From: bhhardy@cs.utk.edu (Barbara Hardy)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech
Subject: Re: Carb questions
Date: 29 Sep 92 13:45:47 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Keywords: junkyards, prices

(My machine won't do that spiffy stuff to let you know who wrote what;
my comments are preceeded by "--")

From: jws@billy.mlb.semi.harris.com (James W. Swonger)
Subject: Re: Carb questions


 I find the $500 price for a Holley 2BBL to be somewhat inflated, given
that their top-of-the-line performance 4BBLs go for about $400, the cheapies
half that. Hmm, maybe you need a 4BBL, yeah, that's the ticket, a 4BBL :)

-- Hm! Well....Wonder if I cna just order from Holley? I'd gladly pay
$200 for a new carb if that would solve all my problems (AND make the
world a better place.)


 Seriously, if you made it neither better nor worse by "rebuilding" it
(level of messing-with unspecified), we can assume for the moment that
either the problem was not in the carb or the carb's problem was in some
part untouched.

-- You are correct that I didn't specify much. I went through the
basic kit and replaced everything tht came with it: gaskets, jets,
float valve, some funky diaphragm thing. Didn't have compressed air so
did the best I could. When putting it back on and learning a very
embarassing lesson (like when you are replacing the timing belt, keep
in mind that it is a 2-STROKE CYCLE, DUMMY!) and seeing combustion
occur THROUGH the carb... yikes, oh boy ohboy. I never want *that*
much andrenalin ever again. Makes me shiver even now.

So anyway, after that I took it to a mechanic I trust pretty ok, and
he redid the timing, and checked the seat on the carb, and said it
looked ok. He also said that with a car that old that the timing marks
on the flywheel weren't going to do me much good, and that I should
retime the engine soon by "feel." Anyone else ever do this? I suppose
I am just afraid of smashing my valve covers to bits if I got the
spark to weirdly distributed. Or piston heads? (Really doctor, I can
*see* what's going on, I just can't tell *you*! :-)

-- Also, I forgot to mention that sometimes when the engine is
semi-warm, I often have to hold the accelerator all the way to floor,
which means I'm flooding the carb, right? to get it to "catch." Which
then results in a big cloud of most environmentally-unfriendly
grey-blue stuff, much bigger than normally the case when I start the
engine.

-- (God, I am depressing myself thinking about this. Courage! Onward!)

 Try checking for vacuum leaks. The engine will be most sensitive to a
vacuum leak at idle. Try disconnecting the vacuum lines and plugging off the
vacuum ports with the engine running and see if things change. You may find
an already-disconnected or cracked vacuum line, or trace down a component
with an internal leak. One at a time is a good idea so it goes back together
without too much head-scratching. The vacuum line to the distributor -will-
make a difference when pulled, or should. You can test for a line's ability
to hold vacuum by sucking it down and putting your finger over the end. If
it lets go there's a leak. Might want to clean it up before you try it.

-- OK, sounds easy enough.... Um, why does the engine require so many
vaccum hoses (Mine is a nightmare! There are places too, that look
like they *should* have a hose, but don't. Go figure. I sketched 10
for the carb rebuild)? My friend has a VW van and boy was looking at
his engine a treat after fooling with *mine*! And is vaccum in general
required for the carb to get the right air-gas mixture going?


 Hopefully the other simple things, like fresh plugs and air filter and
PCV valve, etc. have already been taken care of. If not, wouldn't hurt.

-- Yeah. Last April, I checked the PCV valve, replaced the plugs, the
fuel filter, the air filter, the fuel pump (didn't know yet that the
timing belt was busted), belts, um... that's it.

-- Oh yeah, one other thing. THis sounds strange, but here goes.
Around the same time, just after 100K, surprise surprise, there was
this scary noise under my left front wheel. Ack! I think! But "they"
said, naw, just the bearing there, which is sealed, and so cost me a
boatload to have replaced (next car WILL be a VW!) ando so the noise
kind of went away, but the other thing didn't. Which is: the car
"feels" the most "right" when I am turning/curving left. As I finsh
the turn and bring the car back to the right, the "wrong" begins. It
is like the engine is straining against something. No grindng, more
like a pressure, with accompanying "pressure noise." I keep wondering
if the cause of this might be that when I replaced the timing belt, I
had to lift the engine up from the frame of the car (no damn kidding!
I hate CHrysler. Not to mention the Torx *Sockets*, not the male but
the female which if you ever try to find ONE of GOOD LUCK or I'll sell
them to you.... GRRR. ANYway, that's another story. I hate CHrylser)
Sorry. ANyway, when I was replacing the bolt, which was a little
rounded off, I rounded it off more and so couldn't get it quite to the
100 ft.lbs. I was supposed to. So... youmore experienced types out
there... does this noise sound familiar? I *hate* turning to the
right. The car clearly hates it, too. It makes the car really loud and
it just feels "tight." Something like that.

-- ANyone who wants to take a crack at this... shoot away! And thanks
for the help VERY much!

Barbara

--
##########################################################################
#Irresponsible rantings of the author alone. Any resemblance to
persons # #living or dead then yer bummin. May cause drowsiness.
Alcohol may inten-# #sify this effect. Pay no attention to the man
behind the curtain. Billy!#