Holley carbs, Warning!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Sun Peaks British Columbia
Holley carbs, Warning!
For any of you who are considering buying, or have just bought a new Holley carburetor, be advised of a possibility of danger to your engines.
I received my new Street Avenger 770 CFM, the other day, and pulled it out of the box for a cursory examination. Everything looked fine. My son, who's a mechanic by profession, and a motorhead by choice, asked to have a look see at the new carb. I was astounded and angry at what he pointed out me.
On the under side of the base plate there were two good size pieces of aluminum "dross", or waste metal. One piece fell off in his hand, and was about 1/4" X 1/8". It was obvious from the shape of it that it was the left over from the process of drilling a 1/4" hole. One other piece is still attached, and will be removed before I bolt on the carb.
If he hadn't noticed I sure wouldn't have. I would have put the thing on and at least one of those chunks would have been sucked right into one of the cylinders.
I dropped the Holley folks a friendly note about their quality control. Haven't heard back from them yet.
Anyways, the bottom line is BE SURE YOU CHECK!
I received my new Street Avenger 770 CFM, the other day, and pulled it out of the box for a cursory examination. Everything looked fine. My son, who's a mechanic by profession, and a motorhead by choice, asked to have a look see at the new carb. I was astounded and angry at what he pointed out me.
On the under side of the base plate there were two good size pieces of aluminum "dross", or waste metal. One piece fell off in his hand, and was about 1/4" X 1/8". It was obvious from the shape of it that it was the left over from the process of drilling a 1/4" hole. One other piece is still attached, and will be removed before I bolt on the carb.
If he hadn't noticed I sure wouldn't have. I would have put the thing on and at least one of those chunks would have been sucked right into one of the cylinders.
I dropped the Holley folks a friendly note about their quality control. Haven't heard back from them yet.
Anyways, the bottom line is BE SURE YOU CHECK!
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11,872
Likes: 12
From: Waterloo ontario Canada
I find about 1 or of every 3 holleys are good right out of the box.
I put a new 850 double pumper on my car and on firing up the thing poured gas out of all 4 barrels,Upon pulling the carb down both floats had been completely crushed, looked like some automated process went wrong and completely crushed both floats.
Had a problem with another carb with the metering block being borous and it leaked whenever the car was shut down flooding the engine.
While I only use holleys I don't like them and have learned to really go through them before installing.
Good catch by your son.
I put a new 850 double pumper on my car and on firing up the thing poured gas out of all 4 barrels,Upon pulling the carb down both floats had been completely crushed, looked like some automated process went wrong and completely crushed both floats.
Had a problem with another carb with the metering block being borous and it leaked whenever the car was shut down flooding the engine.
While I only use holleys I don't like them and have learned to really go through them before installing.
Good catch by your son.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 14,381
Likes: 6,396
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
I find all kinds of problems with brand new Holley and BG carbs, and I disassemble and set up every new carb before bolting it on an engine. Here are common problems right out of the box:
Metal chips and chunks in the carb
Casting "slugs" in the float bowls
Missing gaskets and seals
Incorrect jets
Missing power valves
Primary and secondary jets reversed
Float levels grossly out of adjustment
Secondary idle speed misadjusted
Choke linkage jammed and inoperable
Always check the new stuff out of the box and never trust it - 9 out of 10 carbs I see brand new have some sort of problem that needs to be fixed before using the carb.
Metal chips and chunks in the carb
Casting "slugs" in the float bowls
Missing gaskets and seals
Incorrect jets
Missing power valves
Primary and secondary jets reversed
Float levels grossly out of adjustment
Secondary idle speed misadjusted
Choke linkage jammed and inoperable
Always check the new stuff out of the box and never trust it - 9 out of 10 carbs I see brand new have some sort of problem that needs to be fixed before using the carb.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,359
Likes: 57
From: Mundelein Illinois
I just received my Holley 750. I changed the jets and checked the originals, they both matched from the factory. I changed the secondary spring per Lars tuning. This carb had no issues, but I bought an edelbrock intake manifold with ***** of alluminum in the channels of the intake. I always check everything before installing, it is amasing what an upset employee can do.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,716
Likes: 4
From: New Baden Illinois
I just bought a used Holley Street Avenger 770cfm from a fellow forum member. He stated that it only had about 50 hours on it. It isn't ready to go on the engine yet because, frankly, the engine isn't built yet.
However, I will look over the carb to see if I can find anything like that. I did not get any paperwork with it. Is there anywhere I can go to get the specs for the proper jets and other settings?
However, I will look over the carb to see if I can find anything like that. I did not get any paperwork with it. Is there anywhere I can go to get the specs for the proper jets and other settings?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Sun Peaks British Columbia
Originally Posted by dgruenke
I just bought a used Holley Street Avenger 770cfm from a fellow forum member. He stated that it only had about 50 hours on it. It isn't ready to go on the engine yet because, frankly, the engine isn't built yet.
However, I will look over the carb to see if I can find anything like that. I did not get any paperwork with it. Is there anywhere I can go to get the specs for the proper jets and other settings?
However, I will look over the carb to see if I can find anything like that. I did not get any paperwork with it. Is there anywhere I can go to get the specs for the proper jets and other settings?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,465
Likes: 0
From: Orange Park Fl
Originally Posted by yellovette
I dropped the Holley folks a friendly note about their quality control. Haven't heard back from them yet.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Sun Peaks British Columbia
Originally Posted by a1sensei
Don't bet on much response. I've delt with Holley's tech support people in the past over quality control issues and from my experience I would not be surprised to hear them tell you that chunk of metal is your fault! I don't use any of their products any more (Holley, Flowtech etc.) God bless, Sensei
Suffice it to say that I'll be going through the carb before mounting it to check Jet nos., float settings, etc.
I won't print here what my son's comments were about your typical production line worker.