Hi guys,

My "402" is not starting unless I squirt starter fluid in it and then it runs like crap. Have to keep gunning it to keep it running. I had it out only once this year for a mile or 2 and then back to the garage. The intake had a small amount of anti freeze near one of the bolts and I was thinking that was creating a vacume leak? Maybe thats it? It was the size of a dime. Anyhow How do I remidy the situation. I am no mechanic, I have some general knowledge but not too much..........help please

Not starting cold means one of a couple of things....either your choke is not closing, or possibly your seals in the carb have dried out and the accellerator pump is not working. "running like crap" indicates it is probably in the choke setup. You might be able to fix it if it is just stuck, take some carb cleaner and spray the linkage on the passenger side of the carb. With the engine OFF and cold, and the air cleaner off, as soon as you open the throttle some, the choke should snap shut.
Let the carb cleaner evaporate before you turn the key on and try to start the engine. You can speed this up with a shop rag and drying what you can.

Check this out and let us know what's going on.

I vote seals dried out. had that problem with 66 chevy truck, drove it every 3-4 months and eventually had to replace the seals. worked good after that.

the carb was rebuilt last year, so I don't know if the seals dried out that quick?

I will try out the idea's you gave me and get back to you!!

Thanks

What type of carb?

On an older Holley carb, a backfire could have blown the power valve... It will run really poor then, Rich and not want to idle, etc (like a major vacuum leak)...

ok guys, its a holly 3310 750 double pumper. it had a q-jet on it until last year. i did't think about the power valve. It's been a while since I had a holley. The other thought is the battery is not fully charged. I just put a charger on there so I will give it a shot in an hour or 2.


if it is a power valve I will need a walk though since its been a while. It is located in the front of the carb but taking it apart and doing it is somthing I am new at.

thanks for the help so far

ok, I charged the battery, got it to fire up and it idled ok for a while but it was cold and I had to stay in the gas. I tried to let off and the car died so I believe the battery is bad but thats not the only issue, car smells like gas alot!

ok, here is what happened. the choke was slammed shut and would not open. the guy who did the work on my car last year rigged a peice of wire to the choke to keep it open, it broke so now the choke is closed. after figuring this out I rerigged it and now the car fires right up(when it is warm) so now I will be buying an electric choke for my holly. the anti freeze leak is coming from the goose neck hose on my intake. easy fix as well.


now another problem, when I jump on it the carb will backfire
any idea's?

now another problem, when I jump on it the carb will backfire...

its a holly 3310 750 double pumper
any idea's?

The carb could be out of adjustment; try playing with different accelerator pump cams and squirters...

Could also be timing...

Explain the problem more... Does it hesitate/bog and then backfire... In gear and in neutral? Just when you hit the pedal? or does it continue to backfire as you try to accelarate?

most of the time its fine, the carb has a slight hesitation when driving under normal load or none at allwhen you really jump on it it will backfire and hesitate worse, this does not do it every time but its there

Brian

I did some reading on how to tune an accelerator pump, so off I go.....

I will let you know how I do.

From what I have read it looks like I am not getting enough fuel upon inital acceleration, " to little fuel and the engine backfires because off an air gap"

If I am reading it right it says change the shooter

Brian

well, i pulled the shooter out and it says its a 40 so I need to go higher but does that sound right?

Before you go spending a bunch of money on the carb, lets verify that the ignition timing is up to snuff.

Check your initial timing and post what it is, with the vacuum hose disconnected. (you ARE running full manifold vacuum to the advance, aren't you??)

Timing will cause a tip in stumble as well as backfires.

Check it and lets see what it is.