CO is killing me.

[MrEllis]

I would agree. I have a totally stock 88 Ram D 350 gas engine pickup with a carb.
Last year for a one ton no cat truck. It stinks . Hydrocarbons increase the leaner the carb gets.
That was according to the local smog tech. It passed smog every year. My 2 cents..

Cool, I'll sell it I guess. Thanks for the help!

 

[MrEllis]

My charger runs rich, eyes burn i start to cough. Got to love it. One day I’ll work on carbs.

This one is more headaches and lungs stop working bad. It's precursor to poisoning. Not a good time at all.

 

[MrEllis]

Get a timing light. Set your timing to 34 total with vacuum advance disconnected. Adjusting idle mixture screws does very little to nothing for cruise and wot mixture. I would get a tuning kit for carb with jets and metering rods. Get a wideband and watch videos of how to use it. Read or watch videos about how to tune an edelbrock carb. You are going about it all wrong and expecting impossible improvements, given your methodology. By leaning idle out, it could make co worse.

A timing light on an old engine is not as useful as a timing light on a new one. Leaning out could make it worse, but a leaned engine smells different. This is something beyond what the timing light and some carb adjustment screws could do. But I will get one, we'll reset everything to baseline and go from there. THEN, let's assume we're back in this spot again, what would you suggest it is?

 

[Kern Dog]

I had a timing light, but never used it, it's broke I found out. I haven't had a car I could work on in years. I did networking and had gear to test air quality in weird places because someone gave it to me. I didn't realize there would be a test on that, sorry.

I meant no offense. It just reminded me of the guy that operates a tractor but never used a shovel.
Cheers.

 

[MrEllis]

You probably need to tune your carburetor for the altitude that you are at. Probably change the rods and jets. The screws on the front are only for fine tuning. The Edelbrock manual tells you how to do it. It is hard to guess the timing correctly, you should set it with a timing light.

I'm at 400'. It has the stock jets and rods. I used their, slightly handy dandy chart to find a leaner set. I dunno probably just replace the carb. It sat with little use for years.

 

[MrEllis]

I meant no offense. It just reminded me of the guy that operates a tractor but never used a shovel.
Cheers.

I'm ignorant, but not an idiot. No worries.

 

[MrEllis]

What method are you using to determine lean or rich condition? A/F meter?

Me buying an A/F meter at this stage is like handing a monkey a gun. I'm doing it how we did when we were young a broke. Lean has that stench to it that's different. You smell it in the back of your nose. The car starts pinging on load, uphill. Things like that. It's not science, sure, but I'm not really going to start buying two hundred+ dollar tools when my diagnostic skills aren't up to par. Aren't you supposed to use a dual one as well? At that point I would most likely ask a professional. I was looking for more shade tree mechanic kind of help, this is, yeah, this place is pretty salty.

 

[1967coronet]

Just to toss this in about the timing light. Most auto parts places like auto zone, orileys, advanced, ect have a tool loan or rental program.

 

[MrEllis]

Just to toss this in about the timing light. Most auto parts places like auto zone, orileys, advanced, ect have a tool loan or rental program.

I planned on going to Harbor Freight this weekend. I'll get one, but older motors I've messed with never ran to spec. They seemed to be happier if juggled everything a bit and sort of tuned by ear than if you tuned it to factory. I'm more interested in one with a RPM meter as well. But yeah, I'll get one. The advancing or retarding is not so out of whack it would act this way. I'm guessing, with very limited knowledge, it's the fuel pump putting out over spec pressure, maybe the PCV valve acting up or the carb needs replaced because of the bowl size. This car could have been running differently when someone put the carb in. I know they had a taller gear ratio prior, and I saw a line lock under the dash, which, come on man, it's a 4 door cruiser, calm down. So maybe it was being built different before I got it?

 

[Mackman]

Me buying an A/F meter at this stage is like handing a monkey a gun. I'm doing it how we did when we were young a broke. Lean has that stench to it that's different. You smell it in the back of your nose. The car starts pinging on load, uphill. Things like that. It's not science, sure, but I'm not really going to start buying two hundred+ dollar tools when my diagnostic skills aren't up to par. Aren't you supposed to use a dual one as well? At that point I would most likely ask a professional. I was looking for more shade tree mechanic kind of help, this is, yeah, this place is pretty salty.

Probably your best bet would be to take it to a professional.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Me buying an A/F meter at this stage is like handing a monkey a gun. I'm doing it how we did when we were young a broke. Lean has that stench to it that's different. You smell it in the back of your nose. The car starts pinging on load, uphill. Things like that. It's not science, sure, but I'm not really going to start buying two hundred+ dollar tools when my diagnostic skills aren't up to par. Aren't you supposed to use a dual one as well? At that point I would most likely ask a professional. I was looking for more shade tree mechanic kind of help, this is, yeah, this place is pretty salty.

Just for some background, I own a chassis dynomometer, i owned a speed shop and specialized in tuning both efi and carbs and now I work for a big 3 manufacturer troubleshooting problem vehicles. 2 things and then I'll leave this discussion alone.
1. You just said what every guy who came into my shop said before they paid me to get their car right. Timing is never even close by ear. Maybe in the ballpark, but a ballpark is a big frickin place.
2. They would tell me it was lean, and it would be rich, they'd tell me it was rich and it would be lean. Only a wideband a/f ratio gauge will tell you definitively what it is. You only need one and they are in the 100 to 200 buck range. Reading the plugs can help, but it's tough to tell if it's idle, cruise or wot that is either rich or lean. I only use plugs for dialing in timing at wot and cruise.

