Quality Auto Repair

I think I told you all that my Cutlass has been "in the shop" for the past three weeks. I had the intake gaskets replaced and the carburetor rebuilt in January, but when I got it back it was still running rich and stalling at lights, so I sent it back to Truong, my auto mechanic buddy. He's been "tinkering" with it since.

It's pretty here today, low 70's and not a cloud in the sky. So driving back in from lunch I had the windows down on the Roady wagon and was enjoying the beautiful weather and warm breezes.

Pulling onto Hwy 79 I noticed the spoiler'd tail of a white G-body Cutlass up in front of me a few car lengths ahead. I pulled closer and there was Truong, windows down, smiling and waving at me.

Glad he's enjoying our gorgeous day in my car. Was surprised the T-tops were still on.

Will have to call and see when the "repairs" will be done.

-Mike

Whoooooooa....

lol

LOL.......... That's funny!!

Well at least I know it runs...and it looked good going down the road...

BUSTED!!!!

When I was working at dealerships we often took a customers car to lunch if it needed to be test driven. The best one was a '97 2500 Suburban with a Wipple charged 454, and some of the biggest Brembo brakes up front I've ever seen. Yeehaaa!
The owner of that Suburban brought it in for some PM, and front brakes, he was mad because GMC wouldn't warranty the front brake pads on it.

Another one: One of the techs (Mike) was working on a P van (step van, delivery van) for a snack machine vending company, and while test driving, a bunch of the chip bags and soda cans went flying off the shelves. He pulled into a parking lot and proceeded to clean it up when one of the vending co. owners saw the truck, and went to check it out. The guy opened a rear door, and there was Mike, standing there with an arm full of chip bags, with hundreds of others all over the floor.... Busted. Mike got fired over that one.

When I worked in at the shops I "test drove" every car I could, especially if it was something interesting. I trust Truong, have known him for years, so it was more funny that upset to see him "tooling around" in my Cutlass.

Carburetors seem to be kind of a lost art now. I'm sure we'll sort it out sooner or later...

The car is a 307, bone stock under the hood with 95K miles on it. Since 2000 it's had less than 10,000 miles put on it...it sat a lot. When I bought it, it ran ok, but was very weak, and sitting at a light it would be idling fine and then just for a second the idle would fall off and it would almost die...and then pick up again and idle ok....sometimes it would die totally.

Also, when it sat for a few days it was HARD to start, and once it did start it blew black smoke and missed badly for 30-secs until it "cleared out".

Truong said the intake gaskets were leaking badly, the timing was way off, and the carb was full of varnish. Had all that done, and the car had a lot more power, but was still running rich, and the idle was still acting up at stop lights. Such fun.

For you carb experts, I just spoke to my former boss at the a/c and auto repair place that has all the 80's El Caminos, and he says he's 99% sure the main jet plugs on the bottom of the carb are leaking. He says when he rebuilds Quadrajets he uses epoxy or JB weld on them, and that fixes the issue.

I just called Truong, and he's pulling the carb off again to try this.

We'll see!

-Mike

I was thinking that the carb is for a big block thus the jetting is too rich for your little 307.When
we were kids we use to always swap carbs thinking it would make the car run faster but all
that usually happened was black exhaust and stalling constantly.
M H O
Jim Gordon

Flasheroo wrote:

I was thinking that the carb is for a big block thus the jetting is too rich for your little 307.When
we were kids we use to always swap carbs thinking it would make the car run faster but all
that usually happened was black exhaust and stalling constantly.
M H O
Jim Gordon

Naw it's the stock electronic Quadrajet. No fun at all.

I don't expect the 307 to have power, but would like it to run well and get more than 15mpg.

81X11 wrote:

Flasheroo wrote:

I was thinking that the carb is for a big block thus the jetting is too rich for your little 307.When
we were kids we use to always swap carbs thinking it would make the car run faster but all
that usually happened was black exhaust and stalling constantly.
M H O
Jim Gordon

Naw it's the stock electronic Quadrajet. No fun at all.

I don't expect the 307 to have power, but would like it to run well and get more than 15mpg.

It's going to be a struggle..possibly.

Those 307's had a reputation as one of the hardest vehicles to get through smog there was. The carburetor has a Throttle Position Sensor just like an EFI engine and also a Mixture Control Solenoid which pulses rapidly while the engine is running...supposedly "finely metering" the A/F ratio.Unfortunately it's a crude computer at best, and even when those cars were newer there were not many people who could actually repair them correctly.

They aren't that hard to deal with but it's one of those situations where if it's going to work right it ALL has to work right. Tell your mechanic friend to check the canister purge valve located on the right front of the intake to make sure it's not stuck open and sucking gas vapors directly from the fuel tank. Also check the MCS dwell, the TPS voltage and the o2 sensor to make sure it's switching. If he can't do that then he's not the one that needs to be messing with it..no offense.

If it's been running rich for a while then the cat is probably dead too.

If you aren't afraid to make some reversible mods to it in the name of drivability then you can locate a late 70s Olds non-electronic Qjetand distributor and install them. Everything fits like a charm. You'll get a Service Engine Soon light on, but it will start and run great and the mileage and all 140hp will be back. That's not a typo, thats what they had.

That's a very nice car, too. I really like those era G-bodies.

Thanks for the tips. I had the same engine in my 89 Olds Custom Cruiser, and it ran like a watch and was smooth...but no powerhouse.

I'd considered swapping to an older carb and distributor but I read it would kill the cruise-control...which I love on these long Texas highways.

I'll put a 350 or 403 Olds in this car eventually.

As for the cat, I kinda figure it's dead already. I want to put a 442-style dual-outlet exhaust on the car here soon, and will most likely either hollow-out or put on a free-flow cat.

All it takes is money! Back to work!

-Mike