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Quadrajet Issues

14K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  cobalt327 
#1 ·
Hello everyone this is my first post here on the forum and I have several questions about a quadrajet carb. I have a '79 chevy with a 350 in it. With a 4 bbl carb ontop of it. The engine has been sitting for years without being started. I threw in a rebuild kit for the carb and got it back on. The process to get the engine running wasn't hard.

My questions:
1. The choke lever is always stuck, when I hit the gas the lever sticks into a position and does not lower. The only time it lowers is when you tap the gas really quick, or manually pull down the lever. The lever never goes down because of the bog. Is this normal?

2. When I tap the gas slowly, it runs fine. In the upper RPMs it begins to bog and pop. If it's in drive it will bog down, if you keep on the throttle it will just stall out. What are the possible causes to this?

3. When you hit the pedal it just bogs down for a second, then kicks in. I tried messing with the idle and fuel screws but I'm totally new to this. Any tips on how to tune it/or any good sites to look off of?

Sorry for the questions, especially the q-jet experts.
Any tips are greatly appreciated.
-Thanks
 
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#2 ·
WElcome!
1. THe black cap on the choke is adjustable. 3 screws. Turn it slightly to the lean side. Spray the mechanism with some carb cleaner too.
2. Bog at upper rpm could be fuel pump not supplying enough fuel to the carb.
3. Might be accelerator pump needs adjusting or secondary air valve is set too loose.
Some links for you!
Study them closely. There will be a test. LOL!!!
Ken's QuadraJet
Quadrajet Info by Lars - Corvette Forum : DigitalCorvettes.com Corvette Forums
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/...hester_Quadrajet_4MV_carburetor#Trouble_spots
 
#6 · (Edited)
When you say "lever" are you referring to the choke flap in the airhorn, or the counterweight on the side of the carb?

Do you have a divorced choke (no round choke housing on the side) or do you have an integral choke (either hot air (examples below) or electric)?




The rod that runs from the choke down to the choke housing (if integral choke) or the choke linkage (if divorced choke) is a bear to get aligned right. Are you sure this rod and the small bottom link (shown below, before being assembled) is assembled correctly? The rod can even be installed upside down with enough effort- but it will not work right.




Hard to say what the higher rpm loss of power might be, but assuming it's from a loss of fuel and it's not too rich (if too rich the exhaust will be black and smell of fuel) one thing will do it if you're actually into the secondary circuit, and that's the small wells the secondary discharge tubes sit in going dry (locations in image below). They're fed by a small orifice from the main fuel bowl, and if the orifices are plugged, the secondary side won't work right. Click on image for more info.




But if this is happening in the driveway and not with the engine under a load, it could be the float level too low, or even a plugged fuel filter (there's a filter in the fuel inlet of the carb unless it's been removed).

The timing could be a problem, but it shouldn't stall due to timing.

Check for vacuum leaks. Best to disconnect the vacuum lines (mark them first) then cap off the vacuum ports and see if this makes a difference. If this helps, reattach the hoses one at a time to find what is causing the vacuum leak.
 
#7 ·
@cobalt327

It has a round choke housing mounted to the carb, it is mechanical. So it's an integral choke.

And yes it is in the driveway, no way will it be going on the the road soon, haha.
Almost all the vacuum hoses are connected, there are a few to go but I put bolts into them, does make a little difference.

When I get the chance I will look at the linkage.

@Richiehd

It's just a stock distributor. I haven't had it tuned since it has been sitting for 5 years.

And yeah fresh fuel, I primed the engine and ran oil down the cylinders to let it soak for a week. Turned the flywheel and it broke loose, runs nice on idle. THAT'S IT! haha
 
#9 ·
Dollar to a donut it's the accelerator pump circuit. If it is, often this condition will lessen as the engine warms up, to the point where you'd not notice it under normal driving conditions.

Check to see that you're getting a shot (not a dribble or a bubbly/frothy discharge- you should get a mini-squirt gun effect) at the instant you open the throttle.

The fix can be setting the pump linkage to a bigger sho, or a new accelerator pump piston, lightly honing the pump cylinder, or possibly the check ball isn't seating or is missing.

A tip if you choose to try using a different hole on the accelerator pump arm: When removing the accelerator pump arm roll pin, place a ~0.050" feeler gauge (or similar thickness material) behind the accelerator pump lever pin (between the air horn and the roll pin, in other words), so when you drive the pin towards the air horn lip it doesn't butt tightly against it; instead there's room to get a thin straight blade screwdriver in behind it to lever the pin back into position. Using the hole nearest the roll pin gives the biggest pump shot.

But sometimes if the bore is worn, going to another hole regardless if its for a bigger or smaller shot size can help, but if this is the case the better fix is to lightly hone the bore and replace the piston unless it's new.
 
#12 ·
I used carb cleaner/starting fluid around the carb. I was getting air at the shaft where the throttle linkage is connected, it is sucking through and it bogs the carb. Noticeable but not entirely. It's bolted down pretty tight and has new gaskets, but I did not get one for the throttle shaft.
 
#13 ·
I bought a throttle shaft bushing kit for my Quadrajet from Cliff Ruggles. It wasn't hard to drill out and put in the new bushings, but I had a bad time removing and reinstalling the small screw that hold the plates to the shaft. One screw broke off and I had to drill and tap it for a slightly larger screw. Not fun with something that small.

Bruce
 
#15 ·
I was rebuilding a carb I bought from the junkyard (from an '86 Chevy truck) and decided to install the bushings just in case. However, based on the very limited play I found when I pulled out the shaft, it probably did not need the bushing kit.

The kit I bought from Cliff's performance came with 2 sets of bushings, so I'll probably eventually use it for my original '75 vintage Quadrajet.

I switched to the later model Quadrajet because it had the externally adjustable APT and some other improved features. It was also one of the last models they made before adding any electric controls, so it was an easy replacement for my old carb.

Bruce
 
#16 ·
The mid-'80s non feedback truck carbs are among the best Q-jets out there for building a performance carb: They are the 800 cfm casting, have top-mounted APT access, use an electric choke, are correct for OD transmission TV cables (be sure the throttle arm is correct if you want to use a detent/TV cable attached below the throttle centerline; manual carbs are sometimes missing this), and are often in way better shape than a carb from the '60s-'70s.

Even the dual capacity accelerator pump-equipped carbs are good cores, and most guys don't realize that the dual capacity pump carbs are non feedback so there's a better than average chance of funding one.

There are Q-jets that are BOTH dual capacity pump AND feedback, how to tell which is which can be seen here.

Happy hunting.
 
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