Hi friends, I'm just wondering about the richness adjustment on my 1982 Transam as I (and everybody around!!!) find it smells strongly fuel inside and outside the car. Does anybody get a procedure to adjust it? Do you have any workshop manuel for this car? Thanks for your help.

 

Just precise that I've got an AFR gauge but don't know how to use it on this car!!!!!

 

What engine? The 305s would likely have been equipped with the E4ME Rochester, incorporating a mixture control solenoid and adjustment. That system relies upon an active oxygen sensor, just like your portable AFR meter.

Mixture control is limited, and the primary/initial settings for the carburetor are crucial for the system to operate properly. Obviously rich could be leakage, incorrect float adjustment, incorrect primary mixture adjustments. etc.

If it has an aftermarket carburetor, all bets are off, and you have just become your own automotive powertrain engineer (a.k.a., the old fashioned way).

 

Thanks Vader! In fact this is the 305 engine. Could you show me where are located the oxygen sensor and the mixture control solenoid please?

 

If you have a ccc the o2 is in the drivers side manifold.

 

First thing you have to know is:

Is this the original carb (will look something like Tuned's pic) although probably not as shiny; OR, some aftermarket carb. Reason being, an ENORMOUS number of these cars have suffered the "improvement" wherein some previous owner "ditched all that computer crap" and swapped on an Edelbrock or whatever.

The engine having 305 cubic inches doesn't much matter.

You get the Factory Service Manual, which is THE ONLY one worth having, off of ebay or the like. Don't waste your time or money on a Chilton's, Haynes, or any of the rest of those. Get the FSM ONLY.

 

Helm is gospel

 

ok. I will check and send you pictures. I've only the Haynes book but not really helpfull in fact. Not found anything else on Ebay, if you have any way to get a real technical writing...
Does anybody get an idea about the red circles on pictures below? What are they for? 1st one is on the top of the cooling circuit, just below the air box and second one on the carb front facia side:

 

sorry, red circles missing:

 

Looks like a Carter type carb, probably an Edelbrock. Not even remotely factory.

2 of the things you have circled are sensors that are probably no longer in use; the one on the water outlet is for the EFE valve (in the pass side exhaust manifold), the other is for the fuel tank vapor canister purge. No telling whether any of the stuff that those would have hooked to is still there, or operational, or hacked off of it, or just plain broken. They're of minimal concern anyway, except that if the vapor canister system isn't working right, then there will be ... fuel vapor ... around the car constantly. The vacuum line that's plugged is ... a vacuum line that's plugged.

Since it's not factory, even the Helms (Factory Service Manual) isn't gonna be of much help. A Haynes of course is utterly worthless for much of anything, as you've already found out, and would even be completely worthless for your situation even if it still had the original carb on it. If I were the guessing kind I'd guess that it's this carburetor right here https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-1405, that being the most common and typical POS that people use for that sort of thing. You'll need to get the Edelbrock manual and follow that instead. As far as however whoever hacked whatever it is on there with whatever, all bets are off; nobody out here is gonna just somehow magically "know" what they cut, spliced, hacked, disabled, failed to disable, etc. etc. etc. in the process of graunching that foreign misfit thing on there. One feature you might want to IMMEDIATELY take a look at is the fuel line between the pump and the carb; most often, the type of person that "installs" (I use the word very loosely, with heavy emphasis on VERY; "throws at", like people talk about a turbo, might be more accurate) that sort of carb, just hacks the steel line and puts a piece of rubber hose on it since that kind of carb has its fuel inlet in a TOTALLY different place from where the stock fuel line goes; and rubber hose on the pressure side of the fuel system is pretty much a guaranteed recipe for fuel leaks, which can be DANGEROUS, even DEADLY, if they start fires. Can't see the fuel line, any of it, in those pics.

First thing I'd look at as far as fuel consumption and all that, is, did they change the distributor from the original computer-controlled one, to an old-skool one with vacuum advance. We out here of course have no way whatsoever of knowing whether they did or not; although, that plugged vacuum line I think is the one that's supposed to go to the dist, leading to suspicion that Skillet didn't bother to replace the dist since that would probably be hooked up to it if he did. If he didn't, then it's running at whatever base timing it's set to 100% of the time, without all the various mechanical means to advance it properly under all the various conditions it faces, which is supposed to be as much as around 45° more advanced than the "base" at various times. Once you get the manual for that kind of carb you'll know what vac fittings on it are supposed to be hooked up to what. Meanwhile, post a pic of the distributor. Make it a bit clearer than those others so we can actually SEE stuff. Like, find someplace to set your elbow, so that your phone stays still.

 

Thanks for your precious answer! After checking on my car, I do confirm this is an Edelbrock carb 600 series. I found this drawing on the Web:


I'm just wondering about The Manifold vacuum: what is it for?

 

As listed pcv in the front, brake booster in the rear.

 

Sorry my friend, I'm a French Guy and do not really understand what you mean. Could you be a little bit smoothy clear please? don’t take it as an aggression but my English is not at its best, sorry!

 

not sure how to smooth talk you 😆
but anyway I explained the ports. If you’re running rich it has nothing to do with manifold vacuum ports.

 

ok. can you just confirm: tighten = richness down and loosen = richness up? I'll try to do something by my own....

 

Generally, yes.

Did you find the Edelbrock manual helpful when you read through the one you now have? All that sort of thing is in it.

 

I didn't find the Edelbrock manual yet!

 

Meaning, obviously, you haven't looked. Which is, of course, the easiest way to not find something.

It's on Edelbrock's web site.