I have no problem tuning holleys, but haven't touched a CC carb with this many issues before. Can't find the 1 wire EST disconnect, so I just unplugged the 4 pin connector on the back and have set timing up or down 20-ish degrees now between 0 and 20 in steps of 2 degrees per change. If I set the motor below 14 degrees it'll shake like it's going to fall apart and above 18 degrees the vacuum suffers horribly and it wants to die. If I set idle rpm at 700 and put it in gear half the time it dies out on me with connecting the 4 pin connector back as well, if setting rpm to 500 in gear, it'll be 900 out of gear. Reason I'm messing with this mice nest of wires is because it's at my buddies shop for failed emissions and typically I go there and set up carb cars to run better for performance or pass emissions. HC is at 2300-2000, limit is 220. CO is double the limit at 2.40 instead of 1.20 I have given it a complete tune up again, messed with timing all over the place, albiet without the proper EST connector as it might even have been spliced out of the harness, can't find it in the loom and had it completely apart. I have turned the 2 front mixture screws on the bottom which are located on the baseplate in and out with no change on the 4 gas analyzer. The mixture control solenoid can be seen to move around on the snap-on scanner, so I'm assuming the computer is still doing something. Choke is set to be completely open during these tests as it's 90+ out. The car also backfires out the exhaust due to the extreme rich condition, and ALL DATA at his shop doesn't have any diagnosis or tips for a baseline setup. I need to work on this car again monday/tuesday so any thoughts or things I might try would be great.

 

On '82-'86 carb'd V8 cars, the EST connector is a flat 4-wire coming from the base of the distributor going to the firewall harness.

Since you didn't mention it, I assume you aren't getting any SES light or trouble codes.

The mixture screws should be at about 4-5 turns out. The idle air bleed should do the rest.

O2 sensor okay?

Leaking from the well plugs on the bottom of the bowl is a common cause of q-jet richness.

Check the CC q-jet sticky at the top of the forum for baseline.

 

it is an 87 carb'd car, so would it still be the flat 4 wire connector? There are no codes being shown on the snap-on scan tool, I'll try out the 4-5 turns out with the mixture screws. O2 sensor shows the typical linear up/down sine wave that it should be doing. I'll check out the sticky, must have skipped over it. Now I did see an adjustment for the idle air bleed on the ALL DATA program, is this something I would have to mess around with as well?

 

Duh. Missed that. Should be a small cap distributor, remote coil, single wire just like '87-up EFI cars. If flat 4-wire, large cap, coil-in-cap, somebody has put an earlier distributor in, which would not be a direct wire-in to the harness. Sounds fishy.

Yup, it's a key adjustment. Might also have to get inside and do the rich/lean stops.

High HC indicates a miss. Have you done a compression check? Might be a leaking exhaust valve. Are the plugs, wires, cap/rotor in good shape?

 

plugs were just replaced and the wires checked out fine. Haven't touched the cap/rotor other than the my buddy who runs the shop stating they were replaced within a year and the car isn't driven much.

 

Yea, it sounded like the plug wires were swapped around or one is disconnected....
I know it sounds like a stupid mistake, but
Sounds a lot like a swapped pair of wires.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. The car is at my shop and it has renewed my hatred for computer controlled carbs. The plugs are all new, the wires are in good shape, the cap and rotor apear to be in good shape but Ill have to pop the cap to check for carbon tracking. I also believe the firing order is correct. As long as it has decent timing it runs smooth.

Can anyone please detail the idle air bleed proceedure for me. I read about it in the sticky but it didnt give any specifics and Alldata doesnt have anything listed for Idle air bleed. Any other tips on where the EST connector might be? Thanks for the help.

 

Check the E4ME service sticky.

 

Yes, it's covered in the "idle mixture" section. Basically, you're adjusting it so that the MCS duty cycle is at a certain level.

When I put a kit in my carb, it said to set the mixture needles at 4-1/2 turns out, and gave a pre-set for the IAB (which I don't recall off the top of my head). When I put the carb back on the car, I adjusted the IAB something like 1/8 turn to get the proper dwell.

 

With regard to the plug wires, a story: Last week I helped my brother tune up the '92 Suburban he had just purchased, and he had pulled all of the wires off of the plugs, destroying several in the process, necessitating new wires. We were also putting on a new cap & rotor, so I was on the driver's side putting on those plug wires, he on the passenger side putting the wires on the plugs on that side, and I put each wire on the cap itself. When we started it up, it had a bad miss. Discovered one wire had popped off of the cap, although it was sparking over to the wire - shut it off, fixed that. Started it up again, still had the same miss. While it was running, I again looked over the wires on the cap and which direction they went based on the firing order, and quickly shut it off - I had swapped #'s 5 & 6.

He made a point of reminding me that he hadn't put any of the wires on the cap. . .