Hi all. New to the forum and thought I would ask a question I have regarding my 1965 Cutlass. I've started it up every now and then and noticed sometimes the engine seems to run rough. In some cases it will stall out after a minute or two idle. Am I doing something wrong on start up? I usually give it a pump of gas, and try to start. Sometimes it starts right up and runs strong, other times it's rough. I am sort of new to carbs and wonder if I am just not priming right. Some research lead me to believe it was or is the gas available nowadays, but that doesn't exactly explain why it runs fine on some occasions, and not on others. Also, sometimes it runs fine, then I turn the car off, and try to restart and it then runs rough. It's got the original q-jet on a 330 v8. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome. FYI, the original carb on a 1965 330 would have been a Rochester 4GC, not a Qjet. Note that the 4GC says "Quad Jet" on the air horn, which is often confused with QuadRAjet". Your starting process sounds correct, though sometimes it is necessary to feather the pedal a few times after starting. Keep in mind that gaskets deteriorate (especially with ethanol in fuel today) and the bimetallic coil in the choke can get weak. It is often possible to adjust to compensate, but that does require some knowledge of what you are doing. Good luck.

 

I would start by ensuring the choke is adjusted correctly and working as it should.

 

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Then if you continue to have problems rent a timing light and dwell meter from your local auto parts store and ensure your car is properly tuned.

 

If s person owns an old car a timing light is a must. If it has points so is a tach/dwell meter. Like said above, if it has not been tuned lately, I would do a tune up refresh, replace worn parts as necessary. If the fuel filter has not been replaced in a while, I would do that also.

 

You could have a choke pull-off that is working intermittently, either because of binding linkage, a leaky hose, or a bad diaphragm. You would expect any of these to be either-or rather than intermittent, but I can imagine circumstances where they could happen.

- Eric