dumb question about carburetor icing
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,435
Likes: 9
From: Kalamazoo Mi
dumb question about carburetor icing
Ok, i ask this only out of curiosity. Are cars subject to carburetor icing? I know flying a carb aircraft on a humid day, you pick up carb icing, and have to turn the carb heat on, or, well, you crash. Anyone know if this is a problem with cars (not the crashing part, the carb ice part hahahahaha) peace,
Steve
Steve
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: AL
"In cars, carb icing can occasionally be a nuisance. The inlet manifold and parts of the carburetor often have warm water from the cooling system or exhaust circulating through them to combat this problem. Motorcycles can also suffer from carb icing, although some engine designs are more prone to it than others. Air-cooled engines may be more prone to icing.
Carb icing occurs when there is humid air, and the temperature drop in the venturi causes the water vapour to freeze. The ice will form on the surfaces of the carburetor throat, further restricting it. This may increase the venturi effect initially, but eventually restricts airflow, perhaps even causing a complete blockage of the carburetor. Icing may also cause jamming of the mechanical parts of the carburetor, such as the throttle butterfly valve."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carb icing occurs when there is humid air, and the temperature drop in the venturi causes the water vapour to freeze. The ice will form on the surfaces of the carburetor throat, further restricting it. This may increase the venturi effect initially, but eventually restricts airflow, perhaps even causing a complete blockage of the carburetor. Icing may also cause jamming of the mechanical parts of the carburetor, such as the throttle butterfly valve."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
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From: Orange Park Florida
YES, they most certainly are, and with any carb that is still tuned for the emissions crap it will certainly buck/stall/die as the capillary tubes feeding the gas into the airstread become iced along with the rest of the carb.....I have witnessed this in a old Dodge 3/4 ton 318 powered van, with the hatch off, a buddy and I drove it with no air cleaner on a cold rainey day, that van bucked and stalled like crazy and the carb iced up quite readily.......the ill operating symptoms were MUCH worse then....
we were somewhat surprised that was the demonstrated case....
making sure the exhaust crossover passage is open and clean is paramount, apparently the Mopar 318 and the SBC are prone to it clogging for some reason....clogging with oil turned to coal....it's that badly burnt in....so that heat is not available to the carb.....
I have had NO troubles with an unheated tbody on a DPFI setup however....cause there are no fuel capillaries in a tbody....I don't know why GM bothered with the coolent running into the IAM housing....
we were somewhat surprised that was the demonstrated case....
making sure the exhaust crossover passage is open and clean is paramount, apparently the Mopar 318 and the SBC are prone to it clogging for some reason....clogging with oil turned to coal....it's that badly burnt in....so that heat is not available to the carb.....
I have had NO troubles with an unheated tbody on a DPFI setup however....cause there are no fuel capillaries in a tbody....I don't know why GM bothered with the coolent running into the IAM housing....
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,435
Likes: 9
From: Kalamazoo Mi
well i do know that most carb icing occurs between 40 and 70F (lower temperatures usually dont have high enough humidy for carb icing to form), i know how it occurs, i just didnt know that it could be a problem in cars. Thanks all!!! cheers,
Steve
Steve
