engine and drivetrain Won't idle; did a BUNCH of things... what to try next?

[lazerfred]

My englne kind of slowly started turning to crud a while back; it eventually lost the entire ability to idle. The only way I could keep it going without dying at every intersection was to adust the idle to like 2200 RPM. I have a weber 32/36 carb on the car. I adjusted the fuel mixture setting, as well as pulled out the two idle jets and and cleaned and blew them out. Didn't help.

 

So I decided to try to rebuild the carb (something I've never done before). I followed this amazing step by step guide: http://www.mk3supra.org/topic/561-guide-rebuilding-a-weber-3236-dgav-carb/)

 

I bought a rebuild kit off of amazon; pretty sure I did everything correctly.

 

But it still didn't work great.

 

I realized the spark plugs haven't been changed in a while; pulled and replaced them (they were mostly clean, but the number 3 had carbon on it and was kinda black; I definitely have tired rings).

 

Anway; the engine sounded terrific after I put the new plugs in and the rebuilt carb on; but the minute it dropped from the fast idle down low, it just sputters and dies.

 

I went ahead and got a new idle adjusting screw and spring; as well as a 50 and a 55 idle jets. Put them in; still runs great at higher RPM; still died at idle. The way you are supposed to adjust the idle adjusting screw is to screw it all the way in, and then back it out between .5 and 2.5 turns. I tried a bunch of positions in between; didn't seem to make any difference.

 

Any idea what to do next? Is it possible that the chamber where the idle adjusting screw is warped or something?

 

there seems to be plenty of gas coming from the tank...

 

 

Also, in the past, my car would start up immediately; I would just put my foot on the gas once before hitting the ignition; and then just basically give a teeny quick turn of the ignition and it would start immediately. Now I have to put the gas all the way down and it take 4-5 seconds to finally have it kick over...

 

BTW, in case its not clear, I literally have ALMOST no idea what I'm doing! So if you have any ideas; even "duh, this is so simple OF COURSE he already tried it" ideas, definitely share them! I'm at a loss!

['76mintgrün'02]

I don't mean to be a jerk, but how have you set your timing?

 

 

 

 

As for the carb, does it have an electric idle cut off solenoid?

If so, it is easy to test.  You should be able to hear it click, if you take the wire off and touch it to the spade (with the key on there should be 12V there... another thing to check).

Mine got sticky and I was able to free it up.

If you do not have that feature, then ignore all that.

 

 

[zinz]

Do the vacuum ports at the base of the carburetor have good hoses connected to them (one goes to the vacuum advance of the Distributer, the other may go to a piece of smog equipment or may just be plugged. 

 

Either way, an open vacuum port will cause poor running at idle. 

 

 

[lazerfred]

2 minutes ago, zinz said:

Do the vacuum ports at the base of the carburetor have good hoses connected to them (one goes to the vacuum advance of the Distributer, the other may go to a piece of smog equipment or may just be plugged. 

 

Either way, an open vacuum port will cause poor running at idle. 

 

Quote

There's only one; (I think all the smog stuff is long gone)... but it LOOKS  like its good... maybe I just just replace it just to make sure?

 

[lazerfred]

6 minutes ago, '76Mintgrun'02 said:

I don't mean to be a jerk, but how have you set your timing?

 

 

 

 

As for the carb, does it have an electric idle cut off solenoid?

If so, it is easy to test.  You should be able to hear it click, if you take the wire off and touch it to the spade (with the key on there should be 12V there... another thing to check).

Mine got sticky and I was able to free it up.

If you do not have that feature, then ignore all that.

 

 

 

Not a jerk; I'm the one who doesn't have a clue!

 

I was thinking about doing the timing next; I'm sort of learning as I go along and was starting with the things that didn't involve buying too many tools... but I was thinking of getting a timing gun next!

 

I am about 99% certain there isn't any electric idle cut-off solenoid; ever single thing on the carb is mechanical and it has a mechanical choke... so it's not that! But I'll be getting a timing gun soon regardless and give that a shot...

