Rebuilt E4ME, Idled like a champ, then died

[rlsterling3]

Hey everyone, I recently purchased a rebuild kit from cliff for the E4ME. This carb is sitting atop an L81 engine from a 1981 corvette. I did the rebuild, following Cliff's instruction performed a few of the performance upgrades while rebuilding. Thsi morning I put the carb on, using the settings provided on the instructions from Cliff to start with. One crank and she fired right up! I was pleasantly surprised as this is my first rebuild of a Qjet. I let it warm up for about 10 minutes, choke is working fine, idle was a little high but resting steady around 900. A Few blips of the throttle and she sounded impressive! I couldn't wait to take it for a test ride so I could start "dialing" in the carb. I backed it out of the driveway after letting it warm up a good 15 minutes. Pulled down the street and noticed stumbling when I tried to apply any type of throttle. After about half a block the car died. I got it started, nursed it back to the house and it died in the driveway. It hasn't started since. (6 hours ago) The car just cranks. I don't see any fuel being sprayed inside when the car is cranking, there should be some spray right? Or is that just after it starts when it's given some throttle? Any direction would be nice. I hate like hell to have to push this thing uphill to get it into the garage...

1981 L81 350
Bored .30 over
WG 1173 cam
Emissions stuff removed
still computer controlled

[jjr]

 During start the ECM sends a rich command to the mixture solenoid.

 Additionally, under 200 rpm, the ECM isn't running the spark curve
yet, the module's internal table is running it.

 So, there are a few things I might want to check.

 1) Are you getting spark?

 2) Is the mixture solenoid functional?  With the key in just "run" or
     the test term grounded the M/C solenoid should chatter.

 I think I read that the calibrated rich command was 10 pulses per
second.

 Joe

[rlsterling3]

I'm starting to think that perhaps it's the fuel pump and that the timing of it going out on the first drive after a rebuild is just absolutely unbelievable. Of course if you knew me and my luck, absolutely par for the course. I had my wife sit in the car and pump the gas once or twice, there was no spray from the jets. I disconnected the fuel line and observed "some" fuel come out, but certainly not the amount or pressure I was expecting. Any ideas on how to test whether the fuel pump would be to blame? I sprayed some starting fluid and it fired up and then quit...

[jjr]

 Yea, the service manual (GM written) tells us to measure time and volume with a hose
over the end of the line and into a container. That is one pint in 30 seconds or less for
a Pontiac.

 The Chevy engine fuel pressures (in my book) and which are for a 305 and I realize you
have probably a 350, range from 5.5-7.0 psi.

 So it can be "checked" either way...

 Joe

[Peer81]

Hello fellow Corvette owner! Nice to see somebody else is also not giving up on the L81 with E4ME combo.
JJR is giving you some good idea's but I also have some questions to help you on the way.

First. What did you change on the carb, what settings did you use and what is the engine combo? The more detail the better the answers are.

My feeling says the carb is running way rich, plugs are getting wet and then dies. But it could also be the other way around! After that it takes a while to get her started. But again, you can smell a rich condition and in a closed garage your eyes can stain from the rich condition.

Is your aircleaner assembly on or off the car? If it's on, remove it and plug the vacuum line. Could be that the temp sensor in the assembly is gone then the airflaps inside it stay closed and by the time the choke is fully open there isn't enough air to keep the engine running at any higher rpm.

If you have very small screwdriver and a good flashlight. Gently insert the screwdriver next to the aircleaner stud down inside the carb. You'll be right about the float. You can also look inside it with a flashlight to see if there's fuel inside it. When you hit the float try to push it down gently, if you can then there is still fuel inside the bowl so it should run till the bowl is empty.
It could be that there is no more fuel in the bowl if the car has been sitting for a few days so first crank the engine. If after that there is still no fuel inside the bowl something simple but look if the fuel filter is not in backwards.

Is your TPS set to 0.56 volts? And are all other things in check?

When the engine is running it's very hard to see fuel running down the carb as most of it (at idle) is coming from the idle mixture screw slots (I should look it up in Cliff's book to know for sure). When you hit the throttle and rev the engine then the acc pump will be spraying fuel from the venturi's down into the carb.

Did you open up the idle mixture screw holes or not and how many turns out are the screws?

Greetings Peter