Thread: edelbrock carb problems

Tweet

Your trouble isn't the carb. Check that the pressure regulator is letting fuel through. Any pump should have had gas up to the carb by the time you burned the first bowl full. Take the regulator out of the system and try it, some pumps don't make enough pressure to cause any problem.

What kind of fuel hose and fittings are you running?


If it's stainless braided, it's possible you may have the hose/fitting incorrectly assembled and there is a cutter or flap that is on the inside of the hose which can block flow.
All of the hose rubber should be captured by the fitting which will leave the hose wide open.

Russell's used to be famous for this.
If you have Earl's or Aeroquip there should be no problem.

Is your float set for the proper drop?
Drop, not height.

Drop is described as, the float is only allowed to drop so far down.
Measure with the carb top upright.
If it's allowed to drop too far down, the float tab will be pressing sideways on the float and will not allow the needle to rise and shut off fuel flow.

You did set the float with the carb top upside down did you not?
If done backwards it's conceivable the float would only allow the needle to open a little ways which would not allow sufficient fuel in the bowl.

I'm in agreement that 5 seconds is way too short of a time for an engine to run with full bowls.
Even if the metering rods are staying up due to a spring too strong for the vacuum level at idle, the engine should still run longer than 5 seconds.

Does the carb have jets in it?
If you bought it used it's entirely conceivable the previous owner removed the jets for some reason and never put em back.

Do you get a lot of black smoke indicating extremely rich when the engine does it's 5 second run?

And last of all, do you have another carb you could bolt on and try.
That would tell you quite a bit.

I'm just using regular hose fittings, no fancy russell stuff.
The pump pushrod is in there.
The regulator is fine, it was working ok when I had the last pump on, it's just that I found some oil in my gas and I thought the pump was at fault, so I swapped it out. I will get a bran new one tomorrow.
I'm sure the pump is part of the problem as to why it isn't getting pressure up there, but that's an easy fix. . . I'm more concerned with the fact that the thing runs dry in 5 seconds.

The floats are all properly set, I followed the manual exactly for the settings with the top upside down and right side up.

The jets are in there too.

i think it s the pump lot guys think that not long but do not forget the accelerrator well is part of the one bowl and if it runs good it could be that the pump cant keep the prime to your can . three or four pumps will dry up one bowl and if you are pumping to keep it running for get it

your right, I noticed that when I took the top off. BUT, the acc pump only draws from the top half of one bowl, once that bowl gets half empty no more fuel can be sprayed from it. And that still leaves the entire other bowl.

The last time I ran it I took the top off right away and they were both completely empty, and I filled them just before I put the top back on.

yes but thats not much .take out the seats and look at the them there is a small brass filter that push in the seat look for junk.this will not run long on 1 and 1/2 bowls or less you need to keep it runing and fine tune it .and see it the set up springs are rigth. i turn the top lids on the power valve to see were they are the bowl is not flat on the bottom so if the pump dont work i would not think this is pland way for it to run ? the main jets are at the back this is the deep part of the well and will not make it run on ilde

i coulda had a holley running and sent to him by now

pretty sure it is a pump problem--are you sure you have pump lines hooked up properly-maybe you are sucking gas back out of the carb. Could have lines reversed at pump.

well, the pump I am temporarily using has one permanent tube coming out of it and one threaded hole. The threaded hole is where the outlet usually is and it is the one on top, the tube coming out is on the bottom.
I assumed the threaded hole was for the pump outlet under pressure.

For anyone who has an edelbrock carb.
How do you set the choke valve so that it stops with the proper
clearance between the valve and the air horn?

Go here: http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/eps_intro.html

Excellent site, good advice and it works.


Is your fuel pump actually putting out fuel?

Hook up a long hose, connect one end of the hose to the fuel pump, drop the other end into a container, disconnect the coil wire, spin the engine with the starter and see if you're pumping fuel.

You could be chasing exotica and the problem could be very basic.
Done more of those than I want to admit to....

I replaced the fuel pump and now it runs and keeps running. I'm still a little concerned about why it was running dry so fast though.
Now I'm trying to get the choke all set up right because it still takes a couple tries to get it started.
If it were 50 degrees out I'd understand, but I know a carbureted engine is capable of starting right up when it's 75 out.

do your guys hot rods start right up when the engine is cold, or does it take a couple cranks sometimes?

Also, I checked out the edelbrock site, and that is the same thing that is in the manual that came with the carb.
It doesn't say anything about how to make the choke plate stop at the proper spot.
The wording makes it sound like it tells you, but it refers to bending a certain linkage rod, which only effects the movement of the fast idle cam, not the choke plate.
I've kind of gotten mine set up so that I pull it out all the way and then I back off a certain amount, but I'd rather just have to pull it out and know it is in the right spot every time.