Bueno! That is exactly what I am saying. The vacuum leak causes a lean condition.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I guess I'll have to take up smoking for a day haha.
Wish I hadn't messed with my timing. Didn't seem to do me any good...I'll have to mess around with getting it back to where it was now I guess.

I don't have a brake booster, manual brakes for me. A vacuum leak would have to be pretty large to cause this much of a problem, wouldn't it?

Would the brake booster connection be a decent place to puff cigar smoke into and see if it comes out of the manifold anywhere?

Cover the carb or you will get some smoke past the throttle plates.

Richard

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Duval67: Running out of fuel? Is fuel pump keeping up?

Reed: More like running rich = ruined plugs. How can a plug change air fuel mixture? I would buy the bad plug theory if just one was acting up, but all six?

Reed: Agree, but why suddenly lean? Lack of fuel delivery would cause this condition as well. A sudden huge unseen vacuum leak other than forgetting to connect PCV hose back up after playing with carburetor is unlikely on a non-power brake vehicle. If a vacuum leak was causing this, once engine was into higher rpm consuming enough fuel it would over shadow any vacuum leak. I’m leaning to defective fuel pump or some blockage or perforated fuel line between pump and bottom of tank, and or plugged filter.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Sorry, that should have been "BLACK plugs = running rich." (My fingers are too big for the keyboard and I keep forgetting to use spellcheck). My point is that when plugs look black like that it is usually a sign of running too rich. Those plugs could be cleaned, but it is true that in their currently fouled state they might not be firing optimally.

Could be fuel delivery, could be failing coil.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

So I went out today and checked for vacuum leaks. I didn't do the cigar thing yet, but I will have to tomorrow.

I replaced the cap on the fitting on the intake manifold as the one that was there was kind of cracked (didn't appear to be able to leak though). I flipped the egr valve around to block it off, was meaning to do that anyway. The line between the carb and valve is still there though. Is this okay?

Checked the PCV and it was fine, tightened it's connection the carb with a hose clamp.

Went to fire it up and I thought I had won. It started right up after about two seconds of cranking and ran just fine for about 15 seconds, then sputtered and died. Wouldn't start again unless I gave it fuel while cranking. It's the same damn thing every time!

Also, the carb gets covered in fuel every time I try to start it it seems. Can't tell if it's just leaking at the base gasket and spraying up or something, but it's the whole body of the carb. Doesn't seem to be isolated at all. Too much fuel...?

(1) Check float level (just do it). The BBD metering rods pass right into the float bowl, so a low float setting will allow gas to flow up and out of the float bowl, into the metering rod adjustment chamber, and out onto the body of the carb.

(2) Check the integrity of the carburetor body and gaskets. Were the correct gaskets used? Is the carburetor body warped or cracked?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

What should the float level be set at?
I did check it yesterday and it looked okay, but I didn't take the carb right off and let the floats hang under their own weight. I just took the top off the carb.

Carburetor operation and repair information, including how to set the float and what the float should be set to can be found HERE.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Float was WAY high, so that addresses one problem. Another though is that the carb is messing a check ball. It has the one where the accelerator pump goes but its missing the other.

I may have lost it or it may have not been there at all. I did drop the larger ball out but I didn't notice the smaller one go anywhere.,

So I didn't lose that ball.
Set the float, tried to start, it started fine, ran fine for 15 seconds, carb started pouring fuel out of its body again and it died. Wouldn't restart.

I'm beginning to blame the carb. I took the inlet out to look at the needle...and dropped it and lost the needle.

Trying to decide if I should rebuild or buy a new carb.

Rebuilding will make you more "at one" with your car. It's really easy, if you follow the instructions in the kit, and the kit will have a now needle and seat. Lots of folks have had problems with auto parts store rebuilt carbs. There are companies that specialize in "remanufacturing" carburetors. Their websites look good, but a good looking website doesn't tell the tale. Sometimes you can find a N.O.S. carb on ebay, but they should be rebuilt, because the gaskets and O rings are likely to suffer age related problems from sitting on a shelf for many years. You said "I checked the carb before installing it only 2 weeks ago, seemed fine to me...." Is this, by any chance a generic auto parts store rebuild??

ATB

BC

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'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!

I bought it as a rebuilt carb on ebay--a bit of a crapshoot, I know.
It has a rebuilt by Holley tag and paperwork as well. They clearly didn't do a very good job.

EDIT: I have rebuilt a carb before as well. Definitely not a difficult task; I just don't want to have other issues crop up with this carb...though the rebuild should take care of them all, as long as my throttle bushings are good.

I would still disregard every possibility of a vacuum leak... Then clean (very, very clean) and re- kit the carb.

It's really starting to sound like a malfunctioning carb now. I hope this solves your problems.

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Slant power!!!
At least I try...

It's seeming more and more like that to me as well.
It's way overfueling, as we can tell by the overflow and it will run when it hasn't run in a while because the fuel level drops some--once it runs for a few seconds, the fuel level builds up, it starts running rich and dies.

Think I should do a full rebuild or just replace the needle and seat?