Sanity check before adjusting idle & mixture (1 Viewer)

[Beehanger]

The single wire ICS is simply connected to ignition switched 12V. It grounds through the carb body. If it clicks, it is functioning. The passages that the fuel flows through to and beyond the ICS might be clogged too. A quick shot of air will clear them if you remove the ICS and introduce the air there. Worth removing the idle mixture control screw and applying a quick shot of air at that end too.

Mark...

Tjhe sight glass is showing no gas.

I also recall about 5 weeks ago I had this puppy at 15 mercury at 800-1000ish RPM with a solid needle right when I installed the fuji carb. IF I recall the vacuum was very advanced, like 20+ degrees. I was so excited.
Unforntutaly the next day started it without the air filter on and was driving it, and the carb was sucking in all the hood fabric and dirt. It was chopping and struggling bad and I couldn't figure out why. I messed with tuning without realizing what had happened. Anyway, I'm wondering if a bunch of s*** got in some of the ports somehow and now has finally clogged it to infinity. I've never had it at the beautiful 15 mercury since this happened. I still think it wasn't letting me tune it though even then though.

I'll try shooting some air at those two spots @Mark W , any other spots I should try hitting in case a progressive clog is my issue? Could this cause lack of fueling in general? [I have about 2.5 gallons added back into the empty fuel tank I had last night, which might explain my earlier starting probelms. Not sure if this is enough gas still though?]

Because the rig is giving me the clue is that startup/running "getting progressively worse" and the sight glass showing no fuel, these are what I can think of:

-the carb got a clog that has gotten to the point it can't fuel itself anymore ( from the no air filter dirt sucking mishap spoken about earlier)
-progressively worse fueling issue from a bad line.
-progressively worse unknown vacuum leak.
-FAULTY vacuum gauge (I slammed it and cracked it in the car door by accident [see video]
-ignition coil wearing out,
-The alternator going out (I had a MAJOR spark session the other day placing a wrench on it....)(I did try jumping it and it didn't help at all),
-Caburtoar overfilling or underfilling per sight class assessment

Here's the VIDEO OF CARB WHEN I HAD IT RUNNING 4 days ago. (approx 15 degrees advanced, 800RPM...) I'm at 5200 ft.... I was told to shoot for 16 HG at this elevation for optimal performance.

Video Mar 30 2024, 1 29 01 AM.mov - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o8yau7nbrl308ayire83r/Video-Mar-30-2024-1-29-01-AM.mov?rlkey=gjr3pkm8st1vxb5te1kkv03yl&dl=0 ((
~Above is a link to a video of my gauge from when I had it running a few days ago. It seems like one of the cylinders isn't firing as well as it should because you can see the needle shaking rapidly. This is just what I read online.

Trying to give you guys as much data as possible, and so when I finally figure this out people will be able to work back through my symptoms etc.

Thanks in advance, wondering if there's anything I can rule out at the very least.

Still fighting,
Dan

 

[Mark W]

Tjhe sight glass is showing no gas.

I also recall about 5 weeks ago I had this puppy at 15 mercury at 800-1000ish RPM with a solid needle right when I installed the fuji carb. IF I recall the vacuum was very advanced, like 20+ degrees. I was so excited.
Unforntutaly the next day started it without the air filter on and was driving it, and the carb was sucking in all the hood fabric and dirt. It was chopping and struggling bad and I couldn't figure out why. I messed with tuning without realizing what had happened. Anyway, I'm wondering if a bunch of s*** got in some of the ports somehow and now has finally clogged it to infinity. I've never had it at the beautiful 15 mercury since this happened. I still think it wasn't letting me tune it though even then though.

I'll try shooting some air at those two spots @Mark W , any other spots I should try hitting in case a progressive clog is my issue? Could this cause lack of fueling in general? [I have about 2.5 gallons added back into the empty fuel tank I had last night, which might explain my earlier starting probelms. Not sure if this is enough gas still though?]

Because the rig is giving me the clue is that startup/running "getting progressively worse" and the sight glass showing no fuel, these are what I can think of:

-the carb got a clog that has gotten to the point it can't fuel itself anymore ( from the no air filter dirt sucking mishap spoken about earlier)
-progressively worse fueling issue from a bad line.
-progressively worse unknown vacuum leak.
-FAULTY vacuum gauge (I slammed it and cracked it in the car door by accident [see video]
-ignition coil wearing out,
-The alternator going out (I had a MAJOR spark session the other day placing a wrench on it....)(I did try jumping it and it didn't help at all),
-Caburtoar overfilling or underfilling per sight class assessment

Here's the VIDEO OF CARB WHEN I HAD IT RUNNING 4 days ago. (approx 15 degrees advanced, 800RPM...) I'm at 5200 ft.... I was told to shoot for 16 HG at this elevation for optimal performance.

