74 all stock dart sedan. Slant six. Holley 1945 carb. No automatic choke, manual choke installed by previous owner.
My car started stumbling a bit ago so I tossed a carb I bought off someone here and rebuilt myself in and it was running great again. Except for one detail. If I didnt drive it for a day or two I could not start the car without starter fluid. Once it got started, usually a spray or two, it ran fine and I could restart it all day with no problem.
I rebuild the original carb and it was ******* filthy, which is why it was stumbling. In an effort to fix this whole not starting issue I put the original carb back on (mind you it's been rebuilt) and now I am having the exact same issue with both carbs. I thought mayyyybe it's an issue with the accelerator pump so I put the original rubber cap back in but that didn't change anything.
I have not adjusted the float level on either carb. The original one is a little low from what the carb rebuild manual recommends and the second carb has it at the spot the manual says. Both do the same thing. I have also checked both floats for stickiness, rubbing, and leaking. Nothing wrong there.
I thought maybe my backflow valve on my fuel pump is bad (if that even is a thing), so I replaced that, nothing changed.
I replaced my spark plugs juuuust in case, but nothing has changed.
I did follow what the rebuild manual/videos say about checking if the weight and ball check valve are working and everything seems to be working right
I am really really frustrated and don't know what else I can change.
The only thing I can think of is that the carb rebuild kit fuel inlet valve has a different throw in it or something and is somehow letting the fuel drain out over night enough that it's not getting enough to start?
It also doesn't matter how long I crank. I killed an old battery trying and then today my brand new battery died while I was trying to trouble shoot the problem.
The car will be put away for winter within the next month and I won't be able to touch it til spring so I'd LOVE to not have this same problem in the spring.
Any ideas? I'm sincerely at a loss here. The thing that bugs me is I was having zero issues like this til I rebuilt the carbs and now it's just been a very very long headache because I can only trouble shoot every couple of days when I get the no start issue.
My car started stumbling a bit ago so I tossed a carb I bought off someone here and rebuilt myself in and it was running great again. Except for one detail. If I didnt drive it for a day or two I could not start the car without starter fluid. Once it got started, usually a spray or two, it ran fine and I could restart it all day with no problem.
I rebuild the original carb and it was ******* filthy, which is why it was stumbling. In an effort to fix this whole not starting issue I put the original carb back on (mind you it's been rebuilt) and now I am having the exact same issue with both carbs. I thought mayyyybe it's an issue with the accelerator pump so I put the original rubber cap back in but that didn't change anything.
I have not adjusted the float level on either carb. The original one is a little low from what the carb rebuild manual recommends and the second carb has it at the spot the manual says. Both do the same thing. I have also checked both floats for stickiness, rubbing, and leaking. Nothing wrong there.
I thought maybe my backflow valve on my fuel pump is bad (if that even is a thing), so I replaced that, nothing changed.
I replaced my spark plugs juuuust in case, but nothing has changed.
I did follow what the rebuild manual/videos say about checking if the weight and ball check valve are working and everything seems to be working right
I am really really frustrated and don't know what else I can change.
The only thing I can think of is that the carb rebuild kit fuel inlet valve has a different throw in it or something and is somehow letting the fuel drain out over night enough that it's not getting enough to start?
It also doesn't matter how long I crank. I killed an old battery trying and then today my brand new battery died while I was trying to trouble shoot the problem.
The car will be put away for winter within the next month and I won't be able to touch it til spring so I'd LOVE to not have this same problem in the spring.
Any ideas? I'm sincerely at a loss here. The thing that bugs me is I was having zero issues like this til I rebuilt the carbs and now it's just been a very very long headache because I can only trouble shoot every couple of days when I get the no start issue.