Need help
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 79
Likes: 7
From: California.
Need help
Hello I have a 1976 corvette and it has the 350 and I’m having problems with the engine staying alive. At first the carburetor (quadrajet) wasn’t working and wasn’t delivering gas so we had to pour it in so we replaced it and the new quadrajet works great but the car doesn’t want to stay alive unless you are Reving the engine which I’m not sure why it dies if you don’t after a couple of seconds? Any fix to this?
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 173
Likes: 79
Here's a couple of papers by Lars who knows a lot about Quadrajets.
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...arb_Tuning.pdf
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...leshooting.pdf
Assuming your fuel pump is delivering fuel to the carb. Double check your timing and check for any vacuum leaks then have a good read of the above papers.
Was the new quadrajet a rebuilt carb? Is it only like this on cold starts? What type of choke?
A video may help too!
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...arb_Tuning.pdf
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...leshooting.pdf
Assuming your fuel pump is delivering fuel to the carb. Double check your timing and check for any vacuum leaks then have a good read of the above papers.
Was the new quadrajet a rebuilt carb? Is it only like this on cold starts? What type of choke?
A video may help too!
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 79
Likes: 7
From: California.
Here's a couple of papers by Lars who knows a lot about Quadrajets.
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...arb_Tuning.pdf
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...leshooting.pdf
Assuming your fuel pump is delivering fuel to the carb. Double check your timing and check for any vacuum leaks then have a good read of the above papers.
Was the new quadrajet a rebuilt carb? Is it only like this on cold starts? What type of choke?
A video may help too!
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...arb_Tuning.pdf
http://corvette-restoration.com/wp-c...leshooting.pdf
Assuming your fuel pump is delivering fuel to the carb. Double check your timing and check for any vacuum leaks then have a good read of the above papers.
Was the new quadrajet a rebuilt carb? Is it only like this on cold starts? What type of choke?
A video may help too!
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 14,370
Likes: 6,364
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Your problem is that you bought a commercially rebuilt carb. It is complete junk, and likely has an inoperative idle circuit, amongst many other problems. Use it as a door stop and find a good, used, original, rebuildable carb. Hopefully, you kept the original carb off your engine and didn't trade it in on the junk carb - that would have been a very bad idea. It's highly unlikely that you will be able to do anything to the junk carb you bought to make it run right - I typically throw them in the trash can since there are usually no usable or salvageable parts on those carbs. If you'd like a list of all the issues you have going on with that carb, send me an e-mail request for my "Commercially Rebuilt Q-Jet Problems" paper.
Lars
V8FastCars@msn.com
Lars
V8FastCars@msn.com
Last edited by lars; Nov 26, 2020 at 01:37 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 157
Likes: 29
From: Montezuma Ga
My 2 cents is 100% timing. I know exactly what the Whoomp sound is and its that the timing is off. You will have to do as mentioned above with setting the #1 piston at top dead center, aligning the balancer to 0 degrees on the pointer and reinstalling the distributor with the rotor pointing to the #1 plug position. Good luck
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 53,648
Likes: 878
From: Southern Cal Ca
St. Jude Donor '22
Hello I have a 1976 corvette and it has the 350 and I’m having problems with the engine staying alive. At first the carburetor (quadrajet) wasn’t working and wasn’t delivering gas so we had to pour it in so we replaced it and the new quadrajet works great but the car doesn’t want to stay alive unless you are Reving the engine which I’m not sure why it dies if you don’t after a couple of seconds? Any fix to this?
have you turned the idle screw?
checked timing?
can you use your foot to get any idle that stays running at any static rpm?
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
