last night i was working on my 82 GSL and was trying to get the engine started and the carb was literally filling with gas just after the inlet in the "triangle" shaped port on the main body of the carb and at that point, the carb was full of gas. it seemed that the fuel pump was just flooding the carb. what could cause this problem?

 

well, your carb is flooding so i would check the floats and the needle. you may have a float that is taking on fuel. when i rebuilt my carb it was doing this so i took the floats out and weighed them on my ballast scale. they both felt the same weight in my hands and they both looked fine but they both had massive differences in the weights. ran me like 20 bucks i think for new ones. not sure on the price.

like i said also check the needle to make sure its not sticking.

 

when the float rises to its proper level, what then keeps the fuel from entering the carb and flooding it? it seems that the fuel pump would constantly run when the key is in the ON position and flood the carb.

 

the fuel pump is electric so it should always be on, but im not sure what actually stops the flow of fuel to the carb after the bowl is filled. maybe one of the gurus can help you. normally though the only time i hear of these carbs flooding is i fthe floats are bad or if the needle gets stuck.

 

When the bowls fill up with gas, the float goes up, which therefore pushes the needle up until it cuts off the gas.
If the car is flooding just sitting there, either the floats are set wrong, the needle is hung up, or one of the floats is waterlogged.
You can see each of the bowls by looking in the little glass site bowl. One on the front of the carb, one on the back. Use a mechanics mirror for the one on the back.
If this problem just happen, say after the car was sitting for a while. Thump the top of the carb with the handle of a screwdriver, or something that won't do damage. Sometimes the needle just hangs up a little and needs a little encouragement to start working right again.

 

A bad air (bowl) vent solenoid can also cause this. Search- there are several threads on this. I ended up removing mine.

- David

 

thanks!! i'll search and read up about the solenoid!

 

Check the levels in the sight windows 1st. If you can't see anything, then most likely they are full. Have you done any work around the carb lately? It's possible the solenoid wire has been damaged, it's also possible that the needles are sticking. If only one sight window is full, then it's most likely the needle and seat. If both windows are full, then it's more likely the solenoid.

 

i pulled tha carb last night and cleaned it as well as i could without taking it apart. i inspected it well and reinstalled it. after tinkering with it, i decided to try and get some of the gas out of the engine(gas was literally dripping from the exhaust manifold, which isn't connected to the first cat. i bought the car this way last week) i turned the engine over and a spark caught the engine bay and the ground on fire under the car. it was the most sickening feeling. i raced around with buckets of water, attempting to extinguish the fire. luckily i did after what seemed like an eternity. nothing major was damaged. a few vaccume hoses and some a/c wiring were destroyed. the engine still turns over fine and everything seems to work ok. i knew that the engine was filled with water because of the buckets i was dumping on the engine over the exposed carb. i cranked the engine over to blow the water out(with removed plugs and an unconnected exhaust). i then dumped a little atf down the carb and hoped for the best. tomorrow i'll try and start the engine after i repair the lost vaccume hoses and a/c wiring and i'll let you guys know what happens.

 

when i shoot over to the garage tonight i'll get some pics of the damage. i'm confident that it'll run after i fix the burnt vaccume lines and rewire the a/c wires.

 

well, so far so good. i replaced the burnt vaccume lines, reinstalled the plugs, secured the air cleaner assembly, and hit the key and the engine fired to life. today was the first time the car had run in six years! the exhaust is really loud because the manifold is not connected to the first converter. it will be here soon. i need the car quiet. overall, it doesnt run too bad. idles a bit low(500 rpm) but i'll weed that problem out.