Few issues I need help with

[Ktmrida4life]

Uncle has a 65 Coronet that Ive been working on... 6.3L 383. New fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator set to 5.5 PSI, valve cover gaskets, voltage regulator behind dash, fuel tank + sending unit, and I just rebuilt the carb with new floats as well.

Cold, the car starts up great. The motor can barely even turn over before it fires up.. while its idling it sounds almost like its missing every few seconds.. not sure what the deal with that is, but as it warms up, it starts smoking. Smells like oil and it makes everyone around stink pretty bad. When you rev it up, it dumps out a cloud of white smoke. Gets pretty bad as it gets hot.. any ideas what this is? I know the motor has a bit too much oil in it according to the dip stick.

Right now I dont have the new gas tank installed, Im just using a long gas line and a small gas jug.. the car seems to be using a lot of gas!! I know thats stupid to say, but it seems like it is using a ridiculous amount of fuel. I dont know whats normal for a car like this but it really sucks it down quick just idling there! What could cause this?

Also after it runs a bit and you shut it off, you have to crank for 10-15 seconds to get it back started and then it kinda stumbles to life.. What can cause that? Is it related to the fuel issue I may be having?

 

[70rr-brian]

I am going to stab in the dark here... Drain the oil and see if it is really just oil. A blown head gasket could possibly be an issue here. Over filled oil could be antifreeze in the pan with the oil. Which could explain sputter and white smoke.

 

[daredevil]

Does the oil smell like gas? My guess is car is flooding.Might explain high oil level. What type of fuel pump did you use?

 

[65affair]

I would say you have a head gasket that is bad or a cracked head! White smoke is usually antifreeze. it starts great cold because it is running way too rich! you will need to fix one thing at a time.. like the head gasket, then tackle the carb again make sure the float/needle and seat is not sticking...

 

[67 coronet]

white smoke is coolant or oil.if it smells like oil burning,then it probably is.either being bad valve stem seals(most common)or oil bypassing rings.if it is a head gasket the smoke would actually be steem and would smell sweet(if car has antifreeze and not just water)when you rev it up,put yor hand at the exhaust pipe and see if water condences.that would indicate blown head gasket.but you said it smells bad,indicating oil being burnt.sorry but no quick fix here.easyest out is do a valve job and hope it is not the rings.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

I am going to stab in the dark here... Drain the oil and see if it is really just oil. A blown head gasket could possibly be an issue here. Over filled oil could be antifreeze in the pan with the oil. Which could explain sputter and white smoke.

I will drain it soon and let you know. Would it look milky if there was water in it?

Does the oil smell like gas? My guess is car is flooding.Might explain high oil level. What type of fuel pump did you use?

Im not sure if the oil smells like gas but Ill check it out when I drain it. Fuel pump I believe was a airtex from autozone.

I would say you have a head gasket that is bad or a cracked head! White smoke is usually antifreeze. it starts great cold because it is running way too rich! you will need to fix one thing at a time.. like the head gasket, then tackle the carb again make sure the float/needle and seat is not sticking...

Carb has gotten to be a huge PITA. The float needle/seats/floats are brand new, why would they stick?

white smoke is coolant or oil.if it smells like oil burning,then it probably is.either being bad valve stem seals(most common)or oil bypassing rings.if it is a head gasket the smoke would actually be steem and would smell sweet(if car has antifreeze and not just water)when you rev it up,put yor hand at the exhaust pipe and see if water condences.that would indicate blown head gasket.but you said it smells bad,indicating oil being burnt.sorry but no quick fix here.easyest out is do a valve job and hope it is not the rings.

Yeah Im hoping for sure its not rings. I feel like its running rich though for some reason because the car seems to be using about a gallon of fuel in 10-15 minutes just idling. That normal?

 

[65affair]

Everyone is giving you good advise. I would expect the head gasket is bad, causing the white smoke, oil is typicaly blueish. Like was stated above, it will spell sweet and could create a cloud out the exhaust. as far a the carb goes... what are you running? i have seen fresh rebuilds stick just like old ones. a piece of dirt gets into the fuel system and holds the needle open, poof your running rich! I have seen fresh rebuilds have the float drag on AFBs. and if the pump is putting out a little too much pressure without good needle and seats the gas will push right past and run rich. many reasons to run rich, and it depends on the carb you are running. usually if a car starts right up when its cold, its rich that is what a choke does. I will assume the choke is not sticking.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

Everyone is giving you good advise. I would expect the head gasket is bad, causing the white smoke, oil is typicaly blueish. Like was stated above, it will spell sweet and could create a cloud out the exhaust. as far a the carb goes... what are you running? i have seen fresh rebuilds stick just like old ones. a piece of dirt gets into the fuel system and holds the needle open, poof your running rich! I have seen fresh rebuilds have the float drag on AFBs. and if the pump is putting out a little too much pressure without good needle and seats the gas will push right past and run rich. many reasons to run rich, and it depends on the carb you are running. usually if a car starts right up when its cold, its rich that is what a choke does. I will assume the choke is not sticking.

