I ran the bird today and she ran sweet, temp. stayed around 190 to 200, I checked under the hood and I noticed in the fuel filter I could see through the plastic I had about an 1/8" or less of gas in it, when I first start it's always full. What does it do this? Could this be why after awhile she stalls and then I sit for 15 minutes and gas returns to the filter and she'll start up. I never had this problem when I had the '75 pontiac 350 in her. Just always had problems with the points. But this 326 the fuel gets low in the filter and she stall.
The next time you're sitting, pour a little gas in the carb and see if it fires. Are the intake sock and fuel lines fairly new? Could be pulling a vacuum or sucking air.
The lines are fairly new, replaced in the spring of 2010, I also at the time replaced the fuel pump, and eccentric, the tank and sending unit. What would I need to look at? It was suggested to add a fuel filter just before the pump? I'd be running 2 filter's, also the state I live in added ethanol to gas, is this an issue? I found my idle mixture screws pitted badly and replaced them. I don't know what the issue is, anyone has any ideas
its typical not to see gas in the filter....when car is warmed up, you wont see gas in filter....I noticed the same thing 10 yrs ago....mine was totally empty ,couldnt figure out how it was running...the gas goes into 'gas' form earlier....and you wont see it...= normal. one way to eliminate that problem ,get a steel filter and you wont worry...I would get a steel filter anyway , peace of mind, as a glass or plastic can break, and then yiou have bigger issues.
now, if you have stalling issues ,thats another story alltogether...
I'll change it to a steel one, what would be a good one? How about the fact it'll run for about 10 minutes or a little more then hit traffic or many traffic lights and I could feel it coming on, she'll idle rough and then stall? The temp was one issue, it's improved a lot, now I rebuilt the 600 Edelbrock with new rods, jets, floats, idle mixture screws and it still runs like SH#&, I threw a Carter AFB(clone)9635SA together and seems to idle, great, runs sweet, but it seems like I'm not getting enough fuel after she runs for awhile, the engine stumbles and idles like it's starving, and when I try to take off it'll stall. It was suggested to install a fuel filter before the pump, is this a good idea? My fuel pump is an Ames perf. special Mr. Gasket High volume.
Check all the fuel line connections from the tank to the fuel pump. Sounds almost like its sucking air instead of fuel. Is your fuel system a single or double line? Could also be vapor locking. Check to make sure the line from the fuel pump to the carb is NOT touching the block.
My system is a single 3/8" from the tank, and I rerouted the fuel line to the carb around the power syeering pump, keeping it away from the block, I did notice the fuel pump was hot to the touch, is this normal?
Hard to understand exactly what you're describing here...
It dies ONLY when at idle? But otherwise it'll run down the road with your foot into the pedal just fine? This tells me you do NOT have fuel starvation issue of any type, in advance of the carb itself. Adding another filter in-line is senseless in my opinion. One is all an engine needs...and even that's only needed if/when the fuel supply is dirty...
So if you indeed have a fuel problem, it's within the carb's idle circuit. Or possibly vapor lock. Easy to exclude vapor lock by wrapping that pump-to-carb line in tinfoil and see if it cures the problem. You could also have your fuel delivery blinders on and your problem may have nothing to do with fuel delivery...could be any number of ignition problems, could be vacuum prob, could be valvetrain issue, could be imbalanced compression, mostly SOUNDS like an air leak...but like everyone else, I'm flat out guessing...
What's the state of this carb you "threw together" and installed? You say it's a "clone", what does that mean? How did you establish idle mixture settings with that carb? How about accelerator pump settings? Float level? What's your idle speed set at? Base ignition timing? Could it be actually FLOODING itself dead? Or are you certain it's actually leaning itself dead of fuel starvation? When it dies and doesn't restart have you immediately checked for spark? Or pumped the throttle while looking down the throat to confirm whether or not there is gas in the float bowl? When it's colder and running good, does it have a bog when you tromp the throttle, or do you get instant power?
Frankly IMO there are way too many variables here to effectively internet troubleshoot. Grab yourself a good trouble-shooting guide (factory service manual, even chiltons or similar guides will be adequate), follow ALL your symptoms, and check EVERYTHING the guide tells you to check, IN THE CORRECT ORDER...skip NOTHING, rearrange NOTHING, and assume NOTHING. Brand new parts are sometimes bad out of the box, rebuilt carbs are often improperly set up, under-torqued/leaking at base, etc...
