Quadrajet Problem Solving > Diagnose a Quadrajet carburetor problem

Confirm these specs, please. Cadillac 500

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429bbf:
in my opinion (which might not mean anything )they look like it should idle  just fine . the problem i run into most is the cam and how it is degreed.( i hear ya its stock)I've had 2 identical 454s stock 1985 1 tons , both carbs built exact ,they should have run the same . there was no comparison , the one idled and ran like a champ, the other one i messed with for a long time before i got it the way i wanted it. i still haven't figured it out today and that was 20 years ago.i ran into one more thing that caused me some headaches. battery voltage . the thing would crank , if you put it in gear you could drive to town.1980, dodge ,1 ton you could pull start it it would run , when you cranked on the starter it dropped the voltage down to far to start but yet you could crank it for 5 minutes. (i know electronic ) it seems like we always blame the carb. when over half the time it is something else. i guess thats why we are mechanics and like to play around. fwiw cliffs parts have made my hobby very easy , you don't have to do the work 4 times because of junk parts that last as little as 20 minutes.one last note . most the stuff i work on are for young kids (no pun intended )they install monster cams , shootty pistons and build a low comp engine with a 1000 cfm. carb and they got the info from some salesmen thats never had an engine apart. and they wonder why they run like crap. sorry for the long post.

Marx3:
Thanks for your opinion. I feel pretty confident they arent that far off...
I'll cross my fingers this problem has something to do with something else than the carb.

I know what you mean about unexplainable things... I had a rebuilt carb that would nozzle drip. Stock 350 SBC, idle circuit calibrated a little rich for en upcoming camswap that meant a slightly bigger than stock cam. Nothing wild.
Even if the throttle plates were completely closed shut, it would drip form the nozzles. Nothing seemed wrong anyplace. That carb was just sick, I guess. Cliff couldn't explain either.

I hear ya on those ambitious low compression high performance builds :-) seen too many! it's a damn shame. Those salesmen promise 400 hp and too many people take the bait.
A smooth running 275 hps engine will always feel stronger than the same engine, with mismatched parts, were some of the parts "should" make 400 hp, thats my theory.

429bbf:
heres another good one . a young mans mom calls me last weekend . her son is having carb problems ,( i built him a q jet a couple years ago)so i stop over after work and take it for a test drive, i tell him its not a fuel problem , you could tell by the way it acted . (it missed constantly)popped the hood and guess what. plug wire had burned next to the header and was shorting out. morale of the story as you get older you do more troubleshooting and less work. fwiw

Cliff Ruggles:
Had a similar experience here.  We built a 355 SBC small block engine for a customers 85 Monte Carlo SS. We also rebuild the carburetor.  He had the install done elsewhere.  Came pulling up to the shop after the install and said it ran pretty well but not nearly as strong as he thought it should be.

As he pulled up to the big overhead door we noticed something hanging under the car, it was two of his plug wires.

We attached the wires and the engine smoothed out nicely.  Took it for a test ride, stopped on a flat stretch of road and nailed it..........it spun a few feet then hooked up, twisted the driveshaft all up and threw it out on the ground beside the car......OOOPS!!!

Marx3:
Hah! Great stories. :-)

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