Carb tune and idle & Result

[83turbomon]

Today I messed with the carb alittle. I noticed that my car was running VERY rich because it was belching black smoke on startup and that the engine was suffering from running rich. So with the help of a friend... we tuned both valves of the carb and when you adjust the rich and the lean setting of the carb, that the clockwise too much the engine starts to idle out, so I turned it back a quarter turn, and it ran A LOT better. So I took it to Bates Raceway... (an piece of road designated by the students as a partially illigal dragstrip) and gave the car some gas and it picked up well. After adjusting the rich/lean on the carb, I turned the idle down a bit so now the car doesnt seem like it idles so high. I was carefull not to gun the car too much less I damage an already weak transmission, and brakes on the car, but it does run even better than before with these few adjustments. You guys probably already know this, but it made me happy:biggrin:

 

[231_natural]

That adjustment will just help lean out your engine when idling not while driving.

 

[83turbomon]

That adjustment will just help lean out your engine when idling not while driving.

does the fuel/air matter while driving or is there something else I should/need to do... if it helps I also got a new fuel filter.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

If the carb you played with was electronic....you'll be sorry. Give it time...you'll see what I mean, (that is if it's electronic). When the car is cold on start up it's supposed to run rich. But belching black smoke would be caused by a bad choke adjustment, not mixture control.

The mix is pre-programed into the ECM and controlled by the ECM. Messing with the mix will only knock it off adjustment and start creating a world of trouble to other areas.

If you want to play and tune a carb get a Holley and remove the ECM. Hopefully what you did can be corrected. If not you'll be in a world of hurt. These carbs were meant to set it and forget it. Good luck. Hopefully the adjustment was not too extreme.

 

[83turbomon]

If the carb you played with was electronic....you'll be sorry. Give it time...you'll see what I mean, (that is if it's electronic). When the car is cold on start up it's supposed to run rich. But belching black smoke would be caused by a bad choke adjustment, not mixture control.

The mix is pre-programed into the ECM and controlled by the ECM. Messing with the mix will only knock it off adjustment and start creating a world of trouble to other areas.

If you want to play and tune a carb get a Holley and remove the ECM. Hopefully what you did can be corrected. If not you'll be in a world of hurt. These carbs were meant to set it and forget it. Good luck. Hopefully the adjustment was not too extreme.

damn... I Have an edelbrock aftermarked carb that is a POS... I HOPE it wasnt electric or I will be kicking myself in the a** later (and so will my mom)

 

[231_natural]

if it's an edelbrock carb you're fine. they arent electronic. To lean out the mixture while driving you would have to get replacement rods and jets for that particular carb. Find out which edelbrock carb you have and search for the calibration kit on the net.

 

[charlief1]

I'd still like to see pics from under the hood to see what's been done to your car. This would give us a better idea of what needs to be done to get you running better.