AAAARRRRRRRGH! auto repair shop rant !

[draboo]

took rokzan,the 84 chev truck,to the doctor for carb work. they charged me 85 bucks for an air filter,fuel filter,check timing and adjust carb(and choke) . now the poor thing runs worse than it did when i brought it there. put it in high gear at about 35 to 40,give it some pedal,and it bucks like a bronco. called them back and now i gotta bring it in next tuesday so they can mabe get it right. i ve been messing with chev v-8s for years,and thought,this time it wourld be nice to have someone else fix it for a change,cause i m jsut getting tired of working on autos. personally,i think it maybe either the vacuum advance or the fuel pump,but i hope these"professionals" can figure it out. runs fine when not giving it much gas,but too much,and it kinda falls on its face,let off and it picks up speed again. anyone else out there mess with older 2 barrell carbs??this one was new(rebuilt from auto supply) about a year and a half ago.intake and carb about 1978 vintage,350 cu in engine.

poor rokzan,shes SICK!! `````sobbbbbbb```````

brad (ssssnnnnnniiiffffffff...........)

[Cruez]

Hmm.... sounds like it might be a vacuum problem or possibly the floats are set incorrectly..

I hate auto repairmen... I have only taken my car to a mechanic once in my 12 years of owning a car...that was to get the A/C charged....45 minutes later it quit....they charged it again the next day....quit again....then the next morning the clutch fan came off the pulley, slammed into the radiator, destroying the radiator, clutch, fan, water pump and the belt.....They OVERTIGHTENED it....Needless to say...I did without air until I sold it.......I will NEVER take any of my vehicles to a repair shop....I will kill myself trying to figure it out first....

[bigblue77]

What kind of carb is it. If its a Holley its hard to say. But if its a rochester its probably accelerator pump, or they closed off your off-idle circuit. But it all hinges on the type of carb. If the floats were set to high, it would stall at idle, but clear up at full throttle., but if the floats were to low, it would have a hard time doing anything but idle. It is possible, but on a rochestor you have to tear down the carb to change the level.

I personally use nothin but holley 4bbl, or Demon carbs. Not a lot of trouble to maintain, plus the run good, even after a rebuild.

Jer

[caddmannq]

If they took the top off the carb, they may have forgotten to put the c-clip or cotter pin back on the choke linkage. When you step on the gas it'll get too rich & belch out black smoke.

Also they may have forgotten the same clip/pin on the accelerator pump linkage. It will go dead when you push the throttle down, but no black smoke.

If they left the vacuum hose off, you should be able to hear it hiss when the engine is at idle.

In any event, it may have run fine at the shop test drive, but one of those three popped loose the first time you hit a bump: suddenly no acceleration.

All three are easy to diagnose & fix. Go have a look.

[booshky]

Sounds like a vacuum leak. Check for old rotten hoses. They always seem to start leaking after you touch them. Some of the small hoses leaking can make your engine run like s***. I have a 1980 that is very fussy that way.

[RampageIII]

If yours is anything like mine you got problems. The vacuum tube to the carb is probably full of carbon. And if that's the case you'll probably end up pulling the heads and scraping the carbon off everything including the tops of the pistons, valve ports, intake manifold, etc.

[bigblue77]

It could be a vacuum leak, but most of the time, a vacuum leak will make it idle rough as well as run down the road rough.

Rampage, it sounds like you've had the pleasure of a top end scrub recently. They make something, I used it while I was in college. You pour down the carb while the engine is running. Then you just dump it in till it stalls, and let it sit for 1/2 hour I think, then start it up and watch all the crap fly out your exhaust. can't remember the name, but it cleans the top end of your engine. And I know it works, it was demonstrated by one of my instructors. Its pretty cool, and it save a lot of time and $$$$$.


Jer

[Ritalin Kid]

I know that black smoke/ running rich prob all to well... 1984 Cadillac has been at the shop for over a month with a guy tryin to figure out what's wrong with the throttle body.. it runs so rich that the plugs foul out every month or so.. so far he's changed everything and decided to go ahead and maybe throw out the throttle body and switch the 4.1 to a carb system. Hopefully that will do the trick.

[bigblue77]

Oh, yeah, that should do it. At least when you have a carb, you can adjust it. Of course, if it dosen't do the trick, you need a re-ring, and maybe valve seal job.

Jer

[Philip1952]

If the carb is around a 78 model it sould be a rochester brand. They werent' to good on accerator pumps eather. I would check the timing my self. Do it the hard way. You have a small block. If the balancer ring slips. Your marks are off. You said they checked and or set the timing.
Pull #1 plug. (Driver side front plug). Bring the piston up to top dead center on the compression stroke. (Use a smal narrow piece of metal to feel the piston come up. When it starts back down the bore. Turn the motor back just a little. Do this with a ratchet also. Not the starter).Then look to see if your timeing mark lines up with the balancer. If the marks are off. Get another balancer fast don't drive it. Its not fun seeing one of the outer rings sticking out of a raditor.
If it does line up then. Reinstall the plug and start it up. Check the timeing. Make sure the vacium hose is off the dist. and plugged. (Is the stock computer still on this truck. Or was it removed when the carb was switched)?
If you have no computer on it now. Set the timeing for around 8 degrees before top dead center. Set the mixture screws for the highest idle. Base idle with a auto sould be around 750 in drive. 650 with a stick.
Then keep us posted on all the items you check out.