Happy Fourth! -Newbie mech. seeks advice. Mom's car has run well with easy but regular use since new; a local shop rebuilt the carb. 30K ago. A month or so back it stalled on a fwy exit ramp, and would not restart without fuel priming. That has been the story ever since. Starts ok cold, won't idle warm, it dies but always starts when primed. Above idle on the road it runs fine until I slow for a light or whatever.

I have swapped in 2 gas filters, all new ignition parts incl.wires, gas and vac. hoses w/FI clamps, and a carb. 'tune-up' kit from Schucks with the all-important fact sheets. Also, I found no vac. leaks using both carb cleaner and propane.

(I asked for a rebuild kit but got 'tune-up'. Actually, I figured it should need only cleaning not rebuilding after only 30K).
It ran ok for a few days, then it stalled warming up in the garage. I had to prime it to restart, then stay on the gas to keep it from stalling.

I have checked everthing that I comes to mind.

One oddity that I noticed is that after I installed a empty gas filter,
and when I changed the gas hoses and clamps (ergo, empty gas filter),
it ran fine cold to warm all over the place. The gas level in the filter
was below half. But everytime that it stalls and won't restart, the gas filter
is full. Go figure.

Can anyone think of a connection btw. the gas level in the filter and the above symtoms that I could apply to fix this? It's probably something really simple, but I don't see it.

Also, I need to get the power train cleaned due to 20 years of light gasket seepage but I don't want to lose the paint. What do you use to remove a large quantity of gunk. Commercial steam cleaning?

Are pan gaskets one-piece around the rim, or a multi-part pain?

Thanks a lot. I appreciate any help.

Sounds to me as if there are particles of dirt clogging the idle circuit in your carburetor. May well also be a fault with the inlet needle and seat. These can wear, jam and soften in multiple different ways, causing all kinds of bizarre symptoms.

I notice you say you've "swapped in a carb". That suggests you bought a "remanufactured" carburetor from the parts store...yes? If so, you've set yourself back a lonnnnng way from achieving reliable running. Do you still have the original carb, or did you turn it in to get destroyed (oops, "remanufactured")?

For a possible quick fix, a couple of things you might try:

Buy a can of good-quality spray carburetor cleaner. My preference is for Berryman B12 in the red, white, and blue can. Put the little straw in the spray button.

1) Remove the air cleaner lid. Look down into the carburetor. You will see two black screwheads facing the sky, with a hole in the middle of each. Place the straw in each screwhead hole in turn, and give a good blast of carb cleaner. Do this with the engine off.

2) Carefully turn the idle mixture adjustment screw(s) clockwise, counting and keeping track of how many quarter-turns it takes to get each screw to seat lightly. Do NOT seat the screws firmly or you will damage the carburetor. Write down the number of quarter turns. Remove the idle mixture adjustment screw(s) from the carburetor. This may require defeating (breaking/prying off) the nylon caps on the screw heads, if so equipped. Have a helper start the engine and hold the accelerator so the engine is running at a very fast idle (it will not run at a normal slow idle with the screws removed). Give a few good bursts of carburetor cleaner in each idle mixture screw hole. Shut off the engine, lightly(!) seat the mixture screws, then turn them counterclockwise the number of quarter-turns you wrote down, plus one additional quarter turn, then back clockwise a quarter turn.

There's no guarantee this will fix the problem, but it might.

As far as your fuel filter being observably full when the engine won't start: I don't think that's causally related. If the carburetor float bowl is full but the engine stops running, as the engine coasts down to a stop it will operate the fuel pump a few times (as will you, when you crank the engine to try to start it). The float will have closed the inlet valve, so no fuel will be entering the carburetor, but the air bubble in the fuel filter can and will be compressed or displaced by liquid fuel from the pump. That's why I suggest the next step after flushing out the idle system might be to replace the inlet needle and seat and see if that fixes things up.

Any time I read about hot idle/hot start problems, I recommend the fuel line mod. Please use a metal fuel filter; the plastic ones are no longer safe.

Engine cleaning: Gunk Foamy Engine Brite if you're impatient, Simple Green if you've got time. Some of the paint WILL come off whether you clean the engine or not, and however which way you clean it.

Oil pan gaskets, regrettably, are 4-piece items.

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What year is this car? model?
I would start with a soft nylon brush and a mild cleaner in a squirt bottle followed by a garden hose with low pressure. However I doubt that you will be able to get "20 years worth" off without taking some paint off too. I would advoid "foamy" engine cleaners, as they have solvents that might eat questionable paint.

all cast iron slant pan gaskets iirc are 4 pieces

Tophat - It's a '77 Aspen Super w/AT. I forgot what iirc means.
(I'm a bit twisted right now because the local delinquents fired a bunch of
big rockets straight at the house last night and the local law won't do anything. These kids just yell FY when I told them to stop.)

Dan - Thanks a lot for all the info. Re: the carb - I'm working with the carb that was already on the car before I got involved. Receipts show that
it was rebuilt and re-installed, not exch. If that can be believed.
I have been very concerned about removing/tweaking the mix screws (no caps) because someone told me that if I did that parts could fall into the
engine. Guess not.
Knowing that I can do this is a big step forward.

The goo is so thick that I have to scrape off the hardened stuff on the bottom with paint and putty scrapers. (Mom wants me to try to save as
much of the paint as I can because it's her favorite color. What can I say?)

After I fix the carb, I'll check for threads about the gaskets. Might be a bit
much for me right now.

Thanks again.

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly

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1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO