Well my factory quadrajet has been a nightmare the last few months. First the choke went, and then it started stumbling really badly. I saw a "rebuilt" quadrajet on ebay for $40 and jumped on it. I put it on, and also put on a new choke pull off, fuel filter, and all fuel hoses. Plugged everything in. Now it stumbles AND has a terrible hesitation. I messed with the adjustment screws on the bottom a little bit, but to no avail. I checked everywhere for vacuum leaks to no avail. Now heres the weird part: if I unplug the throttle position sensor, the hesitation goes away completely, and the stumbling becomes intermittent. It will run like a bat out of hell for 10 minutes, then it will stumble and choke on itself for 10 minutes, then run good again, etc etc....

This carb has a brand new throttle position sensor on it so I know its gotta be good. So after messing with it for several days and getting nowhere, I took it to a guy who specializes in firebirds/camaros and he said the best thing to do would be to ditch the computer controlled carb and distributor, and get ones that are not C.C. that way I have no sensors to worry about.

What is everyone's thoughts on this? Can I just use a distributor out of, say, a 70s model GM 305/350????

Also, as far as the non CC carb, has anyone tried the Carter AFB? It's in the summit catalog for only $199 for a 600cfm. Otherwise I'd probably get an edelbrock 1406.

Any input would be awesome---------

 

It's more common than it should be.

I don't quite understand why people have so much trouble with them. Maybe mine's unusual, but I've been running it for 4-1/2 years as a daily driver, 1/2 before and 1/2 after the mods, with exactly zero trouble.

This "guy who specializes in firebirds/camaros" is taking the too-old-to-learn-new-tricks approach. More often than not, it's cheaper and, over the long-run, certainly cheaper to get the CC carb operating properly.

You probably don't even have a carb problem. Is your SES light on? Does it work? Have you checked for trouble codes? How fresh are your tune-up items (plugs, wires, cap, rotor)? The symptoms you describe could be caused by a weak coil and/or control module.

You could use the distributor described. Either carb would require an adapter to mount to a stock intake manifold.

 

well the intermittent stumbling was caused by a bad plug wire

I can't believe I didn't see it sooner, but I'm glad it was that simple. I still have the tps unplugged but it runs great, eventually I'll take it to someone who tunes carbs and get it all sorted out, but in the meantime it's running great thanks to the new plug wires. Thanks for the reply

 

The exact number varies, but ~75% of carb problems are solved by fixing the ignition.