Ethanol...there are books and websites about this topic alone. Suffice it to say for your purposes, assuming you're running the typical 10%, it's a leaner burning fuel than pure gasoline. Usually results in the need to enrichen mixture from factory settings a tiny bit to compensate and get a good burn. But if you don't have a factory carb, you don't have a baseline setting to start with anyway. O2 sensor and a/f gauge is really the best way to tune fuel mixture on any gasoline motor. Otherwise you're stuck with the inexact science of plug reading...which by the way could give you HUGE clues if you read the plugs. This will tell you at least if it's dying due to a rich or lean condition...what do they look like?
Ok I'll explain the best I can, the car will run for about 10 to 15 minutes on the highway, when I get off the highway and get on the back roads and hit any traffic it will start to load up and if I stop, I have to keep my foot on the accelerator or it will stall, then when I take or back off the pedal it will cut off(stall). A Carter AFB(clone)9635SA is a version of the original Carter AFB's but made by Federal Mogul not Carter as Fed Mog bought Carter. The Carburetor wasn't thrown together, I tore it down cleaned it the threw it together. I also own A Chilton Manual,67 Pontiac Service Manual, I use the forum's for input and what maybe the cause, the people here do help if they can, because this problem had me stumped. Now I found a vacuum leak today at the manifold vac port for the PCV, the fitting wasn't the correct size and was leaking I replaced the fitting and while at it I replaced all the Vacuum lines,after that I ran it then the plugs fouled out, what does it mean to rich, my timing is set to factory spec's 6deg BTDC.
I have to keep my foot on the accelerator or it will stall, then when I take or back off the pedal it will cut off(stall).
after that I ran it then the plugs fouled out, what does it mean to rich, my timing is set to factory spec's 6deg BTDC.
What is RPM when it wants to stall? Might simply be an idle speed issue? When cold it's running on the high speed idle cam, and then it releases later to 'normal' idle speed and it's just set too low?
Doubtful it's that simple, but like I said earlier, I try to assume nothing...
Your comment about it now fouling plugs is new and helpful info, and yes, sometimes can be an indicator of a far too-rich mixture (choke not fully releasing, dirty air filter, improper jetting, improper mixture screw setting, improper float setting, etc. etc...) BUT, it could also be caused by simply having too cold a spark plug, weak points/improper dwell, bad coil, or it could also be any other things in a long list of possibilities, right down to internal engine problems like stuck valves or worn rings. The term "fouled" can mean so many things to so many people...are they Oil fouled? Carbon fouled? Ash fouled? Only a crystal-clear photo of the plug can answer this. How does the appearance of your fouled plug compare to one of the spark plug photo charts provided in a manual or all over the internet? The plug condition will help guide you to what the problem is, especially if your problem is so bad that the plugs are actually fouling out and not firing anymore after just a few minutes.
I haven't put the dwell meter on her since finding the vacuum leak, I set the float to the manual specs, choke was released, could be my points are bad, because on Sunday my girl took it out, she gassed up and came home, picked up the kid and left about half hour later, she told me it was running funny, I was working so I wouldn't know what it sounded like, she made it to the corner 3 blocks up from my house, and it wanted to stall,as she crossed the main road it stalled, she tried to start it, it wouldn't start, kept trying til it did, and moved 50 feet and it stalled again. Now she got it into the church parking lot and waited about half hour it started and she started to go home 200 ft and it died, started it and drove to my corner 500 ft and it died, restarted it and made it 100 ft to my driveway and it stalled again, she restarted it and parked it. when I got home it ran like a champ. sounded like the points were closed? or bad
The one advantage of the plastic in-line filter, you can see if there's crap floating around in there, the one advantage of a filter upstream of the pump, it may keep the crap out of your fuel pump.
I wonder if you have a gas tank vent problem? If air is slow to get into the tank as fuel is leaving it may pull a vacuum, starve the engine of fuel and cause it to stall, then start again after the pressure equalises with outside air pressure. Could also be crud in the tank clogging up the filter sock on the fuel pick up causing vacuum in the line and starvation. I've experienced both situations, one this past weekend and now have a fuel tank in my shed while I replace the pick-up tube, not in my Firebird thankfully. Then again it could be neither of these things.
