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Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
Did you ever rebuild the carb ? I don't see a choke cable going to the carb ? did you install an auto choke ?
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No, I haven't rebuilt the carb. My understanding is that it has an auto choke, yes. I didn't install it, but I've never seen a choke in the passenger compartment. I'll feel really, really dumb if it turns out it had a manual choke all this time. :p
We were thinking this device may be the auto choke:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
have you checked the fuel float level ?
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Doing a quick google search, this appears to be something you can only do when rebuilding a carb, right? so no, I've never done this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
have you checked the heat riser valve below the exhaust manifold to see if it's turning freely when cold and hot ?
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No, and I'm not seeing much info online about that. How do I do that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
Take a picture of the passenger side of the carb . The previous owner told you it had a carb issue and gave you a rebuild kit did you fix it ?
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Ha. Wait... what? Are you the previous owner, or did you just read my post history? Looks like
I posted about that rebuild kit back in 2014. I had completely forgotten about that.
I do remember I had a gasket kit in my closet until a few months ago. I tossed it because I couldn't remember what it was for and thought it might have been left over from my old chevy impala, which I sold years ago. That was probably the carb rebuild kit.
I do remember the previous owner telling me he thought something was wrong with the carb, but it always ran fine, so I didn't worry too much about it. I just replaced my first small engine carb a few months ago. I've never rebuilt one. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to carbs.
Looking back at that
old 2014 thread, it looks like I was complaining about the engine dieseling after I shut it off. I never did buy a timing light to diagnose that issue. I have one on order now, so I'll check that out when it arrives.
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Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
What color smoke comes from the exhaust ?
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Same color it's always been. Smokes on startup pretty fiercely then stops once it's warm. I think it's a blueish color.
I had a bad head gasket on a toyota once, decades ago, so I keep an eye on the fluid levels just in case it's a head gasket issue. The radiator does eat some coolant, but the radiator itself had a pretty bad leak when I bought the vehicle and I had it patched by the local radiator shop. That helped, but I think it still leaks a bit, so I never worry about it too much and just keep an eye on the coolant. If it is a head gasket and it's burning coolant, it must not be burning much because it takes a long time for the coolant level to drop. I always just figured it was burning oil from a leaky seal somewhere.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
When you check the oil level does the oil on the dip stick smell like gas ?
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I hadn't thought to sniff it before, but you're right. It does smell faintly of gas. I read that tends to indicate a fuel pump leak, yes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
I don't think you have an ignition problem ,I think you have a fuel issue from improper float / choke issue , possible stuck heat riser.  |
Hmm. Well, I'm happy to investigate that possibility. Tell me what to do.
In the mean time, I'm planning to replace the ignition switch. It's a $15 part and I just remembered last night that my old chevy impala did this same thing and the dealership changed the ignition switch to solve the problem. Seems worth a try.