okay, while trying to diagnose my low vacuum (10 on my gauge at idle and 15 at 2000 rpm idle), reason for checking is my choke pull off isnt closing the big secondary flaps at any time under any circumstance (have replacement ordered from napa just incase)

i thought to check timing as its a common problem, i unplug the 4 pack from the distributor cap and the car wont start, i plug it back in loose and start the car and at idle i pull them out, it dies again. i cleaned off the timing marks and guessed where 20 would be (according to another post it should time at 20*a with the 4 pack plugged in) and set it there, runs decent though it dies sometime in gear while stopped is there something i am missing?

i read the chiltons and the sticker in front of the radiator and both state to disconnect the 4 wire connector to set the timing however it doesn't state to disconnect anything else or to jumper anything

btw i am not disconnecting all the wires, the fat red and the brown tach are still connected while i am doing this

the vacuum i am reading is the same in alot of different areas but i have gone to using the manifold port between carb and dist for the most part, i'll start blocking off hoses one by one and see if anything improves

 

okay, plugged pcv hose and vacuum is up to 14. could the low vacuum be attributed to my 8000ft elevation? i tried all the other hoses and none offered better vacuum. i'm going to grab a squirt bottle and attack the base plates with water and see if anything improves

still can't figure out if my timing is good enough though, if i try and advance it beyond what i set it at it does nothing for the idle speed but if i start to retard it then it drops rpm and stutters

i'll be working on this all night so any ideas are welcome

 

Disconnect the 4-pin connector, start it, and give it some gas to keep it running. Check your timing while it's running, RPM doesn't matter because the distributor is fixed and the ECM changes the timing. Sounds like you probably have a lot of vacuum leaks, etc. Set the timing to what the label says under the hood (8 degrees BTDC??).

 

when i disconnect the 4 pin connector it wont start at all, even if i run it then pop that connector off it will just die, sticker and chiltons says to set it at 6*btdc. maybe my coil is trashed, lemme put a multi meter to it and check its numbers

after soaking the base of the carb and the anti vapor lock plate between the carb and manifold in 409 (only spray bottle i had) it didnt show any signs of better vacuum, stayed at right around 14, looks cleaner though . also sprayed down everything else i could think of on the manifold and the carb (recently rebuilt it) and the vacuum gauge didnt move above 14. doesnt even move around its pretty rock solid so i dont think theres a problem with the valvetrain or any kind of blowby, i'll give it a compression test after i get home and see if its giving decent numbers

its a new vacuum/fuel pressure gauge from checkers powerbuilt brand so i'm pretty sure its not a bad gauge

the car runs decent, starts every time, doesnt overheat unless i'm sitting still with the fan off, and only smells funny when i breath in through my nose (removed a.i.r. so cat is prolly trashed) so i'm thinking my vacuum might be altitude, i'm headin to the springs today to pickup some interior/exterior parts for it so i'll see what it does at 5000ft

 

Don't know what to tell you, I learned alot working on the same exact car. Maybe try keeping the rpm's up and then disconnect it to see if it still runs?

It should start with it disconnected, albiet at a lower idle speed (barely running).

 

oh believe you me i tried and did the same thing over again and again and so on, it dies at 5000rpm when i take off that connector, i'll give it another go and see if my timing light goes off while its dying. after i pull the connector it doesnt stutter or spout it just dies like the key was turned off. i'll try jumpering the main positive connection to the distributor to make sure its not losing power when i remove that 4pin connector.

oh, at 6200ft i have 15 1/4 of vacuum so i think my 14 of vacuum is due to altitude and i've picked up another carb to rebuild just in case as it seems my secondaries are acting funny with new choke pull off (which does close the flaps). well, the secondaries never worked properly and i thought the pull off was to blame, turns out it was bad anyways.

when i floor the pedal at any rpm the motor seems to die like i let off the pedal and if i keep it pressed (thinking i just temp flooded it) it will kill the motor

but...... the primaries are working fine and the torque of the motor is enough to keep my speed up on hills so secondaries are not necessary unless i decide to pass someone oh slow subaru i will get back at you muahahaha

now to try and work on the a/c at the same time, ( yes many projects at once keep me satisfied, its a "while i'm there" kinda thing ) seems the retrofit kit doesnt fit on the low pressure side.

the car sat for 7 years in a garage and when i checked for any kind of pressure left in the system it had nothing, not a spit of anything in it. so should i find somebody with r-12 or start replacing what i can and look for hoses with the 134 fittings? or is there a special kit with the right fitting? the universal low side seems to be for a larger male connector as it just spins and can be pulled off with no turning

 

With the car running, check the gap between the rod from the secondaries and your new choke pull-off. The gap should be the size of a large paper-clip
.050" to .060". Also, check the preload on the secondary air spring. It should be about 1 full turn. Don't have a link to it but somewhere on the boards there is a good description of how to set it.

 

okay, i did notice that the carb i just received has the secondaries closed with a spring while mine are open regardless, seems like the spring is not there or its broken, i've searched all over the carb and on that sticky that aperion has about how to tune and i saw the spring/screw on 6c1-30 i'll take a look...

well.. that answers that, after not seeing it again i grabbed the replacement carb and the screw is behind the rod, i have to push in the pull off to see it and so i looked on the first carb, no adjusting screw, no hex locking screw, i cant feel the spring from underneath. looks like i'll be rebuilding a carb faster than i thought

well thats 1 problem almost taken care of

 

carb fixed, i took the top plates off and swapped them, apparently my first carb was missing the plunger piece that pushed on the tps and i never noticed, car runs much better