Choke is wide open! It is for sure not sticking. lol

I have a fuel pressure regulator, maybe I should turn it down. Its set to 5.5PSI right now.. may turn it down to 4.5 and see if it does anything. Carb is stock.. carter AFB.

I wouldnt say the smoke smells sweet

 

[shag766]

white smoke is water, ie, coolant. blue, dark blue is oil. black is fuel. a compression test should tell you what side. if there is coolant in the oil pan it will come out first when you pull the plug. use a small white pail first. if there is oil in the cooling system it will be on top of the coolant and will look a brown shade.
any of the above is a pain in the chq. book.

bet you thought i was going to say ***

 

[Ktmrida4life]

Checked out the antifreeze today, didnt drain it. Looks clean.

Drained the oil, it was BLACK, and very thin? Almost like water. Literally was splashing into the oil pan instead of pouring out. There was a bit of sludge that started to come out as well.. just nasty gunk. Motor is crazy dirty inside and Im sure the bottom of the pan is filthy. Put 5 quarts in it which seems to be enough according to the dipstick. I also had a friend help me get the new gas tank installed which is very cool. Looks great under there. Not a drop of gas in it though! Praying once I put some in the fuel gauge will work.

As usual, it started up great cold.

Heres a few things I noticed today.

1- Car ran out of gas. lol
2- Car didnt smoke anywhere near as bad as it usually does. There was some smoke, but nothing what I would consider major.
3- Car was sitting there idling, I revved it up to probably 1.5k or so and held it there for a few seconds, and then the motor drastically changed sounds? Went from how its always sounded to this REALLY smooth sounding engine. Not sure what the deal is with that.. it did it a few more times. Even gets quieter when it does this.. I know Im not making it up, we both noticed it. Sounds amazing when it does this, wish it would stay that way.
4- When you rev it up, it spits flames out the manifolds (no pipes). Not sure what is normal.. but it pops pretty loudly when the revs are coming down. Is this timing? Would I want to advance timing a bit or retard it to fix this?

 

[70rr-brian]

If you have an air compressor do a leakdown test. If you don't, take it to a mechanic and have him do one. That can determine if you have healthy valves, head gasket or rings. If the leakdown test is good then look at your fuel system and/or timing. Trying to tune without being certain the internals are solid can lead to endless tail chasing.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

If you have an air compressor do a leakdown test. If you don't, take it to a mechanic and have him do one. That can determine if you have healthy valves, head gasket or rings. If the leakdown test is good then look at your fuel system and/or timing. Trying to tune without being certain the internals are solid can lead to endless tail chasing.

I dont have a leakdown tester, but I do have a compression tester that Ive read it may be possible to remove the schrader valve on to hook straight up to an air compressor. Not sure how that will go.

Probably will do compression tests to see what numbers Im getting, and if one seems to be lower than others, by quite a bit, I can pull the schrader valve (if its possible) and hook straight up to an air compressor and try to see if I can hear where its going.

Im thinking a intake valve is sticking somewhere or just not sealing.

 

[67 coronet]

sounds like old oil was too dam thin.bypassing valve seals and rings if it was as thin as you said.was prob causing the smoke.flame out uncorked manifolds is common.not enough back presure to stop it.carefull not to do that too much,you can burn the exhaust vales if you do it a bunch.if you need to run it without the exhaust,atleast hook up some pipes that go under the car.should slow or stop the backfires.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

sounds like old oil was too dam thin.bypassing valve seals and rings if it was as thin as you said.was prob causing the smoke.flame out uncorked manifolds is common.not enough back presure to stop it.carefull not to do that too much,you can burn the exhaust vales if you do it a bunch.if you need to run it without the exhaust,atleast hook up some pipes that go under the car.should slow or stop the backfires.

I dont do it much because it is loud. Ill make sure not to do it as much.

Put some gas in the tank today and it appears the gas gauge is working! Not sure the temp gauge is though.

I did a compression test on all the cylinders. Got 120 PSI on all of them except 2. One of those had 115PSI and the other 90psi, but after a few more trys it read 120psi as well.

