86 cutlass carburator

[DanMan0002]

Hey I am new to the forum and have a question for you all.
I own a 86 cutlass supreme. I need to adjust my carburator on it but am not sure how to go about doing so. My car won't stay running unless I hold down the gas almost all the way to the floor, otherwise it just dies. Anyone know what adjustments are needed to fix this and maybe a guide on how to? I would appreciate it.

-Dan

[Redog]

Check to see if all the vacuum lines are hooked up and not broken or rotted away. I had to replace serveral vacuum lines in the Delta which is comming up on it's 22nd birthday.

Check that first. If that doesn't fix the problem the mixture adjust screw is just under the bar that extends off the throttle linkage, but 1/2 turn is a hell of a differecne so be careful.

If the vacuum lines aren't the probelm, I'd take it to somebody that has expecience with carburated cars. Most likely your carb is computered comtorled. If you take off the air cleaner and see a green plug with nothing pluged into it, that is a computer adjusting port for the carb

[DanMan0002]

Thanks for the reply. Not to sound like a complete idiot, but where do I find the vacuum lines? How many are there? I noticed under the car there is a thick line around 4 inches wide that is .. cut /rotted in half. Could this be a vacuum line? Thanks again.

[Redog]

All the vacuum lines are around the Carb on top of the motor. The line under the car, what is it? Is something leaking out of it? Where abouts is it Front back center?

I'm not really sure how many vacuum lines there are. If I had to guess, I'd say about 10 or so. Just go to an auto parts store and buy a few feet of vacuum line. I think it's 3/8" but you can alway take a small sample of line with you and they can measure it for you. Vacuum line is pretty cheap. I'd buy about 10 to 15 feet, & it shouldn't cost more than $10.

Take off the air cleaner and you'll see a lot of small black hoses comeing for the carb, and other "T" type connections. They rot and get brittle over time, try this first.

Question: after the car is warmed up, does it run well or well enough that you can drive it? Does it have a rough idle after being warmed up? If yes, vacuum is mostly likey the problem. Also the carb could be gummed up too. I had 2 vacuum ports and the secondary barrels gummed shut!! The car was only running on 2 barrels, but it ran. LOL, it's like a rocket now LOL

[DanMan0002]

The mechanic I took it to (who ruined my car) said the line under the car was *broken* before he worked on it - and it was'nt. He said it was a *air intake * and did'nt matter that it is broken. Its a thick rubber looking line directly under the middle->front behind the engine part of the car seen from under the car only. Not sure what it is, does'nt seem to leak anything.

To answer your q:

Well, I had no problems before I took it to a mechanic who *rebuilt* the carb so it would pass emisisons. Only after he screwed it up did all my problems start. It takes forever to start up and requires pumping the gas quite a bit, and after that if I let go of the gas and hold the brake it almost instantly dies. If I hold the gas down about half way or more, and drive with two feet holding the brake constantly, I can drive... but if I come to a red light and let the gas down too much on accident boom its dead. Kind of funny that I paid 600$ for the mechanic to ruin my car. I would say that it does'nt idle at all because if I let go of the gas it dies. lol. Its very rough no matter if its warm or not id say. I can drive it if I hold the gas down like I said. I noticed too that its A LOT louder then it was before, not sure why. My mechanic aparently *rebuilt* the carb and possibly replaced it with *one he had laying around*. haha. wow I really got screwed.

Thanks for your help
-Dan

[Redog]

The line you are talking about sounds like the air tube for the exhaust.

In the 80's emissions where still pretty crude. They ran a tube from the cat back to the motor into an EGR valve. They still do this today, but it's a bit better the way they focre the exhasut back into the motor.

You probably hear a ticking sound when driving, this is the exhaust leaking out of the tube. It only will be a problem if the "Check Engine" light comes on.

Sounds like that carb wasn't rebuilt right. Take the car elsewhere

[mjscutlass]

This is the best advice i can give u if u go on ebay find a vacume advance distibuter and a spreadbore carburater (preferably edlbrock) and go to a auto part store and find a guy that can work on cars there and ask him to help u with the install of those parts u are probable looking at 550$ but u will not have any more problems with the old carburater. If i was u thats what i would do but this is me.