Video Mar 30 2024, 1 29 01 AM.mov - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o8yau7nbrl308ayire83r/Video-Mar-30-2024-1-29-01-AM.mov?rlkey=gjr3pkm8st1vxb5te1kkv03yl&dl=0 ((
~Above is a link to a video of my gauge from when I had it running a few days ago. It seems like one of the cylinders isn't firing as well as it should because you can see the needle shaking rapidly. This is just what I read online.

Trying to give you guys as much data as possible, and so when I finally figure this out people will be able to work back through my symptoms etc.

Thanks in advance, wondering if there's anything I can rule out at the very least.

Still fighting,
Dan

Edit: I just realized that you are not the op. That explains some of what seemed inconsistant to me. And makes some of my comments seem odd I expect. But I gotta get to work, so rather than edit thee whole reply I posted.. just ignore what does notcapply to your situation.


Just finished chasing EFI gremlins and test driving at midnight in a wet late season snowfall, so I am gonna sit down here for a few and unwind and offer some rambling insight.

A lot of info here in your post that just does not matter for your existing problem. Focus!

A couple of misconceptions as well that are complicating things for you.

But ignoring all of that right now... if there is no fuel in the sight window, then the fuel in the bowl is very low or non-existent. Deal with this first. (BTW, if you have enough gas in the tank to cover the pickup... then you have enough gas in the tank.)

Open the carb up, check and see if the bowl is dry and adjust the float. If the bowl is dry, make sure the needle valve is not clogged and that the fuel pump is working. Once those two issues are addressed and the float has been set correctly, slap it back together and check fuel level. From what I remember of the earlier parts of your thread, I doubt that is the problem, But it is a known "incorrectness" so fix it and eliminate anything that might confuse the issue.

And if you think your coil is going out (why do you think so?) check it and see before chasing all sorts of wild geese up every tree in the forest.

Simple enough to do a back yard spark test with the coil wire and see if you have a good strong and consistent spark getting to the distributor. Although as I look again, I see that you have replaced the coil... so why are you still including that in your list of possible flaws?

The term you have come up with... "progressive clog"...Yeah, carbs don't do that.

And crap sucked into the carb throat almost never never never never make its way into the internal fuel passages. Possible? Yes. But put that way down on the list of likely possibilities. Way way way way down there.

As mentioned, I just looked back at your initial post... 400 RPM idle? Although it sounds like you are no longer down there in the weeds? If you are... Turn the damn thing up where it belongs. About 750 or so is good. Some like it higher since the alternator kind quits doing anything down there and some people can't finess the clutch enough to get smooth starts without a bit of RPM. So run it to your tastes really. But 400 is silly.

I also notice that you are (or were?) wanting to look for other problems *before* you adjust the carb and timing. Geese... trees... That is a damn big forest out there Elmer! Adjusting the timing and the carb and are the FIRST things you should do.

Clean out the idle circuit passages (air blown through at the ICS and the mixture screw should do it). If you want to blast a little through the primary and secondary jets while you have the top of the carb off, that can't hurt either. But I doubt there is a problem there from what you have described. Adjust your mixture. Run it supper rich if you need to to get it to idle so you can start adjusting. Set your timing at about 13BTDC. (You can come pretty damn close on the timing even with the engine not running, so if you can not get it to idle in order to use a timing light, just get it close with a static time and once it is idling you can get it more precise) Make sure your choke fast idle adjustment is not coming into play. In other words back it out if need be so that it is not contacting the linkage and affecting your idle speed. If your fast idle adjustment had been used like the idle adjustment screw (seen it many times when people make that mistake because they overlook the idle adjustment screw hiding down low) then you may find that the idle adjustment is so far out that it is doing nothing.
Crank the idle adjustment in until it is doing its job. Assuming the engine is idling now, you can turn the mixture adjustment down until the engine stumbles and wants to die. Back it out 2 turns, Adjust the idle speed and do a little back and forth if need be until you have it fine tuned between the two adjustments. Since you have a vacuum gauge handy, use it for the final fine tuning.

Once you have done this and you know that the carb set up right and the timing correct (or at least tried it and found that you can not solve the problem), THEN you can start beating the bushes looking for Bugs and Daffy and all the other suspects.

Alternators do not cause runability issues.

Your rig does not give a crap about the vacuum gauge. If you do not trust it, do not use it. Thousands and thousands of Cruisers all over the world lived thir lives and never even came with 10... maybe even 100 miles of a vacuum gauge

"-progressively worse fueling issue from a bad line." If your fuel line is not clogged to the point that it has more restriction that what the itsy bitsy little orifice in the fuel inlet needle valve creates... then that will not be the problem either. This is a carb, not EFI. so long as the fuel is in the bowl, the fuel lines and the pump don't matter much.


I see that you are in WA state. If I understand correctly they are trying to be Kalifornia 2.0. Are you still running full OEM emissions and required to maintain it all? The fact that your problems get worse once the rig warms up sounds suspiciously like a flaw in the emissions crap. If I was in a state where there were no inspections, or if it was a non-highway vehicle, I would be sorely tempted to remove all of that junk. It really does little other than making that 1930s technology engine seem a bit cleaner for the narrow conditions that the tests are performed under.

