, that's all it should take to start. Once it fires, the choke blade should pull itself open ~1/8" ->3/16" or so. If not, adjust the phillips screw on the end of the choke vacuum break.

Those are the only 3 adjustments needed for the choke. If the thermostat won't pull the choke blade shut, it needs to be replaced (napa, $35 or so).

If that doesn't work, then when the engine is cold, hold the choke blade open, and flick the throttle a few times with your hand - watch for the 'squirt' of gas into the primaries. If you don't get any, at all, then the float bowls are leaking overnight, needs JB weld to fix that. Or the acc pump is shot, and the carb needs a rebuild.

Now if you know what i'm talking about when I described those three settings, you're set

creepingdeath

Ya i understand. I'm just thinking new carb haha ill try that though thanks alot sonix. It feels like -20 for like the last three days haha where in calgary are you?

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I've posted a step by step a number of times here, if you want I can help you out.
A new carb is $400 you don't need to spend, I'd highly recommend against it. The q-jet is a really fantastic year round carb, lots of adjustability... once it's setup right.

If you're cruising through calgary sometime you can always drop by and I could show you how it works. Might save you $400 (I drink Crown Royal BTW )

creepingdeath

Well my uncle just took a look at her and he siad its just badley tuned, leaks and is very dirty. He has a q-jet that hes going to trade me that has been rebuilt so ill probably slap that in then rebuild the other one. also he siad i could have a small amount of water in the fuel lines and they are freezing up. I heard about third gen meets in calgary have you ever been to one?. I also like crown royal but then again ill drink anything haha.

Garconer

I'd like to recomend a book called Rochester Carburetors, by Doug Roe. it's published by HPBooks and will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about Q Jets, from tuning to overhaul and even a bit about performance mods on the things.

creepingdeath

Thanks Garconer i think ive heard about that before

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I've never been to a car meet here in Calgary no. My car never seems to be running at that time

I doubt it's water in the lines, that just doesn't seem to happen anymore these days. Ethanol in the gas and whatnot...

Yea, try swapping q-jets and see if that one works. Hopefully it's a similar carb eh? Side fuel inlet, similar jets/rods etc?

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

yeah eh? you crazy canadians, hahaha! coldest it's been here is ~22*F, and that's the coldest it's been all winter, lol! normally in the 50*F range. anyhow, listen to Sonix, he's been messing with these q-jets for a good while now, and he's definitely the guy to go to if you need any help with them. five7kid would be another. i know i didn't help much, but i love the fact that i can still drive my stuff on the road with the choke horn milled completely off on my holley with no drivability issues whatsoever, lol! i just wanted to rub it in a little