Carb Flooding
 

Last week one morning when I started my '67 (it has a 302 with an Edelbrock 4 barrel carb) it ran fine for about 8 seconds, then began to run rough and finally stalled. I tried it a couple of times and noticed that fuel would start coming out of the top of the carb after a few seconds. A mechanic friend was supposed to come over yesterday to help me but, of course, a crisis came up and he can't make it. He told me to just take the cover off and clean it up - it is probably just some dirt in the system. I also have a rebuild kit. He said there is a seal that may need replacement. I used to rebuild the old 2 barrel I had on it but this is a new deal for me. My question is, am I biting off more than I can chew by opening the thing up. Please advise. E.

Re: Carb Flooding
 

If fuel was coming out one of the vent stacks, then the needle valve on that bowl is most likely jammed open by a small piece of dirt. If you don't feel confident in going through the carb yourself, any engine shop should be able to go through it for you for little expense.

Re: Carb Flooding
 

Thanx for the response. I am obviously not a seasoned mechanic but the fuel was coming up through the area that the "plunger" goes into the carb and connects to the accelerator pump. Hope this makes sense. E.

Re: Carb Flooding
 

Did you try tapping on the area where the fuel line attaches with the plastic handle end of a screwdriver. Many times this will knock the needle loose. Not a perment fix, but it will get it to stop flooding.

Re: Carb Flooding
 

Too late to try the tapping thing. I took the top of the carb off this morning. There was quite a bit of dirt in the bowls where the floats are seated. I know that my gas tank needs replacement but I have a good filter and suspect that most of this stuff was there when I bought the carb. I cleaned it out and just when I was going to put it all back together it started to rain so I pushed the beast back into the garage. I will get back at it tomorrow. We'll see. Frustrating, because it was running so well before this flooding issue started. E.

Re: Carb Flooding
 

Well, I got it put back together and it works great - no flooding yet. I did notice that one of the needles was sticking a bit so I tried to clean it with air. It seems to be OK now but if the flooding happens again I'll replace the needles. E.