Purple 92 SS

Hey guys, Ive got a couple of issues with my carbed 355, and Im hoping yall might be able to shine some light onto the subject as I know squat about carbs.

Alright, here's the situation.

Motor : 355 Cu In block, Edlebrock 73cc heads, Comp cams 292h, air gap intake. have mini starter on block, Powermaster i believe.

Carb : Holley Street Avenger 750cmf Vac Secondary.

Issue :

Have been smelling fuel when the windows were down heavily. Was driving home last Saturday and turned a corner a bit fast and the car started acting like it didnt wanna keep running. Car then stalled 2 times, and I popped the clutch to get her running both times since I was in motion already. Was able to get her home, without stalling by keeping on the gas some.. Didnt matter if it was in neutral or gear, as long as motor was running at higher than idle speeds.. got home, decided to see if it'd idle. It stalled out. Wouldnt re-start. not even a turn over but no fire/fuel sound just a CLUNK, and that was it. Like hydro compression almost.

Get out, popped the hood, wife and I heard what was like dripping water. I unscrewed the air cleaner took it off, examined the carb. sure enough the back bowl was dripping fuel at a constant rate... drip drip drip drip drip drip from both of the jets(i guess thats what they are) So since it was 1130 pm ,a nd i dont have a a garage, I went ahead and left it over night. Came back out the next day around 11-12 in the afternoon, and it's still dripping. Take the back bowl screw out of the side of the bowl, and it pours fuel out. I took the top screw off it as well and it fountained fuel up. Put the screws back in place, disconnected the fuel feed line, and took the carb off the car. I believe there to be a problem with the rear float, at least thats what my neighbor who knows stuff about carbs said.

What you think is the issue? ive described it as best I could.. like I said, The most i know about carbs is I have one, I have used this model since I put the v8 in the car, This is the second of this exact model Ive gone through. The first one we couldtn fix so i had to replace it. I dont have the $ to buy a new carb at this time, and I was really hoping to get the car to the fbody gathering in atlanta this may.. so times running out..

Any and all help is greatly appreciated..

Thanks.
Steve

Sorry guys Im an Idiot, please move this to the carb forum!?!

Ratchet

Sounds to me like the needle and seat valve in the rear bowl is stuck open. Check the float to see if it is sticking. (just see if it moves up and down easily.) If it does next check the needle and seat for dirt or damaged seal. finally assemble the needle and seat and float in the bowl and operate the float by hand. Watch the needle and seat and make sure it is operating correctly. Not jamming up or anything.

If this is not the problem. verify that the fuel pressure is not to high. If the fuel pressure is too high it will overcome the float and open the needle and seat. and flood the carb.

For the problem to start when you are turning a corner it sounds to me like the needle and seat become missaligned when you turn and then it jams up leaving the orafice wide open causing the back bowl to flood.

Of course it could be that the float is just set too high. Since you have it off check the setting before reassembly.

Finally for the fuel to continue coming out of the boosters a day after shutting the car off. (You didn't start it before you checked did you) there must be a massive amount of pressure in the gas tank to continue pushing the fuel up the fuel line. Check for pressure in the tank by unscrewing the cap.

Hope this helps
Ric

Purple 92 SS

Ric,

Yea my friend mentioned something about needles and seats as well, but since im a serious novice with the carb I am unsure of what to look for. Im hoping to get it disassembled today when i get off work. I didnt remove the cap from the tank, but I did check the pressure i think at most, im running 3.5 lbs from my regulator to the carb. I have a mallory return style regulator and am operating using a factory 6cyl fuel injected fuel pump in tank. The car was origionally a 3.1l v6 92 camaro. So anywyas I dont think the fuel pressure was too high, as it hasnt changed in forever, and never had this issue before. I will remove cap when I get home to to depressureize it. Ill also disassembe the carbs rear bowl to see whats the deal. What does the seat and needle look like? how do i know if the float is too high? I know what a float looks like as ive seen the inside of the bowls before. so i can definately check the movement / free movement of it, but the rest im not sure on.


thanks for your help.
-steve

84z28350

First off im with everyone else, sounds like a needle & seat issue, second that fuel pressure is way too low!

Check around holleys site it may have the info on tearing it down or at least float height adjustments.

Apeiron

Not really if the needle is stuck open.

Purple 92 SS

well i got the carb disassembled and everything looked good. the float seemed fine, but i bought a rebuild kit anyways and replaced the needle for the float anyways, put it all back together, and it started to run, albeit not very well. Had to shut her down as i detected a leaky valve cover. Hoping to get that fixed tonight, and go from there. Will keep yall updated.

I know i have to adjust the bowl level now, and see if that helps any.

-steve

Purple 92 SS

alright, heres the new questions...

could having all that fuel in the motor cause problems to the point of having to change the oil? my oil pressure is acting real funky. Never did before. My buddy seems to think that I could have washed the pistons in fuel, thus causing the issue with the oil pressure. SOOO, Im probably gonna have to do a 30.00 oil change this weekend.

Carbs back on the motor. It runs kinda ok. kinda not. after it gets warmed up its almost like the carb gets loaded up and stalls out. Any Ideas? i have no idea how to adjust this thing.. I could really use someone local who could figure it out.. wish I knew.
-steve