Engine Stalling

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crazy4offroad

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I took the air filter off the carb and opened the throttle and steam came out. Should that happen?
Once the idle circuit is clogged it will run lean, making the motor run a little hotter and your gas could be boiling in the float bowls. If you see the black specks the damage is done, just a matter of the cleanup now, and replacing the fuel lines with ethanol-resistant lines.
 

LeadHead

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It could be the fuel filter since low rpm the pump is not pump hard enough to pump the junk through the filter, but normally, when a fuel filter is bad, you're more likley to have issues at higher rpm, cuz the fuel flow can't keep up through a dirty filter.

I'm still going with a dirty idle circuit in the metering block. Maybe best to remove the primary float bowl, and metering block. Clean all the passages out with carb cleaner and an air nozzle with high pressure. You should be able to do it without need for a kit. Worst case scenario you might need to replace the bowl gasket if it tears.


Ok, I think I'll try that next. I pulled the fuel line off and it looked fine.

Now, is this something I could do? I had a friend tell me it'd be real hard to do. I dont have much mechanical experience...only with motorcycles, and their carbs are much simpler.
 

Irishman999

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Ok, I think I'll try that next. I pulled the fuel line off and it looked fine.

Now, is this something I could do? I had a friend tell me it'd be real hard to do. I dont have much mechanical experience...only with motorcycles, and their carbs are much simpler.

What carb do you have?
 

HotRodPC

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Holleys are the easiet to work on. This is why they make a good street/strip carb. You can be in it and out of it within minutes. Should take but about 15 minutes to tear it down, clean the float bowl and metering block and reassemble. If not mechanical type, then say 30 minutes.
 

LeadHead

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Holleys are the easiet to work on. This is why they make a good street/strip carb. You can be in it and out of it within minutes. Should take but about 15 minutes to tear it down, clean the float bowl and metering block and reassemble. If not mechanical type, then say 30 minutes.

Alright, great. Is there a manual or a step by step I could use?

Could it also be a brake booster vacuum leak? A mechanic told me that could be it.
 

89Suburban

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Alright, great. Is there a manual or a step by step I could use?

Could it also be a brake booster vacuum leak? A mechanic told me that could be it.

Plug the vacuum line to the booster to check that. I wouldn;t drive it like that, but you should be able to notice a difference if there is a leak in the booster. You got a vacuum guage?

Somebody here I am sure can find a step by step for your carb clean.
 

bobehud

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Okay first if its the booster sucking vacuum your brake pedal will feel hard as a rock and it will be very tough to stop

You pull the primary bowl off on the truck please look on the back of the choke plate it will either be a 4 or 5 digit number get me that and i can help also find a 7/16 drill bit...and keep it away from the drill when you take your needle and seat apart we are going to use it to get your float level right

if it reads 0-1850 you have the most popular Holley on the planet and i can walk you thru anything you need to know on the one,Vac sec i hope
you dont need a DP....
 

HotRodPC

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Okay first if its the booster sucking vacuum your brake pedal will feel hard as a rock and it will be very tough to stop

You pull the primary bowl off on the truck please look on the back of the choke plate it will either be a 4 or 5 digit number get me that and i can help also find a 7/16 drill bit...and keep it away from the drill when you take your needle and seat apart we are going to use it to get your float level right

if it reads 0-1850 you have the most popular Holley on the planet and i can walk you thru anything you need to know on the one,Vac sec i hope
you dont need a DP....

I smell what your steppin in here Bob. That # is on the air horn. Actually if I recall, its 1850-X I have an 1850-2 and a 1850-3. those are 600 Vacuum Secondaries Hollies. Real Easy to work on.
 

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:popcorn:
 

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Get rid of the holley.. There only good new out of the box
 

HotRodPC

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Get rid of the holley.. There only good new out of the box

I'm not a fan of Holley myself, but unless he's got another carb laying around, he might not have a choice. I am not a fan of Holley cuz they don't seem to hold adjustment well. And thats usually because they get dirty fairly easy.

For simplicity you can't beat a Holley, for the wide array of parts and different sizes of jets you can't beat a Holley. IMO, they are for strickly racing when you have tendency to work on it alot.

Holleys are only good out of the box cuz they are clean at that point. If he can disassemble this thing and get it cleaned out including all the little circuits and ports he'd be all good to go. I'd also put a good fuel filter just before the fuel inlet. When I ran Holley, I had a good filter before the pump, and one after the pump, one at the fuel inlet and it last much longer without needing to be tuned.

IF he wanted to get real crazy, replace the power valve and accelerator pump it would be as good as new with a good cleaning.
 

82chevy350

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ive been through alot of holleys then i got me a eddy for 30 bucks and rebuilt it and its got great throttle response starts up easy
 

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Wish i had a good enough memory to count all the holleys or worked on or rebuilt.Most Holleys work fine as long as the right carb is selected for the application
or a basic misunderstanding on how to dial them in.
Edelbrocks are fine for most app's ....i like my Barry Grant Speed demon
 

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