I have a 350 with an edlebrock carb. Last night I did a big burnout at the car show. I parked it. When I went to restart it it idled very very low and wanted to stall. i drove it home. When not in idle it runs perfect. But at an idle it runs like crap and stalls. I tried to adjust the idle screw, didnt work. Also tried to adjust the air/fuel that did nothing.

Anyone have any ideas?

Can it be something different?

more info:
This was the first time I really pushed my car a little. Carb is newer.
The car ran perfect until I did the burnout.

 

did u check coolant or oil? sounds like vacuum leak. does it stall when you put it into reverse or drive?

 

I dont know what the coolant would have to do with it stalling. No it didn't stall in reverse or drive when I drove it home last night. It only stalled when i was not moving.

I was told that maybe a vacuum problem. That maybe something could be hooked to the wrong port. But the car has been running perfect so idk?. All vacuum lines are hooked up.

Also:

It is worse once u give it gas, then let off.

 

Recheck your timing I have seen many dizzy's move due to a burnout contest, Albeit very slight movement.

 

I was going to suggest a dizzy check... mark your distributor with white out or something and then without untightening anything, try and move it ... also visually inspect your carb, go over it very closely and make sure nothing broke when you stomped on the go button... ..

 

I will check the distributor as suggested. Another note: We had to running briefly yesterday, test drove it for 3 minutes seemed ok. Then I parked it. Hpurs later after it cooled down I restarted it. It idled fine for a minute then all of a sudden the RPM's just dropped on its own...

 

in some extreme situations ive had a head gasket break in where it would just fill up in the cylinders or cracked block, wouldn't hurt to check but it had the same symptoms of a vacuum leak.

 

Thanks guys, the issue is fixed.

THe distributor wasn't tight, and it jumped. it was advanced by 14 degrees. Also a vacuum line was loose on the back of the manifold.

 

hi there ...same here...i have a 350 with a 1405 electric choke....i installed the carb and ran great right of the box 2 summers ago ...when i started the car up this year the first few times ....it also ran great ,,choke kicked in and then came off with a tap on the gas pedal ,,but the other day i was low on gas and drove the car around to eventually go fill it up,,,i didn't run out of gas though ,,,ever since that ... the idle does like yours ,,it shakes and runs terrible and shuts off eventually ...if i keep my foot on the gas at about 2000 rpm it's fine..the timming and all that wasn't touched....what can it be?

 

You said "when i started the car up this year"... bad gas in the tank from sitting? Gas will go to crap rather quickly without an stabilizer.. It is possible that when you ran the car low on gas you picked up some crap in the gas tank and clogged your jets?

 

hi,,,yes i had put in some stabilizer in the gas tank during winter storage...the tank wasn't completely full though ...when i started the car this spring for the first time it ran like last year ,,terrific...it ran great with the new edelbrock ...steady idle...now the idle won't stay put,,it then shuts off and dies.......if i keep my foot on the gas it runs ok....the choke seems to be on and then not...weird...i guess the jets can be clogged...can i blow air in the carb ?....and where?...without taking it appart....thanks,.

 

run thru the idle mix setting sequence described on the Edelbrock videos on youtube. I have one and it seems even though they are spring loaded, they need adjustment every so often, esp if the weather changes, ie, cold to warm.

 

i removed them and blew some air in there...still runs weird at idle and dies...i am starting to get paranoid crazy now,,,someone mentioned he had a head gasket problem....i don;t think it's that...i am not missing any prestone ,,no oil mixed in the prestone ,,,no smoke of any kind at the rear...i hope it's only the carb...

 

any dry rotted or unhooked vacuum lines?

 

it only has 3 hoses on the set up...the distributor one ,,,the pvc valve and the hose from the manifold to the brake booster,,,they seem fine,,but i will change the one for the distributor because it looks old ,,but not cracked...it's weird...i can drive the car ...but when get to a red light or stop ,,it will lower the rpm and almost die,,,thank god it's a manual now and that i can give gas while it's moving or slowing down ...if it's in neutral ,,the idle fights to stay right but eventually dies...

 

the lid comes off the carb easy, just keep track of the tiny spring clips and the floats and jets come off with it. with the lid upside down there is supposed to be 7/8" between the float and the lid and when you turn it over they are supposed to droop 1", I just took the lid off of mine trying to figure out a bad idle and the floats and jets were fine, I replaced the jets anyway. It turned out to be a bad ignition module, and don't forget the thermal compound under it when reinstalling.

 

hi there, i guess i can take the carb appart...but i'm not really comfortable doing that ...you say ignition module?...the one under the coil in the distributor?....i can't believe how well the car drove...now it dies at idle ...crazy...

 

These carbs come apart so easy that you'll be amazed. I think there are a couple videos about it on Youtube. Yes the module is under the cap, on the floor of the distributor. If its an HEI. It just pulls off the leads, after you take off the two screws. Any Auto shop, such as Autozone or O'Riellys will test it for you, I wouldn't buy the really cheap house brand though, if its bad, go with a better one. You stick a flat screw driver down between the connections to pry the leads off, its easy, and the thermal compound goes on the bottom of it when you reinstall or put the new one in. The compound dries up in a few years and this may be the problem with the one thats in there now. But if it has dried up and the unit has been overheating its probably no good by now. Good luck with it, Scott.

 

thankyou for your help...but the car runs fine while i'm driving in higher rpm's...when in neutral(5 speed) and when at a red light ....then the idle fluctuates and then evetually dies if i don't give gas...with your experience,,,woudn't this module either work and/or not work at any rpm ...or can my problem happen this way on at idle?.....thankyou.

 

No, sometimes they only lose part of their function.

 

I just had one go bad and it lost the lower rpm, or idle function.

 

mine got to a point where it did not want to hot start, and wouldn't idle worth a crap.

 

ok.....the module is the only thing i haven't changed on that car!...the cap -rotor coil -plugs- wires have been changed ...it is exactly as you describe...it will run and take it's gas properly at higher rpm's....even starts ok ....but at idle it fluctuactes and eventually dies if i don't give gas....are these modules expensive?....thanks.

 

paid $24 for my last one

 

Yeah anywhere from 17 to 89 dollars, I got one for about 40, I was a little skepticle about the 17 dollar one.

 

ok..i will change it at that price...but i'm not convinced it's that...yesterday i blew in some air into the idle mix screws while being removed ...and then blew more air on the top of the carb near the metering rod screw area and cap...noticed some gas mist coming out there,,,i guess because i blew air and gas up from the idle screws....it ran better after that ,,,not perfect.....still trying....

 

Could be that they had junk collected in there, good luck with it. Let us know if the cleaning fixed it or it turns out to be the module. How long has that distributor been on the car, by the way?

 

hi , i removed the idle mix screws and blew in some air in there...it seems to run better now and actually keep it's idle...i think my gas filter colappsed and let in some crap in there...it's one of those see-through types,,i can see the paper all twisted and torn in there...it runs better but not perfect ...at least it's not shutting off now...i guess i need to adjust the idle mix screws now...i don't want it to run too rich...i'll keep you posted ,,,thanks.