I just bought a 1984 Camaro Z28 it's a carbed 305 auto trans. The problem I'm currently working on is that when cold the car won't idle, it'll run as long as you're pumping the gas but if you let off it sputters out. And when warmed up it idles alright around 600 rpm. But you can't keep a steady pedal pressure or the car will try to stall. The only way to drive it is to pump the gas pedal or floor it after it gets over aroud 2500 rpm. I have no idea what the problem is and I'm not made of money so i can't just go and buy parts on a guess. So i figured I would take the issue to the experts. So what do you guys think the problem is? What should I replace? And what should I look for or test? I don't really want to take it to a shop if I don't have to.

Thanks all

 

Some of the first things you should do is:

- Change oil and filter
- Ingition tune-up (wires, plugs, coil, etc.)
- Air filter, fuel filter, PCV

Check timing

Inspect vacuum lines, and gaskets around carburetor and intake manifold.
Look for loose fitting, and cracked hoses/gaskets. Cut back, or replace as
necessary.

What carburetor did the car come with? You'll likely have to clean up and
adjust a few items on the carb. as well.

 

oil change is done. Fuel filter was done. Tune up supposedly was done but I'm gonna check into that.

I don't have a way to check timing but I'll take it to a buddy that works at a shop.

How can I check the intake and carb gaskets? Oh and the carb thats on it is a quadra-jet

 

First, welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Now, sure sounds like you have a choke problem. Here's a quick description of the operation of the carb and some things for you to check:

There are 4 sets of "blades" on a stock q-jet: on the bottom of the carb are the "throttle blades", with a set of primaries (the small ones in the front), and a set of secondaries (the huge ones in the back). They are operated directly by the throttle, with the small ones opening first, and the large ones only after you really open the throttle. On the top, there is a "choke butterfly" covering both primaries in the front, and in the back a set of "air valves" over the secondary that open relative to how much air the engine can use.

When cold, the choke butterfly should close when the throttle is opened slightly. There is a mechanism built into the choke stuff that also locks the secondary throttle blades closed until the choke is fully open. After the engine first starts, there is a vacuum diaphragm that pulls the choke butterfly open slightly.

On the passenger side of the carb there is a green weight. With the air cleaner off, engine cold and turned off, try doing these things:
1) Without touching the throttle, push the green weight down. The choke butterfly should open.
2) Open the throttle slightly. The choke butterfly should close and the green weight move up. Does it do that?
3) Hold the throttle open slightly. Push down on the green weight, let it up, push down, etc. while holding the throttle open. Does it move freely, or feel gummy, rough, doesn't move up on its own?
4) Plug the vacuum port the air cleaner vacuum hose goes to. Open the throttle slightly to allow the choke to close, then let off the throttle. Start the car. Does the vacuum diaphragm pull in when the engine starts?

The green "weight" is the fast idle cam. There is a screw under the choke facing the front that is used to adjust the fast idle. The underhood sticker should tell you what the fast idle speed should be (this is actually set with the engine warm, by manually applying the fast idle cam, i.e., opening the throttle slightly and pushing the weight up and letting go of the throttle) - my '82 says 2200 RPMs.

Also, when you first turn on the ignition without starting the engine, the carb should make a clicking noise for 20 seconds or so. Does it do this?

Check the "E4ME" sticky in the top section of this forum for complete details about these carbs.

 

the choke wasn't was opening too far when cold thats why the car kept stalling. Because I checked and adjusted it this morning. The choke did open all the way when warm. I'll look at all those other things if the shop i took the car to wants too much for the repairs. Only reason I took it in was to avoid spending money on random parts and because today was my last day off for the week and I won't have time to work on it for probably another week. But if that shop ends up wanting too much money I might end up doing it myself or taking it somewhere that my friend gets his work done at that is fairly cheap. Someone told me today the carb might be all gummed up because he said he couldn't hear a vacuum leak anywhere at idle and the car was sitting for a while so likely the carb could get pretty clogged up. So I'm not too sure. I'll let you guys know what the shop says and what route I end up going with repairs.

 

Gettng the new carb tomorrow. Hopefully that fixs all the running issues. The shop I took it to said Fuel pressure and every thing checks out good and it's got to be something internal on the carb. On another note I put new sway bar end links on the front and need to put the new ones on the rear tomorrow so that I've got both sway bars working again. And Putting on the new tranny mount. I'll let you guys know how the carb instal goes.