stuck float?

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Brandon_l1000

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hey fellas trying to sdjust my carb today and i cant get it to idle at all. then i noticed that gas is spraying out of the top of the carb. i talked to a friend of mine and he said sounded like the float was stuck. i just rebuilt the damn thing you think that could be the problem by the way it a quadrajet.
 

89Suburban

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Sounds like that may be the case.
 

matthamner

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from experiance of building them it does sond like the float is stuck or the wire that goes on the float to the valve. thats usually the problem. hope that helps
 

crazy4offroad

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A float can also corrode, fill with fuel and sink, leaving the valve open.
 

Brandon_l1000

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alright thanks fellas i think im just gonna tear it apart and replace the float and get it over with
 

89Suburban

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alright thanks fellas i think im just gonna tear it apart and replace the float and get it over with

Could be worse, we had to fellas post here today they installed a tranny and a clutch and they got to tear it all back apart again. :yucky:

You adjusted the float correctly I assume? And you can stick it in a coffee cup of gas to see how it floats. Could be a missed piece of something got stuck in the needle valve also.
 

HotRodPC

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Yep, either stuck or full of gas float, or your needle and seat is bad and/or have a piece of gunk stuck in it, not allowing it to shut off the fuel, therefore flooding the motor.
Careful with that. Many vehicles have burnt to the ground with that problem. All it takes is for one spark plug not get gas fouled, spark and chase all that raw fuel up the runner to the carb, and of course the gas just keeps coming.

BTW, Anyone know how to handle that when it happens? Run for the fire extinguisher right??? NO, ONLY AS A LAST RESORT !!! Jump in the cab, hold your gas pedal to the floor and crank the motor. DON'T PUMP IT. Just hold your foot to the floor allowing all the butterflies to open and dumping the fuel down the intake into the cylinders. By cranking the motor the vacuum is sucking the fire into the cylinders and taking the oxygen from on top of the carb. Without oxygen, you can't have fire. In a good situation, you have a buddy or someone smart enough or quick enough, while you're cranking or instructed someone else to jump and crank it and HOLD the pedal to the floor, grab a towel, t-shirt or big enough piece of cloth to tightly cover the top of the carb while they are cranking, but holding it tight enough that it doesn't get sucked into the carb and intake. Once you've got the cloth tight over the carb throat. The fire should be out and they can stop cranking. Done right, it works. Done wrong it can make a bigger mess because you can catch your cloth on fire too. Must be done in proper order.
 
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79K10

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happened to mine too, i hit it with a hammer and it freed it up and ran fine after that.
I just make sure i change the filter every few months now, im guessing it was **** in my tank that made its way to the carb, i wasnt running a filter between the pump and carb until this happened
 

HotRodPC

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happened to mine too, i hit it with a hammer and it freed it up and ran fine after that.
I just make sure i change the filter every few months now, im guessing it was **** in my tank that made its way to the carb, i wasnt running a filter between the pump and carb until this happened

That'll do it. You get a chunk of crud in the needle and seat, then it can't shut the fuel off even if the floats do raise properly, so it's one of the two. Stuck floats, or crud in the needlle and seat.
 

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So fellas its fixed!!! Float wasnt stuck it was so far out of adjust it was holding itself open. Im not sure how it got that way when I rebuilt it I didnt bend that float all, but it was suppose to be set to 15/32 and it was set on 24/32.
 

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So fellas its fixed!!! Float wasnt stuck it was so far out of adjust it was holding itself open. Im not sure how it got that way when I rebuilt it I didnt bend that float all, but it was suppose to be set to 15/32 and it was set on 24/32.

Thanks for the info, glad ya got it fixed!!!! :grd:
 

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Thanks for the update. Always like hear the diagnosis and repair. So the float wasn't full of gas or anything of that nature?
 

Brandon_l1000

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Thanks for the update. Always like hear the diagnosis and repair. So the float wasn't full of gas or anything of that nature?

No I didnt seem to be. Just out of adjustment
 

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what kind of carb..?
 

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