Bottom line, what I think and others think doesn't matter, it's your car and you're working on it so you do what you feel is right. Just don't get on a message board and expect everyone to agree with you or be careful not to offend you.
I agree, take it to your local dyno shop and have them dial in the car for idle, cruise and wot.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Time and tune for sure. My own motor runs well and is tuned correctly, but it still has noticeable exhaust smell. I recently found out you can buy race style catalytic converters and install and that's supposed to cure the smell. 2 of my classic mopar buddies have some installed with good results, so I have a pair on order from Summit for my car.

 

[MrEllis]

Just for some background, I own a chassis dynomometer, i owned a speed shop and specialized in tuning both efi and carbs and now I work for a big 3 manufacturer troubleshooting problem vehicles. 2 things and then I'll leave this discussion alone.
1. You just said what every guy who came into my shop said before they paid me to get their car right. Timing is never even close by ear. Maybe in the ballpark, but a ballpark is a big frickin place.
2. They would tell me it was lean, and it would be rich, they'd tell me it was rich and it would be lean. Only a wideband a/f ratio gauge will tell you definitively what it is. You only need one and they are in the 100 to 200 buck range. Reading the plugs can help, but it's tough to tell if it's idle, cruise or wot that is either rich or lean. I only use plugs for dialing in timing at wot and cruise.

Bottom line, what I think and others think doesn't matter, it's your car and you're working on it so you do what you feel is right. Just don't get on a message board and expect everyone to agree with you or be careful not to offend you.
I agree, take it to your local dyno shop and have them dial in the car for idle, cruise and wot.

Cool, thanks.

 

[MrEllis]

Time and tune for sure. My own motor runs well and is tuned correctly, but it still has noticeable exhaust smell. I recently found out you can buy race style catalytic converters and install and that's supposed to cure the smell. 2 of my classic mopar buddies have some installed with good results, so I have a pair on order from Summit for my car.

Heh, it's not just a smell, the car legitimately gives people carbon monoxide poisoning that stand behind it. Not just me, everyone. Even the saltiest, wisest, most worldly person here.

Thing is a widowmaker right now.

I've notice it has no fuel pressure regulator, so I've ordered one, a new PCV valve, will replace some hoses only replace the pump if I have to, change plugs, time it with a fun, then adjust it some more because it won't run factory spec and if that fails I'll decide if I rebuild the carb or get a new one with a smaller bowl.

But yeah, I've seen the high flow cats it whatever they call them, it's good to hear they work some. I may look into them after that. But sometime more dire is going on than just some exhaust.

Thanks for input!

 

[Kern Dog]

I recently found out you can buy race style catalytic converters and install and that's supposed to cure the smell. 2 of my classic mopar buddies have some installed with good results

Putting catalytic converters on classic cars is as UNmanly as this scene….

 

[66 Sat]

Don't agree with that all. My masculinity is not linked to breathing in noxious chemicals in any way.
I wear disposable gloves these days when changing the oil or working on the carb and I wear a proper mask when sanding plasterboard (dry wall in USA) or spray painting.
Wanting to stay healthy doesn't make you a pussy.

 

[Kern Dog]

Pffft. It was a joke.
The world has gone soft.
If you can’t stand a little gas fumes, maybe a bicycle is a better choice for some of you guys.
If you can’t tune your car to run right, you resort to crutches like catalytic converters or EFI.
Hey, I’m not against new tech to make things better but some guys get used to how new cars are and forget that the classics are far less refined than what is sold new today. I’m all for overdrive transmissions and big brakes but come on… we used to rip out converters and weld in straight pipes in our cars and now some dudes want to put them in cars that never had them and aren’t mandated by law?

How do I get so lucky?
I don’t have smelly classics. My red car has a fat cam and a Demon 850 yet it runs great and puts out fewer emissions than my ex wife.

 

[Bee1971]

I will go ahead and say it

Then wait for all the tuning experts to tell me what I already know X 100 + 100 - 100 = 100

Take your Edelbrock 1411 off , find a door that won’t stay open - EBay - Facebook Marketplace - Dumpster

And get yourself another carburetor - And I have nothing against Carter or Edelbrock carbs , I run one or two three four or five

And I have nothing against Holley

However

 

[MrEllis]

Pffft. It was a joke.
The world has gone soft.
If you can’t stand a little gas fumes, maybe a bicycle is a better choice for some of you guys.
If you can’t tune your car to run right, you resort to crutches like catalytic converters or EFI.
Hey, I’m not against new tech to make things better but some guys get used to how new cars are and forget that the classics are far less refined than what is sold new today. I’m all for overdrive transmissions and big brakes but come on… we used to rip out converters and weld in straight pipes in our cars and now some dudes want to put them in cars that never had them and aren’t mandated by law?


View attachment 1718942


How do I get so lucky?
I don’t have smelly classics. My red car has a fat cam and a Demon 850 yet it runs great and puts out fewer emissions than my ex wife.

It's beyond smell, my dude. I think everyone is busy dick sizing and missing that point. No problems with my '76 Dart, my '69 New Yorker or my '72 G20.

I literally took a CO meter to the back of it and a '64 Galaxy, side by side, and it was almost twenty times worse. And this was a daily driver, not a garage Queen.

Asking for help is all, most people are fixated with the big three I've that I've seen in this forum's prior postings, trunk seal, a leak or the timing. None of these have solved any thread here, that I saw. I'm looking for input from folks who experienced this in hopes of not having someone canon parts into it. Because yeah, I picked up a classic, but I'm not made of money.

Dude was trying to help me, I appreciate that. He wasn't gatekeeping, he wasn't being a jack wagon about it, he was saying his bit. And it was information I may use. My car is a daily driver, a cruiser, not a track car or a show car.

 

[Kern Dog]

My comments are aimed toward the catalytic converters suggestion.
I know the guy that posted it, I was joking with him about it. Dwayne is a good guy but he sometimes over thinks things.