jk4138

I have heard that an easy way to find out if you have vacuum leaks is to place your hand over the carb intake and if the engine accelerates than you have a vacuum leak somewhere. Is this true?

GD- Thanks for all of the help. I am just going to check to see if I have a vacuum leak and start there. I sent an e-mail to carbsonly.com just in case this is due to improper adjustment on their behalf.

I see. Would a vacuum leak cause hard starting or just the rough idle? If I can't locate a vacuum leak and the choke is engaging when the engine is cold should I go ahead and replace the cap, rotor, plugs and plug wires and see if that alleviates the problem? Or where would you go next if the choke works and there doesn't seem to be any vacuum leaks. I just don't have tons of money to sink into this. I am beginning to see that I should maybe see if carbsonly.com will just refund my money and go get a Weber.

GD- I just went out to start it and checked to see if the choke plate was closed or not after pumping the gas a few times. The plate was still completely vertical. Either carbsonly.com sucks and they gave me a bad choke or my 12V supply has a short in it. I am going to have to get out the multi-meter and check it when I get home. Should I have 12V there only when starting or should it be there when the key is turned at all? I will definetely check also to see if there is a vaccum leak as well. It must be that because it ran fine with the other carb once it would start. I have been meaning to replace the cap, rotor, plugs, and plug wires as well though.

GD- I will check if it I have a vaccum leak but would that effect the starting only in the morning or just the rough idle. Also how do I go about adjusting the idle mixture? I am leaning more towards this as being the cause for my rough idle. As it is not idling too poorly just causing the car to shake slightly. As far as the choke engaging before and not this morning what would be the cause of this?

It is just wierd because the choke engaged intially but didn't seem to this morning. What would cause this to happen? I need to pull the cover on the air filter housing and see if the choke plate is closing just to make sure but it doesn't even seem to be engaging. I imagine that the rough idle is due to the float adjustment being off some from the change in vaccum which I have no idea how to adjust. Does anyone happen to know of anyone who could take a look at my carb and adjust it for some cash obviously? I just don't have the experience and don't want to take it into a shop because they will charge an arm and a leg just to fine tune it.

Any words of advice would be awesome guys.

Note: I also replaced the fuel filter the week before this so it couldn't be that.

Well this weekend I finally got around to replace my Hitachi Carb on my 87 GL Wagon with a newly rebuilt one from carbsonly.com. Everything seemed to go really smoothly pulling the old one out and putting the new one in. The longest thing was marking all of the hoses as to ensure that everything was connected correctly. After getting it back in I went to fire it up after engaging the choke and it fired right up after a few cranks. It went right up to about 2600 rpms which seemed a little high but I figured that could be adjusted at a later time. After getting the idle adjusted to about 900 rpms it seemed to idle a little rough but I figured that could be adjusted as well. Well I drove home from my uncles shop where I was doing the work and it seemed to run fine. Well this morning it was about 40 degrees and I went to start it up after engaging the choke once again. Well it did not fire up right away and took me about just as long as it had before I replaced the carb. I have 12V at the choke so I am honestly not sure what is going on. It seems like it is still a choke issue but don't know how that could be. Is there anything else that could be causing me issues starting it first thing in the morning when it is cold? I am really beginning to get frustrated and want to get this problem solved. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

I have an 87 GL DR Wagon that has 185/70R13's on it right now. I was wondering if anyone knows what the most aggressive stock size tire that is out there. I am looking for a tire like the BF Goodrich All-Terrain style tread pattern but want something that I don't need to do any cutting or put a lift on it. Thanks for the input.

Thanks for the advice guys. GD, Where would I get the gaskachinch? I don't want to have a vaccum leak of any kind.

I am almost positive that I got the right carb. I will just go ahead and mark each hose to the corresponding inlet on the carb that way as to ensure correct hookup. Thanks for the advice. Anyone else have any first hand experience to pass on?

I recently purchased a rebuilt Hitachi for my 87 GL wagon because of carb issues from carbsonly.com and am planning on swapping it out this weekend. I know I should of went with a Weber but just don't have the money right now. Other than making sure I connect all of the vaccum/fuel lines up correctly what should I be concerned with? Also once I get everything connected what am I going to have to adjust to get it running like it should? I am sure this is a stupid question but this is the first time I have done anything with a carburetor and just want to make sure I do it right. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Bump

Anyone else have any ideas as to what could be causing this?

I will have to check the power steering and tranny. I am pretty sure that I don't have any leaks there either but I could be wrong. One thing I did notice was that when I took one of the hoses off the air filter housing that there was some oil in the hose. This is not normal is it? That is what made me think that is was something with the PCV system.

I had a 93 Loyale that was leaking oil pretty bad and dripping onto the exhaust and burning the oil. This is definetely not that as my 87 GL does not even drip onto the ground.

The smell seems to be pretty constant but is more noticable when I am sitting still. I was wondering if it could be the PCV valve? I was thinking about replacing that and see if it made a difference. The coolant and oil levels seem to be staying stable. I don't usually have to add any more than a 1/4 quart of oil between oil changes which I think is pretty darn good. Do you guys think that changing the PCV valve would be a good place to start? Thanks a lot for the advice.

I will look into that. Anyone else have any suggestions?

When I either turn on my A/C or heat in my 87 GL Wagon I can smell a faint oil smell. It is not a burnt oil smell but more a used oil smell. I was wondering if this is something common that happens and what is the cause. Any advice would be much appreciated because it kinda gets to me after a while. Thanks a lot.

I just ordered a newly re-built Hitachi carb for my 87 gl-wagon and should be receiving it in the next few days. What I was wondering is if anyone would be willing to come out to my place in Spokane WA and help me fine tune it so it is running like it should. The carb will already be installed I just want someone that can get it running smoothly. I would be willing to pay either $20 or a case of your favorite beer for your troubles. Please PM me your contact info if interested and I will get back to you. Thanks

I am almost positive that the spring mechanism of my electric choke is broken because the choke does not seem to want to engage at all in the morning causing my 87 GL to be almost impossible to start. I was wondering where I could go about getting a replacement choke? Any help would be much appreciated.

I am going to be changing my oil this weekend so I will go ahead and change out the fuel filter as well since I have not done that since I have owned the car. If this does not solve the problem I am going to have to run some checks on the electric choke. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

Sorry about the confusion. I ment that it cranks but it will not start initially. I am pushing the gas peddle to the floor before I go to start it. That is how it use to start right away and go to about 2K rpms. I would then tap the gas again to kick out the choke and go back to regular idle rpms. I am thinking that the electric choke is bad but wanted to see what you guys thought. If it is the choke can I buy just a new electric choke and if so where could I buy it from. Thanks

My 87 GL wagon is having issues starting first thing in the morning. I go to start it in the morning and it will crank but not turn over initially. When it finally does turn over it will run for a few seconds and then die. I have to do this for about ten times and then it will finally turn over and stay running if I give it some gas. It use to turn over first thing and run at about 2K rpms until it warmed up and then it would go down to idle rpms. What do you guys think this could be? Choke is bad or a clogged fuel filter? Any advice would be much appreciated because they want about $300 here in Spokane to rebuild the carb. Thanks a lot.