Mark...

 

[Beehanger]

Edit: I just realized that you are not the op. That explains some of what seemed inconsistant to me. And makes some of my comments seem odd I expect. But I gotta get to work, so rather than edit thee whole reply I posted.. just ignore what does notcapply to your situation.


Just finished chasing EFI gremlins and test driving at midnight in a wet late season snowfall, so I am gonna sit down here for a few and unwind and offer some rambling insight.

A lot of info here in your post that just does not matter for your existing problem. Focus!

A couple of misconceptions as well that are complicating things for you.

But ignoring all of that right now... if there is no fuel in the sight window, then the fuel in the bowl is very low or non-existent. Deal with this first. (BTW, if you have enough gas in the tank to cover the pickup... then you have enough gas in the tank.)

Open the carb up, check and see if the bowl is dry and adjust the float. If the bowl is dry, make sure the needle valve is not clogged and that the fuel pump is working. Once those two issues are addressed and the float has been set correctly, slap it back together and check fuel level. From what I remember of the earlier parts of your thread, I doubt that is the problem, But it is a known "incorrectness" so fix it and eliminate anything that might confuse the issue.

And if you think your coil is going out (why do you think so?) check it and see before chasing all sorts of wild geese up every tree in the forest.

Simple enough to do a back yard spark test with the coil wire and see if you have a good strong and consistent spark getting to the distributor. Although as I look again, I see that you have replaced the coil... so why are you still including that in your list of possible flaws?

The term you have come up with... "progressive clog"...Yeah, carbs don't do that.

And crap sucked into the carb throat almost never never never never make its way into the internal fuel passages. Possible? Yes. But put that way down on the list of likely possibilities. Way way way way down there.

As mentioned, I just looked back at your initial post... 400 RPM idle? Although it sounds like you are no longer down there in the weeds? If you are... Turn the damn thing up where it belongs. About 750 or so is good. Some like it higher since the alternator kind quits doing anything down there and some people can't finess the clutch enough to get smooth starts without a bit of RPM. So run it to your tastes really. But 400 is silly.

I also notice that you are (or were?) wanting to look for other problems *before* you adjust the carb and timing. Geese... trees... That is a damn big forest out there Elmer! Adjusting the timing and the carb and are the FIRST things you should do.

Clean out the idle circuit passages (air blown through at the ICS and the mixture screw should do it). If you want to blast a little through the primary and secondary jets while you have the top of the carb off, that can't hurt either. But I doubt there is a problem there from what you have described. Adjust your mixture. Run it supper rich if you need to to get it to idle so you can start adjusting. Set your timing at about 13BTDC. (You can come pretty damn close on the timing even with the engine not running, so if you can not get it to idle in order to use a timing light, just get it close with a static time and once it is idling you can get it more precise) Make sure your choke fast idle adjustment is not coming into play. In other words back it out if need be so that it is not contacting the linkage and affecting your idle speed. If your fast idle adjustment had been used like the idle adjustment screw (seen it many times when people make that mistake because they overlook the idle adjustment screw hiding down low) then you may find that the idle adjustment is so far out that it is doing nothing.
Crank the idle adjustment in until it is doing its job. Assuming the engine is idling now, you can turn the mixture adjustment down until the engine stumbles and wants to die. Back it out 2 turns, Adjust the idle speed and do a little back and forth if need be until you have it fine tuned between the two adjustments. Since you have a vacuum gauge handy, use it for the final fine tuning.

Once you have done this and you know that the carb set up right and the timing correct (or at least tried it and found that you can not solve the problem), THEN you can start beating the bushes looking for Bugs and Daffy and all the other suspects.

Alternators do not cause runability issues.

Your rig does not give a crap about the vacuum gauge. If you do not trust it, do not use it. Thousands and thousands of Cruisers all over the world lived thir lives and never even came with 10... maybe even 100 miles of a vacuum gauge

"-progressively worse fueling issue from a bad line." If your fuel line is not clogged to the point that it has more restriction that what the itsy bitsy little orifice in the fuel inlet needle valve creates... then that will not be the problem either. This is a carb, not EFI. so long as the fuel is in the bowl, the fuel lines and the pump don't matter much.


I see that you are in WA state. If I understand correctly they are trying to be Kalifornia 2.0. Are you still running full OEM emissions and required to maintain it all? The fact that your problems get worse once the rig warms up sounds suspiciously like a flaw in the emissions crap. If I was in a state where there were no inspections, or if it was a non-highway vehicle, I would be sorely tempted to remove all of that junk. It really does little other than making that 1930s technology engine seem a bit cleaner for the narrow conditions that the tests are performed under.

Mark...

Thanks for the info mark. Will keep you posted.

 

[Beehanger]

Thanks for the info mark. Will keep you posted.

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