The code on my quadrajet is 17084201. Decoding this tells me that it was built in 1984 and that it was meant for a manual transmission. Problem being my car was built in 1987, and has an automatic transmission. Could this be causing some of my many problems? (car stalls when the ECM is powered, car has a sort of knock, runs rough, and is just all around sluggish in 4th gear). For some reason I can't see the factory putting on a carb that was meant for a manual transmission on a car with an automatic transmission. Is there any way to find out what code was meant to be put on my car? And should I just take this one off and find one that's a closer match to my vehicle? Just a little stressed here and could use some help!

 

I don't expect there to be too much difference performance wise. The main differences between 84 and 87 were some changes to vacuum ports, primarily due to change to ECM command purge vs. older thermal vacuum switch purge. A manual carb would also not have the TV bracket for control of your automatic trans but I assume the proper bracket's been installed if your trans shifts properly.

Safe to say your problems are not the result of a wrong carb although the carb could still need some work.

 

Would the factory have put this one though?

 

Can't answer that. It could have been swapped out by a previous owner or an authorized (or unauthorized) service center though. OR the code reference could just be wrong?

 

So I guess is my real question is should I rebuild this one or get another one?

 

Rebuild the one you've got. It'll be fine.