ljthe2nd

I'm a C5 guy that just bought a 78 C3 4 speed in Fl last week. I was told it has a rebuild 400 sm blk truck engine in it. I'm not sure what's in it. I was also told by the guy I bought it off of that he's had trouble for year with the gas draining out of the carb and every time you had to start it you have to pump hell out of the gas pedal to get it started. Well when I got the car to my Dad's garage I looked at the carb and the choke wasn't hooked up. The EGR valve had nothing connected to it and There were vacuum hoses all over the place that weren't connected, even the vacuum advance for the dist wasn't connected. Not being familiar with Q Jet carbs, I got on the phone to JEGS and ordered an Edelbrock 1406 and adapter, when it arrived I installed it and started plugging in vacuum lines to the nearest place it could connect. When I put the adapter and Edelbrock carb on the carb hit the EGR valve, but since it wasn't connected to anything, I just removed it a made a plate out of aluminum to block off the hole. I drove the car from Fl back to Michigan (about 1400 Mi) and I went through 6 quarts of oil. It doesn't seem to be burning it, (no smoke or smell) and it isn't leaking anywhere. The tail pipe is black and sticky, ( not black like running rich, or like burning oil ). What do I have hooked up wrong, and how do I fix it!

DR.Jay

It is a good possibility that you are pulling oil out of the PCV valve. If it has failed it won't rattle if you shake it. How do the plugs look? Are they fouled?

TedH

If only... I don't know if your carb was bad or not but you may have saved some $$$ by getting a fresh vacuum hose/fittings kit from Dr Rebuild and reconnecting the vacuum system. Dr's kits are top knotch and include routing diagrams. The oil consumption may be an intake gasket sealing issue if you aren't losing it past the valves. How do the plugs look? Any oil on the intake manifold? May be oozing past the intake bolts if not properly sealed through the cylinder head mounting holes (the bottoms of intake bolts are exposed to the oil splash in the lifter valley and black thread sealer/RTV is recommended).

ljthe2nd

I haven't had a chance to pull a plug, I'll do that tonight or tomorrow, but the pcv valve is in good shape, appears to be fairly new and it rattles.

TedH

Do your valve covers have the proper baffles to cover the PCV valve? If not, oil will find its way into the PCV valve, routed through its hose and get atomized by the carb.

ljthe2nd

I believe they are stock GM valve covers and when I look down through the PCV valve hole I can see the baffles.

Jims79

did you trash the q-jet? I'm looking for an old one to rebuild. maybe I have something you need & we can trade parts. send me a pm.
Jim

ljthe2nd

No I didn't trash it, its down in Fl at my Dad's place. Its was just rebuilt not long ago, but I tore some parts off it trying to hook up a manual choke, but the kit I bought was so flimsy that every time you pulled the cable the bracket would flex and I got tired of messing with it so thats when I bought the Edelbrock carb its got the electric choke and I know those carbs, I've got jets & metering rods that are 30 or more years old from old Carter AFB's they might even fit this carb.

Jughead

What did the inside of the intake look like when you removed the carb? Clean or oily? 6qts, thats a lot of oil!

ljthe2nd

I didn't really pay attention, but I did notice when I removed the EGR valve and made the plate to cover it that it was awful black inside the intake at that point. So now that I look back on it, it might not have been something I did. I'll pull one of the plugs tomorrow, but I have stood behind the car when it was running, It doesn't smoke.

ljthe2nd

Here's a pic of the plugs, (sorry about the size, I didn't have time to resize it)

I looked at this chart and it doesn't really look like any of them, It not wet like the oil fouled plugs, maybe a combo of too rich and oil fouled? any body have an opinion? http://www.dansmc.com/Spark_Plugs/Sp...s_catalog.html

ljthe2nd

ttt