Running rich, ?'s
 

Well i have a 1984 pontiac firebird with the carb 2.8l, i know it has the ccc in it but it seems like the exhaust smells rich. The car sat for 10 years amd the smog pump pulley has been removed. Is there any way to make it not run rich? Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

Anybody?

Put the smog pump back into operation and have the carb rebuilt. Make sure all the vacuum lines are hooked up properly, especially if there is one that goes to the power valve.

A lot of times when a carb'd car sits, the seals in the power valve and the accelerator pump go bad, then the vaccum pulls excess fuel down the intake.

The whole point of the smog pump is to help to oxidize Carbon Monoxide and Hydrocarbons, both by-produsts of a rich running fuel system.

Once the basics are covered, then you start looking into the coputerized portion including making sure that the travel and duty cycle of the M/C solenoid is set up right.

Could it possibly be an oxygen sensor, it probaly hasnt had one changed for along time.

It could be, but don't be suprised if that doesn't cure the problem. For what a new O2 costs, you might want to do it on general principle, but I doubt that'll solve the issue entirely. Just a heads up.

I replied to this in the Tech/General forum too.

"Rich" on these cars is pretty common. Check your TPS voltage and MCS operation (do a search or the Haynes manual has a pretty good procedure). Make sure your choke is operating properly too.

BTW-changing the O2 sensor the last time this happened on my '84 made the "rich smell" go away.