quinn132

Where else you gonna park?

Not sure how well I did on the tuning, sounds good but this is my first carb experience, anyone got any specific rochester varajet tuning tips/idle screw turn amounts/ what it should sound like?

Update, went around the engine spraying just about every vacuum connection I could find and didn't notice any changes in rpm. HOWEVER I did notice depending on how rich the carb is (it was running richer a few days ago before I got in there and tuned it) applying the brake affects the idle. Some days sitting in park and pressing the brake the rpm would go up and others it drops a little, but it doesnt go away.. makes me think theres a leak in the booster brake, the master cylinder was replaced back in November however the booster is original to the truck (Almost 40 years old!). Tried all the testing you can do with it, it still works but I think even a small leak could be enough to make the carb flood when rich. Either that or float valves a little high. The pedal also makes a hissing sound when I press it down (only time it does this). And it's not hard at all to get the pedal to the floor, in fact you have to push it in an inch or two before you even get brake response. Thoughts before I go drop $100? I'm thinking it should be done anyways as its so old

The secondary choke stays wide open as soon as the car starts. I say secondary because I believe my varajet has two chokes and I'm pretty sure the electric choke only controls this one. So it's definitely running lean while it warms up but as to whether it's causing the warm stalling I'm not sure, definitely think this is whats causing cold start problems though because a couple pumps of gas and it won't die in idle.

Said it was running last year when he parked it.. A year of weather exposure... Trying to decide if its worth buying and rebuilding then putting it in. Sounds like it would take me a long time and I need something that can get me to and from work now haha.

Thanks! Found a 94 3.4 for 300.. not sure if it will run. He said the only thing missing is the compressor and alternator. Worth the investment ?

Also, I realized yesterday the electric choke is not plugged in. Maybe this is causing the choke to stay shut? can't figure out which wire is supposed to hook up to it, is there a simple way to wire a new connection to the choke?

I do have a running 4x4 4.0l sitting in a 2000 cherokee in my drive way atm... don't need the car anymore because it got side swiped pretty bad. How hard would that swap be/ is it even worth it with 180,000 on the engine? I've read a couple threads on it but seems to me they aren't very detailed or just skim over the swap. I heard about needing to adjust the firewall with a hammer lol

I'm a little ambitious, is it a project that can be tackled in a week for someone whos never swapped an engine? I need something to get me to and from work (30 minute drives tops) I need to take the cheapest route atm but if an engine and fuel injection out of a junk yard can be swapped for the same price as a carburetor I'm game, sounds like its inevitable with these engines eventually anyways.

Set the idle a little high on the carburetor, kinda helps but it still dies once the engine is warm when you decelerate quick and won’t start up when it’s warm.. starts when cold though. I think the choke may be getting stuck/old carb parts are just worn down. Anyone know any edelbrock bolt ons or any other carbs that would work better on this engine? I’m thinking I should trash the whole thing as I’m getting fuel and spark.. tips?

Haha very true, appreciate the positivity :)

Wouldn’t happen to know which vacuum lines are the only ones I need? I’ve got a mate coming over today that’s a lot better with carbureted engines as I’ve only ever worked on the in-line 6. A good cleaning of all the fuel lines and gas tank wouldn’t hurt right? Who knows what’s built up in there the last 30 years

Whoops haha. Will check the vacuum lines today!

Oh good to know😅 is there a schematic of where the hoses go anywhere? The last person definitely took some hoses off and trashed what didn’t turn the car off as I can see where some are supposed to go but no hose... anyone have any pictures of what the engine is supposed to look like/ where hoses go?

Read somewhere on another forum this is where the fuel pump ground is (rear drivers side tail light). It was nasty so I cleaned it up. Got under the car and cleaned all the connections I could find. Car starts right up and no high/low idle.. yet, haven’t taken it for a long drive yet. Seems to die more when it’s warm. Next step is cleaning the egr and iac valves and tuning the carb!

Carb was rebuilt by the previous owner only a few months ago, thinking maybe he messed up the timing as he was having this problem about 1000 miles ago or so. Will try that wd40 trick and get that belt fixed soon! Thanks for the tips

Got a friend coming over next week to help me tune it! Thanks for the tip!

I don’t know, I have a friend who’s good at tuning carbs coming to teach me how to tune her up next week, Monday or so, I’ll ask him and let you know!

I posted a video on youtube as well, maybe this could help someone help me

I recently purchased an 86 comanche after wrecking my 2000 xj.. oh do I miss her. Anyways when I was driving back about an hour in the engine just stopped while driving. Power steering was off but all the lights stayed on and the radio kept playing. After letting it sit for 10 minutes it started back up with an extremely long crank time. I had to give it a little gas with the pedal as it wanted to die in idle. Got it home after this happened a couple times. (it was a 4 hour drive). The next day she didnt even want to idle. The engine would fire up just fine with a super short crank time then shut off as soon as I let the key off. I could keep the engine going if i pumped a little gas and then it would idle fine, once I put it in reverse the engine would turn off, all power stayed on though, no flickering of lights or anything. I was able to get it running and took it about 10 minutes to a friends house, on the way back I stopped for food and turned the car off. When I tried to turn it back on it cranked for ever and took quite a few tries to start. Which leads me to believe this problem becomes worse when the car is warm. The next day I cleaned some grounds and found a connection that was pretty bad, cleaned it all and the car started up and ran fine. I took her around the block and no dying. Everything seemed to be fine. I started it again later that day and it was idling at a higher rpm than normal, it sounded like someone was pressing on the gas... but only when idling in park, when switched to drive it would idle fine. No dying right after the start though which was nice. The next day I cleaned some more grounds I could find and the icm connection points and she would start fine and idle fine. The previous owner said it could be a failing icm as he just put one in and it fixed that problem about 700-800 miles ago. I'm not sure if this is it as it was just replaced. On the way to work everything was smooth, the idle, the engine, until I got about a block away from my work when she just died again.. lights stayed on same thing. I pulled over and tried to start it but it had a stupid long crank time so I let it sit and opened the hood to maybe let some air in and help it cool off as I think its partially heat related. After holding it in crank position for 20-30 seconds and a finess of the gas pedal I got it started. Anyone have any tips? I think Ill start by replacing the ICM then clean the egr and iac valve. Maybe the ignition switch/cylinder? It can start without a key and will crank just by rotating the cylinder so maybe thats going bad?