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This weekend's Q-Jet Problems

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Old Yesterday | 11:24 PM
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From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Default This weekend's Q-Jet Problems

I just finished going through 4 Q-Jets over the weekend, and thought I would list the problems that these 4 "normal" carbs had. Just for your entertainment, here are the problems that 4 carbs had:
.
  • Accelerator pump rod installed in incorrect lever arm location
  • Accelerator pump that is not fuel compatible installed in the carb - pump diaphragm swollen and completely seized in the pump bore - accel pump inoperable
  • Choke pulloff bleed calibration hole drilled out, eliminating secondary airvalve control
  • Float needle clip installed sideways, jamming the float
  • Extreme low float level (very lean)
  • Incorrect seals installed on the choke intermediate shaft
  • Idle mixture screws fully backed out, attempting to compensate for a lean condition with no idle air/fuel control
  • Bent linkages, bent throttle lever, and bent throttle shaft
  • Missing fuel inlet fitting
  • Missing vacuum nipples
  • Wrong float installed
  • Broken power piston retaining collar
  • Missing primary rod retaining spring
  • Secondary throttles not closing due to altered throttle linkage, causing fuel to discharge from secondary nozzles at idle – massive rich condition
  • Secondary linkage altered to limit secondary opening to ˝ throttle
  • Bent secondary throttle shaft
  • Sloppy secondary throttle shaft bushings, preventing consistent return-to-idle speed after WOT operation
  • Damaged/altered throttle lever, requiring weld repair
  • Bent secondary airvalve shaft
  • Severe damage and erosion of dichromate finish on all components
  • Missing choke cover
  • Secondary airvalve tension spring loose and damaged
  • Corrosion on all steel surfaces
  • Incorrect hardware installed throughout carb
  • Extreme low (lean) APT setting
  • Accelerator pump diaphragm collapsed - accel pump inoperable
  • Incorrect inlet seat installed
  • Undersized jets installed
  • Choke intermediate shaft seals missing
  • Secondary shaft spring disconnected, intentionally disabling secondaries
  • Incorrect choke coil lever installed - choke cannot operate
  • Upper Idle Air Bleeds filled with epoxy, making idle circuit grossly rich
  • Broken secondary metering rod hanger cam
  • Bent & destroyed secondary airvalve spring
  • Bowl idle vent assembled and installed upside-down - inoperable
  • Primary metering jets damaged
  • Grossly misbalanced idle mixtures
  • Plugged fuel filter
  • Defective choke pulloff - spring is too tight, and bleed restrictor has been drilled out making the pulloff inoperable
  • Secondary throttle linkage bent & altered to prevent secondary opening
  • Bent & binding secondary airvalve shaft
  • Defective (bent & altered) secondary airvalve spring
  • Wrong power piston spring installed - spring from ball point pen installed
  • Stripped needle/seat threads in bowl
  • Cracked float bowl
  • Stripped fuel inlet threads in bowl
  • Choke cover housing screws broken off in choke housing
  • Idle air bypass passages plugged with lead plugs
  • Incorrect throttle plate installed with undersized idle air bypass bleeds, causing "fuel dribble" from the main discharge nozzles at idle
  • Idle air bleeds drilled out oversized, producing a non-correctable lean idle mixture
Did you notice that not one of them had a "leaky bowl plug" causing fuel to "drain out of the bowl overnight?" Yet several owners suspected the "leaky bowl plug" problem due to difficult next-day cold starts. Those problems were mostly caused by bad, Chinese-provided accelerator pumps (sold all over eBay, Amazon, and by all the chain store auto parts outlets). Yes, the junk pumps are blue... just because they're blue does not mean they are pump-gas compatible... watch out...


Lars

Last edited by lars; Today at 01:03 AM.
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Old Today | 01:16 AM
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stingr69
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Might be good to show us the right way to install the choke shaft seals. Some Qjets have 2? None of the DIY videos I have seen show how to install them.
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