All of the plugs were sooty and very black and they havent been in there long at all, their almost brand new. Car still seems like its using WAYYY too much gas. Would this be a sign of this and what would cause it? Bad floats? Its almost like all the fuel the pump is moving is just bypassing the carb and going straight into the intake

 

[Ktmrida4life]

Yeah Im almost positive the floats are sticking. I have all the symptoms, black spark plugs, real rough sorta misfiring idle, excessive gas consumption, easy cold starting/hard hot.. etc.

Im sick of messing with my floats, they dont look like they would work real good. A small little rubber pad to supposedly hold back all the fuel pressure, I dont see it happening. IMO it doesnt even look like it should work.

Im going to buy new float needles/seats and try to fix it. Should make a drastic difference in how it runs, and especially MPG. I think I might get the floats with the springs in them that are meant for offroad purposes just because I think they would seal better and I read somewhere that they come from the factory with them. Anyone know where I can get a good quality pair of them for the AFB?

 

[shag766]

Checked out the antifreeze today, didnt drain it. Looks clean.

Drained the oil, it was BLACK, and very thin? Almost like water. Literally was splashing into the oil pan instead of pouring out. There was a bit of sludge that started to come out as well.. just nasty gunk. Motor is crazy dirty inside and Im sure the bottom of the pan is filthy. Put 5 quarts in it which seems to be enough according to the dipstick. I also had a friend help me get the new gas tank installed which is very cool. Looks great under there. Not a drop of gas in it though! Praying once I put some in the fuel gauge will work.

As usual, it started up great cold.

Heres a few things I noticed today.

1- Car ran out of gas. lol
2- Car didnt smoke anywhere near as bad as it usually does. There was some smoke, but nothing what I would consider major.
3- Car was sitting there idling, I revved it up to probably 1.5k or so and held it there for a few seconds, and then the motor drastically changed sounds? Went from how its always sounded to this REALLY smooth sounding engine. Not sure what the deal is with that.. it did it a few more times. Even gets quieter when it does this.. I know Im not making it up, we both noticed it. Sounds amazing when it does this, wish it would stay that way.
4- When you rev it up, it spits flames out the manifolds (no pipes). Not sure what is normal.. but it pops pretty loudly when the revs are coming down. Is this timing? Would I want to advance timing a bit or retard it to fix this?

if the oil came out real thin it suggests gas in the oil. the carb is dumping in too much fuel and washing the cylinders and into the oil pan cutting the oil. you should of been able to smell fuel in the oil when you pulled the plug.

 

[coloradodave]

You don't need the off-road needle and seats. You can buy new stock ones from any carburetor shop or Summit, Jegs, etc. If you would, please take the top off your carburetor, turn it upside down and take a few pictures of it. I want to make sure the floats are installed correctly so we can solve your problem. The AFBs have been using this set-up for decades and it works very well. Looking forward to the pictures.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

You don't need the off-road needle and seats. You can buy new stock ones from any carburetor shop or Summit, Jegs, etc. If you would, please take the top off your carburetor, turn it upside down and take a few pictures of it. I want to make sure the floats are installed correctly so we can solve your problem. The AFBs have been using this set-up for decades and it works very well. Looking forward to the pictures.

Alright Ill do it tomorrow or Monday.

What seats should I order? Looks like the 2 piece needle/seats are the way to go. Mine are 1 piece... they hang up a bit. Why not the spring loaded?

 

[coloradodave]

From Summit:
Edelbrock #1498 2 piece needle/seat. The purpose of the spring loaded needles is to give a more constant fuel level in the bowls when you are severely bouncing around off-road. The above ones will be fine but if you insist, the spring loaded ones are Edelbrock #1465.
When you take the pictures get close ups of the current needles and the floats, both with the airhorn right side up and upside down.

 

[Ktmrida4life]

From Summit:
Edelbrock #1498 2 piece needle/seat. The purpose of the spring loaded needles is to give a more constant fuel level in the bowls when you are severely bouncing around off-road. The above ones will be fine but if you insist, the spring loaded ones are Edelbrock #1465.
When you take the pictures get close ups of the current needles and the floats, both with the airhorn right side up and upside down.

Thanks for the part numbers. I will order them monday, those look like they would seal much much better than the ones that are in there. Those look exactly like what they use in my motocross bike carb and I dont ever have float issues with it.

As for spring loaded or no spring loaded, they are the same price... so which should I get? Car wont ever go off-road, just a matter of which would work/seal better.