['76mintgrün'02]

If you had a solenoid, it would look like a little tube of lipstick coming off the side, in front of the choke assembly and would probably have a spade on it, unless that had been broken off.  Otherwise it is a small brass cap over the idle jet... which sounds like what you have.

 

Do you have points, or an electronic module in your distributor?

 

If you run points, a dwell meter is more accurate than a feeler gauge, when setting the points and there are timing lights with that feature built in... along with a tach and volt meter.  $100 well spent, imho.  It will even allow you to plot the ignition advance curve, to gauge the overall health of the distributor.  (which is quite fun to do)  

 

here is the one I bought (and have been plugging ever since)

https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-5568-Pro-Timing-Light-Tool/dp/B000EVU8J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466305924&sr=8-1&keywords=innova+5568

 

It sounds like maybe your points rubbing block has worn down and they are closing up and throwing the timing off.

Be sure to buy Bosch points.

Don't feel intimidated about learning to set the timing.

It is not very hard, once you paint the BB on the flywheel white, that is.

Otherwise it can be hard to see.

 

 

[lazerfred]

15 minutes ago, '76Mintgrun'02 said:

 

Do you have points, or an electronic module in your distributor?

 

If you run points, a dwell meter is more accurate than a feeler gauge, when setting the points and there are timing lights with that feature built in... along with a tach and volt meter.  $100 well spent, imho.  It will even allow you to plot the ignition advance curve, to gauge the overall health of the distributor.  (which is quite fun to do)  

 

here is the one I bought (and have been plugging ever since)

https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-5568-Pro-Timing-Light-Tool/dp/B000EVU8J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466305924&sr=8-1&keywords=innova+5568

 

It sounds like maybe your points rubbing block has worn down and they are closing up and throwing the timing off.

Be sure to buy Bosch points.

Don't feel intimidated about learning to set the timing.

It is not very hard, once you paint the BB on the flywheel white, that is.

Otherwise it can be hard to see.

 

 

 

I have points; Thanks for the timing light suggestion! I definitely am interested in getting up to speed on learning timing etc. thank god I work from home and have my dad around to take me on errands... because I suspect it'll be months before I finally get everything going right with it; but it's really fun learning it all...

['76mintgrün'02]

That's the spirit : )

 

 

[roadhog0]

Clogged idle circuit. I ran into this with my car once. Though for me it was a clogged jet. But I would pull the carb apart and blow it all out and see where that takes you.

[lazerfred]

21 minutes ago, roadhog0 said:

Clogged idle circuit. I ran into this with my car once. Though for me it was a clogged jet. But I would pull the carb apart and blow it all out and see where that takes you.

 

Makes sense; but I literally cleaned the ever-loving sh*t out of the carb when I got the rebuilt kit. Took every single piece of it apart; soaked everything in carb cleaner; blew out what I could blow out...

 

That said, it was literally the first time I've ever done it so I might have missed something!

[bento]

I like Tom's theory. Check your points, cap, and rotor. Set dwell and timing. If it still doesn't idle, go back to the carb. 

 

Good luck!

[arminyack]

I had the clogged idle thing going as well, it had the same effect as what you are experiencing. It really doesnt take much to clog it either!

[TobyB]

Quote

Clogged idle circuit.

 

I'm with Nathan on this one, based on all of your descriptions.  The only way to really clean this

is to use compressed air, and then CONFIRM it's clean.  As in, you have to trace its path through

the carb body.  It can get junk in it, it can corrode, squirrels can build a nest in it, it doesn't matter,

the trick is to make SURE it flows freely.  

 

hth

t

 

[roadhog0]

I've cleaned carbs and had them clog up real fast before. Something about loosening dirt then getting clogged in something else. So that's all I got...

[TobyB]

hmmm, yes, and had junk in the tank do the same to me.  Multiple times...

 

t