holly 5210C won't do anything but idle

[chadiusmax]

Hi guys,

Sorry to be a pain, but my 1977 Astre (2.3L) won't accept any pedal. As soon as I give it some gas the engine stalls (floods). I took the air cleaner off and was able to rev the engine if I held the butterfly valves closed. Any suggestions would be awesome. I priced out a replacement for the carb and they want $300 and change. Is it something I can fix with out rebuilding the carb - I tried that on my old S10 and ended up selling the truck because I messed it up so bad.

Thanks

[sirrick4]

which butterfly's are you holding closed? You shouldn't be able to rev your engine if you're holding the throttle butterflys shut. Are you sure you're not holding the choke closed? If you are thenwhat colour (if any) is the smoke coming from the exhaust?

[Stevie]

I dont understand, how you rev the engine exactly.. please explain this a little more detailed.
The small holley is a quiet simple and easy to maintain carb. I dont know why you just found a new carb for $300.... i bought a new one for my vega 2 years ago over ebay for $70... there should be still many of these offers around...
If you look from the top into the carb and push the accelerator pump lever (or just use the throttle cable): do you see the fuel spayed inside the venturi channel by the little auxiliary pipe ?

Steffen

[chadiusmax]

Thanks for the advice guys. @sirrick yes I was holding the choke closed, no smoke. @stevie, I ended up not buying a carb at all.

I waited for an hour after I got home (from a 3 hour - 60 mile ride idling along down the highway in the shoulder) and then started it again. It sputtered and I took a chance and feathered the gas trying to floor it. The car almost died and with a couple of sharp bangs the engine roared to life and it working fine.

I have no idea what the problem was plugged line, vapour lock, gummed up carb, but it is fixed as far as I can tell.

Have a great day.

[cjbiagi]

By holding the choke closed you are essentially richening the mixture. So, you obviously have a very lean condition. This can be caused by not enough fuel from the carb or you have a massive vacuum leak somewhere. So, check the easy things first and make sure you do not have any vacuum leaks. Disconnected hoses, cracked hoses, an open port etc. Otherwise you could have a carb that is just dirty and may have some plugged passages not allowing enough fuel to pass or possibly a faulty accelerator pump. It wouldn't hurt to check your ignition timing too as that is a easy thing.

[Stevie]

ok.. now i understand your problem and what you have done so far.
I maybe got a help for you (as my vega got the similar symptome last year): Check the build-in fuel filter (installed right where the fuel line fits inside the carb). The filter my be clogged or the internal valve may be stuck. The not enough fuel is pumped to the carb bowl and the engine just runs at idle.
I have taken out the filter unit (unfortunately- here in Germany no one could sell me the filter) and installed an additional filter in the fuel line. No more problems then...

BTW: does someone here have a new filter for the 5210 for me and could send it to Germany ??

Steffen

[chadiusmax]

@ stevie - Will do and thanks again

[chadiusmax]

I took the accelerator pump apart and checked oout the diaphragm and it was ok the pump actuates but no fuel goes into the carb. I am going to replace the fuel filter tomorrow, and then add some gas tratement carb cleaner to my tank (I really do not want to do a rebuild). Any thoughts?

[chadiusmax]

replaced the fuel filter and still no performance improvement. So the next step is to do a carb cleaning. Ordered the kit off ebay and now just to wait. No one in Edmonton has a kit - crazy.

[chadiusmax]

So I got a carb kit (courtesy Chicago Carburetor and eBay) and took the dive into a cleaning and potential rebuild. When I took the carb apart there was all these black flecks in the bottom of the fuel bowl.

first look at the black crud.jpg

Any idea what thes coould be from? I had previously replaced the fuel filter and it is clean so they are not coming from there. After I cleaned it out

clean in between.jpg

and put it back together the car ran a bit rough and wouldn't keep running. So I took it apart again and found more black flecks.

secondlook.jpg

What are these black flecks and where do they come from. Cant be the fuel line because the filter would stop them. Any advice please would be great.

Chad

[cjbiagi]

Is the filter right in the carb? If it is then possibly the crud is gasket material from the carb. A good flush and rebuild every few years can work wonders.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Any other rubber lines aft of the filter? Ethanol could be deteriorating that..

[chadiusmax]

cjbiagi wrote: Is the filter right in the carb? Yes just to the left you can see the fuel line. The filter is right there in the top of the carb. I checked the filter and it was clean and whole. When I took off the top of the carb the gasket was intact with no wear.

marco_1978_spyder wrote: Any other rubber lines aft of the filter? There are no other rubber lines. Is there a way for me to clean all of the rubber vacuum hoses?

[sirrick4]

Hmm. If it's not gaskets or internal parts then that junk has to be getting in with the fuel and blocking your jets. I'm not sure how the fuel filter works with those carbs but is it an internal filter? Is it seating properly? One way to find out is to install an in-line fuel filter. That way you'll know for sure where that crap is coming from. Good luck

[davestewart38]

The black flecks are probably from the charcoal cannister if you are running one.