53 Buick carb issue PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[71Scamper]

I know it's not a Mopar but I have a problem with a customers 53 Buick that I just can't solve and I know there's got to be someone on here that can help me out.

It's a 53 Buick Special, Straight 8 engine, Carter WCD 882-sa 2 barrel. The car sat for 2 years then the owner wanted to put it back on the road. The carb was full of crap and would barely run at all. I took the carb apart and put a new kit into it. The car idles the balls now. The problem i'm having is the accelerator pump won't pump. I have gone through this carb 6 times now. all passage ways are clean. all check balls are installed and free floating. I even changed the accelerator pump plunger again thinking the leather cup was defective. It hasn't gotten any better. Has anyone that has worked on one of these carbs have this same problem or does anyone have an idea of the problem?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Does the pump have the support sprAng under the leather cup? Also, they almost ALWAYS have an pump check ball under the pump. Did you find that? Sometimes they are in the bottom of the float bowl under a set screw. I'm guessing because I cannot picture which carburetor that is.

 

[Bad Sport]

Was the leather pump shot or just dried out? I have read that sometimes it's better to try and soften and reuse the leather pump than replace it with a rubber one.

 

[cudavert]

With the carb apart, you should be able to blow air (or some kind of liquid) from the bottom of the accelerator pump well (there's a hole at the bottom, right?) out the hole at the bottom and out to the sprayers near the venturis.

Sometimes (and I'm not familiar with this carb) the little check balls aren't in their right location or have some gunk holding them open and off their seats, and this allows the gas to be pumped back up into the float bowl instead of up and out to the nozzles.

Hope this helps....

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yes, it has a hole at the bottom with a check ball. I said ball. heh heh heh huh huh huh. I went online and found a diagram. You need to make SURE that passage is unblocked and the check ball is put back in place. The check ball keeps fuel from being pulled through the pump squirter while the engine is running. I bet that passage is blocked with the same crud that was in the carb.

 

[71Scamper]

First, I want to thank eveyone for not getting on me because it's not a Mopar and also for the help.

I completely soaked the carb in the "good stuff" for a night. I blew out all the passage ways and even ran a wire through them all to be sure I got all the crud out. Yes the check ball is installed in the bottom of the pump well. There is also a small weighted check valve under the screw for the squirters, and that is installed. I noticed that I have a small shot of fuel at the end of the plungers travel in the well.

Badsport, the original plunger was missing the leather. the new ones only come in leather. I wish it came in the neoprene like the quadrajet carbs and so forth.

RRR, ya the garter spring is in there. I thought the same thing that maybe I had to transfer it over from the old one but it did come with it.

 

[cuda65vpt]

Did you oil that new leather up and get it nice and flexible? I have one of those carbs off a 50 Buick but it likely needs rebuilt too. I lucked out on epay and found a NOS for my car.

 

[bigtom]

I rebuilt a Rochester once and had the same problem. It turns out that one of the three screws holding the part that squirted the gas out had a cutout to let the gas through..

 

[cudavert]

With the carb apart on a bench, you should be able to move that plunger up and down by hand (like I said, with some kind of liquid) and see where it's going. Either there's a bad seal between the plunger's leather seal and the wall of the pump well or it's being pumped back into the float bowl.

I once had an AFB Carter that had some bad pitting on the accelerator pump walls and could only get a small squirt at the end of the piston's stroke, like you mentioned.

 

[71Scamper]

Did you oil that new leather up and get it nice and flexible? I have one of those carbs off a 50 Buick but it likely needs rebuilt too. I lucked out on epay and found a NOS for my car.

Actually I did the second time around. I watched a video on youtube from Mike's Carbs (that guy is the coolest guy ever) and he recommends using silicone lube to swell it up.

With the carb apart on a bench, you should be able to move that plunger up and down by hand (like I said, with some kind of liquid) and see where it's going. Either there's a bad seal between the plunger's leather seal and the wall of the pump well or it's being pumped back into the float bowl.

I once had an AFB Carter that had some bad pitting on the accelerator pump walls and could only get a small squirt at the end of the piston's stroke, like you mentioned.

The carb is exceptionally clean with no pitting at all on the inside. The next step would be to disassemble and manually plunge it and see what happens.