I just finished a carb rebuild for an 82. Every things seemed straight forward with no problems encountered. This is the third carb I have rebuilt and the first two worked fine. After I got this one on the car though I am not getting enough fuel for the engine to start and run. Fuel will squirt into the carb when I open the throttle. I am assuming this is the shot coming from the accel pump but no other fuel is coming into the carb barrels. The fuel bowls have fuel in them and the fuel pump is working and getting fuel to the carb but there is no fuel getting into the carb barrels to keep the engine running. The only fuel going into the barrels seems to be coming from the accel pump.

Any suggestions on where to look for my mistake? Before I rebuilt the carb, the car would start and idle fine but would die when I pressed the accel pedal. I could keep the car running by blocking the air intake to the carb. with my hand and rev the engine up like that.

Now though, the car will not start or run at all unless I pour fuel into the carb but then it dies in a few seconds after that fuel is burned up.

Help.

 

Did you check the idle mix screw? It should be backed out a few turns.

 

Go back and pull the fuel line from the carb and put it into a gallon jug. Turn the key and see how fast that jug fills up. It should fill to half way in a few seconds. This gives you rough idea of the flow, anyway. Then grab a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up and make sure your getting good pressure to your carb ( nikki I'm assuming here ) so it should be around 3-4psi or so. I might be off on that number. If this is all ok, then its in the carb itself. You may have to pull it apart and reassemble it. You'll probably find the problem at that point. Mr. Murphy never shows his face until you think your done :-) Good luck.

 

where exactly is the fuel in the sight glass windows? after i do a rebuild sometimes the floats are a bit low and if the fuel is only barely reaching the bottom of the sight glass you will have this problem. make sure they are atleast half way up the windows.

 

I am having a similar problem. Fuel is getting to the carb but isn't getting through it. I can't figure out what is wrong.

 

i would say ditch the 4 barrel and get a 2 barrel, they are a bit less complicated.

 

tmking, on the main body to throttle body gasket theres an asymetrical hole. Are you sure you put that gasket on right? IIRC the idle mix should be 2 1/2 turns out from bottom as a starting point.

Thansenite, have you changed your fuel filter?

 

heyyyy, good thought. blocking the passages will fork it alllll up. that's why carl is the banana! WOOT!

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. Pouring the rain down here today and she is not in the garage so I will have to wait till tomorrow to take another look at it. I had just changed the fuel filter before the rebuild and the pump was working a ok before the rebuild so I don't think those are my problem. I am hoping it may be a sticky float but a little voice in my head is telling me that Carl may be right and I may get to take it all apart again. Oh Joy! I hate those little voices.

Anyways, I will post back here when I check this stuff out.

Thanks Again!!

 

a half a gallon in a few saconds???? are you serious??? the FB i am trying to fix would take at least 20 saconds to get to halfway, maybe... i try to measure it directly after the fuel pump, i might just need a new fuel line.

 

Yea, I changed my fuel filter a couple of weeks ago. The fuel is getting to the carb fine. I pull the fuel line off of the carb and turn the key and gas gets pumped out. But when the line is connected to the carb is where my problem is.

I rebuilt my carb a month and a half ago and replaced all gaskets and stuff with the kit (including float valves). Then, a couple of weeks ago, I disassembled the carb againt to try to fix the problem. When I rebuilt the carb, I blew carb cleaner through all of the jets to clean them out.

The last time I tore the carb apart, I realized I had forgotten to clean the jets at the bottom of the float bowls. So I took out all 4 jets (2 per side) and cleaned them off, then blew carb cleaner through the "pipes" leading from those jets up to the top of the carb where the fuel is mixed with air before going into the engine. Everything was clean so I reassembled it.

To my dismay, the beast still sleeps.

 

what did you set your floats to?

 

I've done a carb or two,and I would venture a guess at the float level being out of whack,not allowing the needle to come up (float shuttin off fuel),FB II is in the right area on this..bend your float down so it will allow the needle to open and put fuel into the bowl..make sure though that it is not bent down so much as to alwys allow fuel in or else you will experience flooding..my $.02..worth a check(if you tear it apart again)

 

I checked my floats when I rebuilt the carb. I sat them as specified in the owner's manual.

It hasn't been drivable since I bought it. After I rebuilt the carb, the car ran. So I tried backing it out of the garage only to realize that the clutch didn't have enough fluid to work. So I proceeded to do a 6in burnout and the car died. After I got the clutch bled, the car wouldn't start. That is why I tore the carb apart for a second time.

Thanks everyone for your help. I can't wait to get the car running and finally take it out on its maiden voyage.