My firebird (84, 305 V8 5.0 engine) was not running very well at lower rpm, and it stalled when pressing the clutch (it's a manual transmission). After messing around with some connectors, starting the car again and sometimes the stalling problem was gone but after a drive it suddenly came back.

I checked a lot of connectors and everything seems to be fine, so I took a look at the carburator (e4me CC quadrajet) and noticed free play on the main throttle shaft, so I took the carb to an expert and it was rebuild with new sensors.

After mounting the rebuild carb, the engine started and it runs, but not very well. Thought I was out of gas so I drove to the gas station and fill it up, but I had to give a lot of gas to keep it running and went back home.
After that, the car isn't starting anymore. Only when I leave it for a day and try to start, it's responding for less than a second and dies and after that nothing. Starting with full throttle and keeping all the valves fully open, it response a little bit after a long time, but nothing more. (like only one cylinder is doing something)

The spark plugs are wet, so it gets enough gas, cleaning the sprak plugs to check the spark and I've got a spark. (not sparking when they are wet)
Checked the distributor, rotor and coil and it all looks fine.
Looking through the carburator straight into the intake manifold I'll see a lot of gas, so it's flooded.

It looks like I had 2 problems, fixed (I hope) one, with the carb rebuild, but have no idea where to look from here.

Hope somebody have some suggestions.

 

Your mixture screws could be horribly incorrect but I doubt that is your main problem. The E4MEs have an adjustment screw on the top of the front top of the carb that is used for part throttle mixture. If this adjustment is too far down the power piston (i think) will never close and will flood the engine.

Make sure your fuel filter isn't installed backwards.

Your floats could also be set incorrectly. The floats on the Q-Jet are very picky so they have to be set just right. Too low or too high will cause all sorts of bad things.

I had the same problem on my 84. After a full rebuild the carb still ran stupid rich (gas coming out of the tail pipes). I ended up having a bad computer that was telling the carb to dump the fuel into the engine. I replaced the whole system with a traditional Q-Jet and distributor.

E4MEs are great when they work but god-awful when they dont.

 

Thanks for your reply!

Some previous owner seemed to made same adjustments on the carb (probably to "correct" the false air issues, because the openings of the idle mixture needles are opened. I tried to change them (half turn out, 3, 3,5, 4, 4,5 and 5 turns out, but no effect at all. Also turned that adjustment screw at the top in and out, but no effect. (made some tools to adjust them)

The float (needle) seems to close correctly (after removing it to check, the level was rising), but is there any factory default information on how to set the carb so it will start at least? (fine tuning is part 2)

Is there also a way to figure out if the ignition (computer) is causing any problems if you get a sprak or if the carb is really the problem?

 

I don't have that fuel filter with a valve in it, but the car is starting again!

I disconnected the TPS sensor, cranked the engine and after a big bang, it started!
After I let it run for a couple of minutes, I reconnected the TPS sensor and it was starting right away.

It now runs idle at 2500 rpm, but the carb bolts are not tightend yet to the specified torque settings (probably some false air) and the next step is to fine-tune the carb.

Thanks for the input!