Thread: gas returns??

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I have a Edelbrock 600. I wahe a mechanical fuel pump. After I shut the engine off.. I really have to pump it, and hold down on the gas pedal to start it. I have a Mr. Gasket clear filter. I can watch the gas head back to the fuel pump. Is this common??, and any idea why it would be so hard to start??

My first thought is that your accelerator pump must not be giving you a full shot, but then you say you have to hold down the gas pedal, which holds open the choke plate to provide more air, usually in a flooded situation. Those sound counter productive to me, pumping the pedal to get fuel, then holding the pedal down to get more air. If you have good spark, timing's right, etc then I would expect one pump to prime and set the choke, then crank and start. Your explanation is confusing to me - does not seem logical.

I'm confused over the same issues Roger mentioned. There should be sufficient gas in the bowl at all times to stab the pedal once and shoot some gas into the intake, regardless of what happens to the gas in the line. Then you say you have to hold the gas pedal down all the way which, again as Roger said, usually indicates a flooded condition, needing air to clean it out.

When the car is dead cold the next time, remove the air cleaner and have someone depress the gas pedal while you look into the carb throats with a flashlight. You should see two angled streams of gas shooting down each of the two front bores. If you have that you have something else going on, like timing, weak spark, vacuum leak, etc. If the motor is fairly healthy and has good spark, just a little gas into the carb throats is enough to fire it up.

Those Edelbrocks are about the most forgiving, troublefree carbs out there, so I am thinking you have something else going on.

Don

All of this just happened this year after sitting over the Winter. Last year it all worked just fine. I never had to even touch the gas and it would fire up.. Could it be that I had bad gas in it?? I have good fresh 91 octane gas in it now. Still might be some of the old gas in the line, but not much..

Oh, and after I run it for about 10 minutes, and put it in gear.. It runs real rough, and dies..

Your carb is gummed up and will need a thorough cleaning and rebuild.

Would Seafoam work??

Originally Posted by slantback37

Would Seafoam work??

It is highly unlikely that any product that you put in your gas tank is going to fix a gunked up carburetor. Taking a 4 barrel apart, cleaning it up and putting it all back together with the proper adjustments is really not that difficult, but you seem to not want to dive into that pool. If you're not comfortable with that level of complexity you need to find a good independent shop that you trust, take the car in to them and let them put a kit in the carb, but be ready to leave about $300 or more in their hands when you depart with your smooth running engine. Next year put Stabil in your gas before you shut down for the winter.

I put Stabil in it before I shut it down and put it up for the winter. I was using Regular gas in it. A guy from Church said he never runs Regular. Only Premium. There might be some of the Regular gas left in it. He came out and adjusted the screws in the front, but I don't think he quite got it right. I took off the air cleaner last night, and used the flash light and pulled back on the throttle. Shot gas in from both sides. If I pull off the vacuum line from the carb can I then adjust the two screws?? Both Low speed and High speed adjustment screws have to be adjusted as well. If none of that doesn't work.. Then I will pull it from the intake. Does Edelbrock have a blowup of how to do this?? Al

Future ref is 2oz's for every 5 gallons of gas.Too much lowers the octane and too little won't cover the job.Two things you haven't said yet is if it has a in-line gas filter and if you have checked the fuel pressure.Just to have gas in the carb without know if you are getting the proper fuel pressure "can" cause issues.Have you sample read the plugs.......they can tell you a story about it that even while it was starting right you didn't know.( sample reading is a nice way of saying you should look at all of them)Did you say what color the spark is??.

Originally Posted by slantback37

I put Stabil in it before I shut it down and put it up for the winter. I was using Regular gas in it. A guy from Church said he never runs Regular. Only Premium. There might be some of the Regular gas left in it. He came out and adjusted the screws in the front, but I don't think he quite got it right. I took off the air cleaner last night, and used the flash light and pulled back on the throttle. Shot gas in from both sides. If I pull off the vacuum line from the carb can I then adjust the two screws?? Both Low speed and High speed adjustment screws have to be adjusted as well. If none of that doesn't work.. Then I will pull it from the intake. Does Edelbrock have a blowup of how to do this?? Al

Al,
Don't let me push you into something you're not comfortable doing. There are a few small parts that have to go back together right, but if you're a "fix-it" guy and pay attention it's not rocket science. Every carb kit I have ever bought had a set of instructions that showed exploded views of all the critical parts & pieces. Do you have the information that came with the carb? If not Edelbrock's tech line says that they will send you the manual if you call them. You need to be following the directions for that carb when you adjust your metering jets, if you don't know the steps by heart.

I have been reading every thing I can on it. I have the trouble shooting section of the owners manual. Would I have to buy a kit if I just take the top off, and clean it out of any gunk?? If there was a way of cleaning it by adding something to the fuel?? I would be afraid kind of to pull it apart. I have comprehensive learning disorder. I can read something 1,000 times and not know what I have read. I can do it a few times, but also have to think real hard to remember what I did. I have to look at something very hard to remember what went where. Looking at pictures, or someone explaining it simply helps me get the job done. I'm not rich. I can't afford $300 for someone to rebuild. I may be going blind, and getting hard to hear, and arthritis is in both of my thumbs, but I am trying as hard as I can to build it myself. That is with the help of people online.
The adjustment screws must be off some.. If I start it up, and let it get warm. If I pull off the vacuum line. Can I then adjust those screws in the front??

What were you saying about watching the gas head back to the Fuel pump???
Are you saying it is going from the carb back to the fuel pump thru the filter???
If that is the case you have a crack or a leak in the fuel line between the tank and
the carb and it's letting the fuel go back into the tank, instead of holding it.
So it may take a minute to get pumped back up to the carb.
Kurt

All I can see, and it takes a while to do is go from the clear filter I have back down the fuel line. I will check over the fuel line from the tank to the carb again.. Al

Al, Something to consider is if you have a phone with a camera you can take pictures of the disassembly to help with putting it back together. I have started doing that with anything new.