Hey everyone, I just got an 85 Camaro, with the 305, and Auto tranny. Heres the problems I'm having. Whenever I take the key out, it sputters and runs for a second before shutting off. What could this be? Another thing, it seems like there is no "get up and go" in this car at all. I just changed the plugs, what can i do next? Are there any adjustments to the carb that I may need to do? Thanks for all your help!!

Brad

 

Engine "run on" can be caused by various things...

First off, a little more info on the motor?

How high is it idling? If the idle is set too high on a carb the throttle blades will remain open enough to allow enough air and fuel into the engine and allow it to keep firing after the ignition is off. This happens from the air/fuel mixture igniting on 'hotspots' in the cylinder which can also be caused by various things.

Have you checked the timing? If the timing is too far advanced their will be a higher risk of "run on"


As for the 'no get up and go'

Sounds about right, you just bought a 4000lb car with an old rat bagged and worn out anemic 155hp(new) 305. They werent exactly a rocket new, let alone 20+ years later

 

Man, his must have a few fats chics stuffed in there somewhere, mine only weighs 2900 lbs. My ex. cab s10 with a full frame and a v8 only weighed 3600lbs with a full load of scrap metal and shingles in the bed.

When I first got mine it would run for a second after the key was out, Mine was because the guy I bought it off just stuck a new carb on it and didnt know it needed tuned.
Like 84z28 said, check the idle and adjust as need be, timing. Also check the fuel pressure, It can be too high. When I first built the motor for my s10 I ended up having to put a new fuel pump on it because it was pumping to much gas and would keep the motor runing for about 5 seconds after I shut it down.

The no get up and go can be solved by doing what I did, build a 350 with around 375 horses and that should solve the no get up and go. You could aslo change the gear in the rear end. They arent the best gears for going.

 

Welcome to thirdgen.org.

Can we assume this is not a Canadian-delivered car?

Start with the ignition - plugs was a good start, now the cap & rotor. Make sure they are in good condition. Since tune-ups aren't the 5-10,000 mile event they used to be, that is an often overlooked item. If the plug wires are the factory originals, it would be a good idea to replace them.

Next, as suggested check the timing. This is done by disconnecting the flat 4-wire connector that goes from the base of the distributor to the firewall harness. It isn't always easy to find, so don't give up until you find it. If the timing was adjusted with that connected, you're way retarded, and the idle speed will have to be screwed up to get it to idle, and it won't have any guts. The timing tab is at 12 o'clock, behind the water pump, kind of hard to see. Set to about 6 degrees with the connector unplugged. You may (probably will) have to readjust the idle speed, perhaps while you're still adjusting the timing. See how it runs (after you reconnect the connector, of course). If you get pinging under light load, back it off a couple of degrees at a time until the pinging goes away.

After all of that is squared away, you can consider carb adjustments. Assuming the idle speed is correct, the idle air bleed is the next item. For this, you need an old-fashioned dwell meter - if you don't have one, you can ususally rent or borrow them from parts store or tool rental shops. The positive meter lead goes to a green connector sitting over by the AC housing that doesn't connect to anything, the ground lead to a good engine ground. You want around 30 degrees dwell on the 6-cyl scale, warmed up at idle, making small adjustments and letting the system settle down before adjusting again. If all of this is Greek to you, go get yourself a Rochester Carburetor book, either the Haynes shop manual version, or one written by Doug Roe.

 

does the car have electric fans? Are they direct wired. It souunds really funny, but we have found on A LOT of these cars when people direct wire the fans, they tap the coil feed wire. The fan will produce a counter EMF effect that can cause the engine to run on. A long shot, but i thought i would throw that out there for ya.