85 w/ 350 and Turbo 350 tranny has running problems

[Darkrealms]

Hello, I know this isn't a normal topic but my brothers truck is having some problems and we aren't sure what’s going on with it.
He picked up an 85 extended cab and it had a Chevy 350 with a Turbo 350 tranny. He had the tranny rebuilt about a year and a half a go, the top end on the engine redone about 6 months ago (water leak) and had a Quadra jet carb put on it a while before that. Oh the tranny has a short shift kit on it, I know they are for dragging but I don't know much else about them.

The problem is after it’s started and warms up when its put in gear it tries to die. If given enough gas it stays running but it tries to die.
We've checked spark, fuel, and air. They all seem to be fine. Any thoughts or idea would be great!
Thanks

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Where's the barf icon?

Engine runs fine when the trans is in park and neutral? Have you checked for vacuum leaks? Are there any vac lines from the engine to the trans?

 

[13bt]

Im assuming it has a working tach and the idle is set correctly?

 

[Darkrealms]

Where's the barf icon?

Engine runs fine when the trans is in park and neutral? Have you checked for vacuum leaks? Are there any vac lines from the engine to the trans?

Aren't u funny . . . ..i. (You just don't want him to get it running and beat you up the trail)
There is one vacuum line to the tranny that I'm aware of. Someone had mentioned to him that he could try just pulling it out. I don't know how good of an idea that is though??

Im assuming it has a working tach and the idle is set correctly?

Idle seems fine once its warmed up. he lets it warm up for about 5 minutes.


Thanks

 

[H8PVMNT]

Aren't u funny . . . ..i. (You just don't want him to get it running and beat you up the trail)

Hahaha... that's a laugh. I would yank the 350 and get a stock 22re... problem solved.

If it dies when he puts it in gear could the touque converter just be hooing up too much? Something to do with the shift kit?

 

[raevenzero]

When did the problem start. Was there anything done with it right before? Did it die on the street or trail or did it all start when the carb was installed?

 

[Darkrealms]

Hahaha... that's a laugh. I would yank the 350 and get a stock 22re... problem solved.

If it dies when he puts it in gear could the touque converter just be hooing up too much? Something to do with the shift kit?

I really don't know much about the shift kits. As far as yanking and throwing, its the way the truck came.
I don't think its the torque converter because nothing has changed there (since the tranny rebuild) and it seems to be much worse now after the other stuff has been fixed (or at least we think its fixed).

After each fix it seems to run better for a short time then come up with a new problem. He's not romping on it, trust me I romp on my stuff and he's too timid to do that kind of stuff.

When did the problem start. Was there anything done with it right before? Did it die on the street or trail or did it all start when the carb was installed?

He hasn't really taken it off road much (just driving it down trails in a friends back yard) but it doesn't really matter it tries to die off road and on road/driveway.
It may have always had issues I'm not sure. We've done a lot of fixing (tranny, then rear third member, then carb, then topend) so I cant really say a difinitive "it started when". I can say it is a lot worse now that all that stuff has been fixed. You have to give it gas now to get it to keep running when putting it in gear.

Thanks

 

[H8PVMNT]

I know what you mean I got an '80 pickup with a 215 buick V8 in it one time, a total home fabed swap. Ran it that way for about a year and a half and sold it to a buddy. He broke the bellhousing and scrapped it. That was a nice light V8 too, I kind of miss it. I just don't know enough about automatics to be any real help here... There's a billion 350 w/auto guys around though. Try some other generic off road forum where there are alot of chevys. Maybe someone else has had the same problem. Good luck and be sure to tell us what it was.

 

[Darkrealms]

So this weekend we:

• Dropped the tank and went through the entire fuel system (including pulling the mechanical pump out)
• Checked spark plugs, power connections, replaced the cap and rotor
• Replaced the electric fan with a mechanical one (big improvement in air flow)
• Adjusted the QJet idle
• Adjusted the timing as the bolt wasn't as tight as it should have been (it is now)
• Drained and filled the coolant

It seems to start fine, doesn't seem to have as big a problem going into gear and not dying but it seems like after an amount of time (not exactly sure maybe 10-15 minutes of driving) it seem to want to die again and will if we don't give it throttle. I had it idling for quite a while and it didn't seem to be having a problem. We thought it may have been a heating issue but with the amount of time we had it idling I'm not sure.

 

[MrTs toys]

To things come to mind check your choke and try to advance the timing a little and see if that helps.

 

[Darkrealms]

Thanks for the input, we fixed the timing issue this last weekend. I thought QJets had an automatic choke? I'll have to look at it.

We think one of the main problems now is the amount of fuel the carb is giving it. The jets are way to big. We had a couple of guys from a local shop looking at it today. They said (among a laundry list of other things) it is its flooding without any effort.

He's ordered headers for the exhaust leaks and will probably have the exhaust done from the engine to the muffler.
We also have to pull the passenger chevy rear leaf springs and have them rearched as the whole truck leans to that side.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[black95]

I sounds to me like a worn out carb. I know all the jokes about Q-jets being controlled fuel leaks and all, but they are good carbs that just plain wear out. Save the money on the mechanic and get a reman from Jeg's, or if you have the money, get the truck avenger......I know peple having great luck with those.