Carter problems!! No fuel

Discussion in 'Carter' started by bills2x4cat, Feb 14, 2008.

  1. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    I have been chasing my tail on a problem with my carter. I have a 66 wildcat with dual quads. The problem is in the primary (back) carburator. The car does not run right with this carb. It does not idle very well and no fuel is being pulled from the primary boosters. I adjusted the float level 100 times. The carb was disassembled, soaked, cleaned and reassembled with a new carb kit. I took a piece of wire and fed it through the passages going to the boosters and they are all clear. I have swapped in known good metering rods and springs. Prob still there! I removed the carb and replaced it with my original 4 bbl carter and the car runs perfect. Called around to many different card shops and they said "oh, yeah...you got a bad carburator". I even called edelbrocks help line and they never heard of such a problem. Anyone have any ideas?
     
  2. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    Woah woah!! Dont everybody all comment at once!! Take it easy. Slow down. LOL!
     
  3. wildcat2

    wildcat2 Well-Known Member

    The idle circuits don't feed the booster venturis. You have 2 problems. May or may not be related. Was the "original 4 bbl carter" you swapped on single or dual quad. Is the carb you're asking about a factory dual quad rear or something else?

    Idle problem:
    Is your ignition system up to snuff? Typical tune-up stuff (plugs, wires, points, condensor, timing, vacuum advance) should be confirmed first before blaming the carb. Swapping carbs probably eliminates this as the problem.

    Does the choke work correctly? This is usually the next place to start.

    Idle mixture screws? Have you adjusted them correctly. If you can't get good speed and mixture adjustment you may have a vacuum leak. Or plugged idle passages. Or bent/damaged mixture screws or seats. Or plugged idle air bleeds. Or bad float needle/seat.

    Booster "problem":
    What are the symptoms you are experiencing? We need more info to help.

    Do you mean that you aren't getting a shot of fuel out the accelerator pump squirters? Check the accelerator pump in the carb, the inlet check ball assembly, and the outlet check valve under the squirters.

    I'd suggest reading the Factory Service Manual section on the Carter AFB, it has a very detailed explanation of all the separate systems in the carb and how they work.

    Sorry for the extremely late reply, but midnight Thursday to 10:00 am Friday is the only 10 hour period the board is not monitored for solutions to problems with 42 yr. old carburetors. Something about work/sleep getting in the way of the important stuff. Thank you for your patience. :grin:
     
  4. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    Ignition system is all brand new. Have the MSD billet distributor with a new coil. The carb with the problem is an original dual quad carb that has the big air speed screw in the center of it. The carb that runs good is the original 4 bbl carb that came on the carb. As far as the booster problem, the problem is when you throttle the carb up fuel does not get siphoned out of the primary booster venturis and the car bogs down some more. The accelerator pump works fine.
    The choke works fine and I have the service manual for it and it doesnt really say anything about my problem. Talk about a frustrating problem!! :Dou:
     
  5. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    BTW, both of the floats are new.
     
  6. awake13

    awake13 Well-Known Member

    Bill did you put in new check valves? . Ian
     
  7. wildcat2

    wildcat2 Well-Known Member

    OK, now we're getting somewhere. To me, a "bog" is usually TOO MUCH fuel. Too lean from insufficient fuel usually back fires and/or misses. Assuming you verified lack of fuel at the boosters, gas is not being drawn through the passages. The Venturi creates low pressure (vacuum) to draw the fuel. A leak somewhere in this circuit would draw air instead of fuel.

    Torn or backwards/upside down booster gasket?

    I've seen re-built carbs with the left and right primary boosters switched. They almost look right, but don't sit all the way down. The air bleed tubes won't line up with the cover, "just bend 'em to make 'em fit". This would cause a major air leak here.

    I think there are plugs in the main body for the cross drillings that could leak, but both sides would have to be bad, and this isn't a major problem on the AFB like it is on the Q-jet.

    Could there be debris in the passages in the main body? Blowing air into the booster holes should verify this is OK.

    Carb problems seem to be the most frustrating, so when you solve them it's the most satisfying. Getting back to the basics will solve this one. :TU:
     
  8. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    I did put new check valves in and I did blow air through every orfice in that carb. Still nothing. I even put the carb on the bench, made sure the floats had fuel in them , cracked the throttle plates open a little and blew shop air down the carb. As I did that it did siphon fuel out through the primary booster. It just refuses to do it on the car. But the orig single quad works perfect.
     
  9. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    Still wondering if anyone else has any ideas. Ive tried everything that has been brought up already. Im not giving up yet.
     
  10. awake13

    awake13 Well-Known Member

    For what its worth Bill, I had the same type of symtom, I adjusted the float level a further 1/8 of an inch down , I think 3/8 rather than 1/4, and I would change the needles and seats just in case. Note the tang on the float for these valves can become bent as well. Good luck, and if it turns up something else please post. I would be tempted to take it to a carb shop.
    Ian
     
  11. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    Well, the carb is finally fixed!! Wanna know how I did it? I carefully loaded it in a box and shipped it to Carmen Faso!! Came back looking better then new and running perfect! Hardly had to touch a screw on it. That guy knows his stuff. He also made up some dual quad linkage for me. :TU: The only downfall is that I guess I will never know what the problem was???:Do No:
     
  12. SpecialWagon65

    SpecialWagon65 Ted Nagel

    That is awesome! :TU: :TU: :TU:
    I was reading along thinking "i'd prolly put em in a box and ship to Carmen...." Then I read thats what you did. Great job!
    Ted
     
  13. bills2x4cat

    bills2x4cat Well-Known Member

    Thanks Ted! Actually you would be happy to know that Carmen has nice things to say about you and your fleet. That guy is a blessing to our hobby and were going to be in trouble without guys like him. :) I was enjoying driving the car this entire weekend and man does that thing run great now! Thanks to Carmen I now have a great running combo. The only downfall to having Carmen rebuild your carb is that the front carb looks like hell now. That one will be shipped to him this winter! :beers2:
     
  14. frank13

    frank13 Member

    :beers2: great news!
     

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