It worth taking a look at, the fuel tank cap is original and with today's gas, I understand it has a lot of crap in it, my sending unit needs replacing, it's stopped working, can't till fuel tank level, so I'm gonna be dropping the tank will be looking at it.
The one advantage of the plastic in-line filter, you can see if there's crap floating around in there, the one advantage of a filter upstream of the pump, it may keep the crap out of your fuel pump.
I wonder if you have a gas tank vent problem? If air is slow to get into the tank as fuel is leaving it may pull a vacuum, starve the engine of fuel and cause it to stall, then start again after the pressure equalises with outside air pressure. Could also be crud in the tank clogging up the filter sock on the fuel pick up causing vacuum in the line and starvation. I've experienced both situations, one this past weekend and now have a fuel tank in my shed while I replace the pick-up tube, not in my Firebird thankfully. Then again it could be neither of these things.
agreed , I always had a plastic filter on my dirt bikes...but in a car, I`m leery about getting a broken , cracked fliter to start a fire..
Do you think the tank got a lot of crap in it, it was replaced with a new one 2 yrs ago, as far as venting the fuel cap is as old as the car. This car has no vapor return system, I was waiting to replace the sending unit because if I need to do a vapor return line, I am hoping I can solve it without doing return line either way the tank gotta come out soon. The sending unit not registering the fuel level wouldn't cause this problem?
I pulled the tank down today, I'm in the process of replacing the sending unit, the tank was clean and the sock was also clean, but no fuel at all in tank, that's why it ran like crap the other day and wouldn't restart,(last time I'll believe her she put gas in it) it ran out bone dry, well I'll clean it up and check the tank out and install a new unit today. Maybe I'll get the sending unit with a return line and cap it.
A girlfriend from my past ran out of gas in my GTO. I brought to her attention the new and exciting device invented to make running the tank dry a thing of the past. It's quite a cleaver development and actually informs one of the level of fuel in the tank. Most modern cars have them located in front of the steering wheel in the dash.
LOL bluebird, I know what you ment I could use a lesson in spelling too, it's partly my fault, the sending unit wasn't working at all, I needed to replace it, well I did and it now registers the level of fuel, I decided after talking to others here at 1st gen I grab a sending unit with a fuel return on it should I need to install one, because of vapor locking I also replace the wire harness as it was original and the Oring, and that darn neoprene hose.
It's still running rough, will idle, but with an miss, the exhaust has a slight pop, I tried the carb mixtures nothing, I noticed the 2 plugs were normal color the rest were like they came out of the box new.#1 & #4 I did open up the carb and checked the floats both were out of adjustment again, I reused the air horn gasket and the base gasket. Maybe a vac leak even though tight?
Good morning Liam I've been working on the issue, I changed out my Edeljunk 1405 for a Carter AFB 9635SA, rebuilt her, soaked it good in Chem dry, Blew every hole I could find out with Air! I also found out that on these carb's the needle has a clip that's suppose to be installed to tie the needle to the float I never installed it, the instructions do not show it anywhere. well test drove it yesterday and she performed very well, acceleration was right on the money, lots of power, idle a little rough with a slight miss. The temp is up around the 190's to 200's. seems much much better. Still working on the fuel issue, I installed a fuel filter before right before the pump, and I'm gonna test the flow from the pump, by disconnecting the carb line and cranking for 15 seconds, I should have about a pint or more of gas in a bottle. About 2 weeks or more ago she wouldn't go down the street without fouling the plugs, I needed to clean the carb, it was still dirty. This week will be the tester as I plan to drive it most of the week.
I found I had a bad Fuel pressure regulator today. I disconnected the fuel line and had the engine cranked over for 15 sec. and I had about a half cup of fuel, it should of been a Pint. I disconnected the regulator and had the engine cranked over and I had about a litre of fuel(the pump is about 8psi). I replcaed the regulator which was a spectre with a holley 12-803 and now it's idling better, as a matter of fact it's got a little bog off idle. Any idea's?
Testing out 2 other Carb's, I rebuilt a 3649SA 64 389 GTO and 3721SA 64 327 Corvette, it was suggested to try and run these. The 9635SA are Carter clones and they are universal, I would have to meter them down and modify the secondary air valve or replace it. I'm still at it. This is the 3721SA:
