Quadrajet intake gasket is wet, erratic high idle.
- Thread starter MrSony
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Just the way the intake layout is. Buick intakes are lower and wider, and the damn water neck isn't right in front of the carb on the intake, it's on the front face of the intake above the timing cover. Plus the SBC im working with has all the emissions BS on it plus AC, so I can't remove any of it to get to anything. I can still reach them, but it's made so much more difficult. I hardly ever work on SBC, idk why but that's how it's worked out so far. On BOP motors, stuff is just spaced out better. Even on my 429 ford I had, everything was reachable without removing anything on the top end of the motor.
You've done all the above and still it leaks? I can add this: Q-jet wells leaked back in the '60's. They got a bad rap for that to the point that the foam filler thing came in rebuild kits. After about '72 or so they came up with a better way to seal the well plugs and that solved it for good. Plastic floats do and will absorb fuel and slowly sink- allowing the carb to flood. Always start with a new float. Rebuild kits do not include a float because they are expensive and there are four different models so a one-size-fits-many kit would need several costly floats. I prefer brass. When a brass float leaks it is obvious and can even be repaired with a soldering iron. Plastic floats will look OK yet leak and the only way to tell is to dry one off- puncture it with a nail - and see if fuel drips out- which ruins it anyway. I don't waste my time guessing on plastic- brass is all I use. The stock float height is a starting point. Usually it is best but you may need to tweek it up or down as a situation demands. All kits come with new needles and seats- but they can be bad too. Especially if the needle does not have a Viton tip. Alcohol will ruin a cheap non- Viton needle tip. Try changing the needle from a known good carb. Lastly- I once had a carb that would slowly flood at idle- yet run great otherwise. I had used a fuel pump that used a return line on a car that did not have a return line. I plugged that pump fitting and the excess fuel had nowhere to go- so it went to the carb- gradually flooding it. Drove me crazy but I did it to myself. Anyway- good luck- I know you will figure it out.
Mark, I also use the brass float for the reasons you described and there is one other advantage, the brass float is smaller than the plastic float so you have more fuel in the bowl with the brass float.
Steve- in my entire life I have never seen a Q-jet bowl leak from a crack or casting imperfection. It was always the well seals and after the Rochester factory upgraded the pressed-in plugs that never happened again. It has to be either the float or needle.
I agree that it's the needle or the float....I think you'll agree that when there is a problem with a quadrajet it's almost always something basis. I like having Cliff's book to refresh my memory..
That's because every single G-body came with one stock. Most have performed well for 30 years or more and old age has caught up. Then, faced with an expensive rebuilt or learn a new skill- many resort to an off-the-shelf cheap replacement. And then THOSE posts start.
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