motown 71

I have aSB with holly 650 spread bore.
It was installed last summer, not by me. This spring when I fired up the car it runs horrible ! I check things out and fine that I have first the secondaries (vacuum) are dripping fuel after the car is shut off. it will puddle a little
on the butter flies. Secondly, there is fuel at the base of the carb where it is attached at the base plate both sides of carb. This is likely a gasket or loose
screws, correct ? but the fuel in the secondaries troubles me most........ :crazy:
Thanks in advance !

Boofers

Have you checked your engine for vacuum leaks?

After thinking about it a bit more - I don't know the Holley very well but if your power piston is stuck in the up position, causing your metering rods to be all the way out of the jets then that could be the cause of excess fuel pouring out - just a guess... :cheers:


[Modified by Boofers, 7:00 PM 3/25/2004]

killervette666

id recommend getting a rebuild kit, or sending it to lars, also was there fuel stabilizer in the gas tank while it was stored? if not, the fuel might have gone bad, keep us updated :chevy


[Modified by killervette666, 5:39 PM 3/25/2004]

motown 71

No vac leaks.
Yes I used fuel stablizer over winter. I did replace the fuel pump gasket, but I had fired it up say like 4 weeks ago and it ran for about 20 minets just fine.
Next time I start it, yesterday, it runs like monkey do, actually it wont idle at all. Is it possible I have a stuck float??? I was a brand spanking new carb last year probably only about 2k miles with it.....

motown 71

Boofers, that sounds like a possiblity. I'll check it out.
Thanks

Kid Vette

Might want to check the float. It might be sticking which would flood the engine. Sounds crazy but sometimes a couple taps with a hammer on the carb near the needle and seat will free things up.

motown 71

Kid, I'll try that right now Thanks......
Any other ideas out there..............
Thanks to all ! :flag

GDaina

incorrect float adjustment...too high, or possible the needle and vale are sticking...if the needle and valve are bad, replace

motown 71

Well......
Tried to rap the rear bowl...nuttin.....
After shutting it down and catching 5 on the hockey game (Red Wings Rule)
The darn secondaried are still dripping slightley from the drivers side og carb !!! This is a "new" Holly and there is no float adj. so I'm going with stuck needle in secondaries........I'll pull the bowl tomorrow......Any one else have ideas....GD I'm hopin this is the prob.
Thanks !


[Modified by motown 71, 7:47 PM 3/25/2004]

GDaina

pull the sight plugs...if fuel pours out, then that's the problme...adjust the float bowls


[Modified by GDaina, 8:54 PM 3/25/2004]

motown 71

GD there are no sight plugs nor float adjustment.
Seriousely :crazy:
Four 3/8 bolts holding the bowl to the carb body The top of bowl where you'd expect to fing the float adj has a plug in place that sits flush in the hole with no head or slot for screwdriver or any tool what so ever.
Will pulling the bowl give up the secret as to the drips !
(gotta try and have some humor)

GDaina

Dayum... :skep: Wonder if Bubba was messing with the carb...unless that is unique to the spreadbore, but all Holleys use needle seats to adjust the float levels and they have sight plugs...maybe the Spreadbore is different

PatG

My spreadbore has floats but no removable sight plugs.

Z-man

A few comments from my experience.

Not all models of Holleys have sight plugs.

The manual indicates observation of the following when flooding occurs:
- The most common cause is excessively high fuel in the float bowls. Dripping from booster venturis, running out the bowl-vent tubes or excessively wet butterflys indicate flooding. The float level should be the first item checked when flooding occurs. (In 30 years, my floats were never out of adjustment, but I always had to check because of this rule. The float should be level when the bowl is held upside down.) The fuel pressure should be checked. Flooding is likely to occur if pressure exceeds 7.5 psi at the carb. (You might check into this since you said you put a new gasket into your pump. Maybe the pressure is too high now.) If neither pressure nor float adjustment is incorrect, you should check for debris inside the carb.

Another possibility that is discussed is that, if the carb gaskets are too old, and the carb bolts are torqued too tightly against the manifold, the carb bowls and assembly can be warped. This causes misalignment of parts internally, stretches and warps gaskets, and can cause leaks.

Last but not least, I found that the gaskets will dry up over long periods of no use. When this happens, the gaskets fill up with fuel and start to leak when you drive the car in Spring. I suspect that your drive a month ago was enough to get the gaskets to start leaking. My best guess is that you simply need a new gasket kit since the carb is pretty new.

Good luck -

motown 71

Thanks everyone for all your great ideas !!
I removed the rear bowl and cleaned her all out.
She fired right up !! Let her run for 20 min. or so in the driveway.
Then I gave her a wash.......think I got a slow roll doing it too :jester
hopefully if wify gets busy I can take her around the block tomorrow. I did a front end rebuild inc. calipers along with various gaskets, new radiator, water pump, pullys......oh and new tunes, and heat barrier material in the interior so's I be quite anxious for a ride !!
THANKS again to all for the help I received all winter on the road to spring :party: :party:


[Modified by motown 71, 6:01 PM 3/26/2004]