God, someone help me before I part this b!tch out. The idiot I bought the car from took out the ECM and put in a carb setup. Great. Fine. I can't get it to run right and I don't have the old q-jet to return it to. Intake, yes. Computer, yes. Q-jet, no. I can't get the damn thing to run right and I have no mechanical skills. Pontiac dealers won't help because they do all their testing through computers...which mine no longer has installed. I HAVE it...just not in the car.

Of course, I was driving today (in 30-degrees) and my heater's blower motor went *poof*.

I am THIS close to parting the damn thing out. Someone help me, PLEASE. I know in my heart I don't want to do it...but I'm SO frustrated.

 

Hey its ok relax a carb set up is not so bad as it sounds lol. There was a time befor computers so trust me even without all that it can be fixed. What seems to be the problem though? What was the previous set up fuel injection?

 

It was originally a 4-bbl carb...not a Crossfire or anything like that. Every time I take off from a stop, after a couple seconds, it wants to die and will either go to idle speed or stall. Sometimes it stalls, sometimes it doesn't...but hitting the throttle does nothing. I can STAND on the throttle and it won't go above an idle. If it's going to die, there's no saving it. Of course, my Neutral-safety is going, the heater blower quit today, and the speedo cable is on its way out too.

I'm just about ready to junk it I'm so MAD. And it was supposed to go for paint this week, too.

 

Well first off let me get this strait. Is this new to you car or a car that was running right and now is not? Also my understanding is that the car runs and idles ok but once you take off it quickly dies out and no amount of pumping the pedal will save you? It sounds like a fuel problem to me. Which isnt so bad. Now what you need to do is check the fuel pressure and change the fuel filter for starters. Also make sure you have good gas if its been sitting a while. If it dies will it immideatly restart? Has any work been done lately? Do you know what kinda carb is on it by chance? Is there a fuel pressure regulator or any kinda mods to the fuel system or just run like factory fuel system?

 

Pumping the pedal leads to nothing more than idling...IF I can save it at all. I'm running an Edelbrock 600 carb and performer 2101 Intake. When I got it, it had the carb, but was running on the stock intake. It ran then, but not fabulously, and still ran really rich. The guy had already taken the ECM out of it before I got it, but I do HAVE the ECM in the garage. I bought the car almost four months ago.

I have no idea where to find the fuel filter or how to change it (LORD, I'm looking forward to getting my mechanic's license! I feel so STUPID!), but I've been driving the car fairly regularly to fix things and get parts and paint quotes, so I've been filling up the fuel tank. I think it's had three or four tanks in it of new gas...maybe more. It will restart immediately if it does die. Here's the kicker, tho...if I drop it in neutral, it doesn't want to stall anymore. Does that still point to the fuel filter?

Runs fine on the interstate, too...Keeping it at steady speeds isn't a problem.

 

What kind of distributor is it running? What is the fuel preesure at the carb?

 

Well yea because when the cars under load the car draws more fuel so even in nutral vs drive theres a bit of a difference. The big thing is check the fuel pressure because as i recal because a factory fuel pump does not put out the fuel pressure to run alot of aftermarket carbs well. I measured a worn factory pump in my 83 only putting out 3-4 psi when the edelbrock requires like 5 or 6 i cant remeber now. Natrally it ran a bit rich. Now crusing on the highway again is under load but not like acceleration its kinda a long shot on the fuel filter but a fuel pressure check will tell the whole story if the fuel system is up and running well.

 

Oh, did I mention that the fuel pump has been replaced since the new carb was put on? It's all shiny and new when you look down in the engine bay.

I don't know about the distributor or the pressure at the carb. I bought the new distributor at Advance. The plugs are all new, as are the wires, and the plugs were all gapped when put in.

 

What's the fuel pump output (gph and psi)?

What kind of distributor? Does it have vacuum advance, no electical hookups other than power for the coil? Has it been timed properly?

 

how did the old plugs look? Also if the pump was just replaced without being regulated you might have too much pressure as well. This may not be the only problem but bad fuel pressure = never will run right.

 

It does have a vacuum advance, and the timing and choke were set by a reputable mechanic. I don't know what the pump outputs are. I have no mechanical skills beyond having done an oil change and assisting on a tune-up.

The old plugs were a mix of things, but we did determine that one wire was bad. Some plugs were black, others just smelled of gas from running rich. I leaned the carb out over the weekend (using the manual) so it doesn't smell like gas every time I drive it now, nor does my garage smell like gas all the time after a drive. Either way, it didn't fix or effect the problem, so that's not it.

 

Yea ide deffinetly check the fuel pressure too low and to high can cause excessive fuel consumption. However one other thing to check is with the car running take a look down the carb. You should not see any fuel kinda dripping or running into the carb. However when you rev it you should see fuel getting sprayed into the carb.

 

Where did the carb come from? does it have the proper springs and metering rods /jets for your application? This is good stuff to know. The components are generally color coded so you can find out what your baseline set up is. That is a really nice carb, just loosen two screws and you have access to the forementioned components.

on your poor performance issue it sounds like an improper float setting or stuck float.