'86 Pickup w/ 22r - Starts fine after sitting a couple days, and runs great for about 3-4 seconds, then runs rough, sputters, and dies after about 10-12 seconds. I can keep it running by adding throttle, but again, would run very rough, and very rich.

Put camera on carb and could see gas filling up ALL THE WAY up in sight window, past viewable area, then sputter and die.

Rebuilt carb, new gaskets, jets, spent hours cleaning everything....new float, new float fuel cut needle thingy, adjusted float to spec (48mm and just under 10mm). Fuel cut solenoid clicks when hooked up but white wire doesn't do to ground, connected white direct to batt neg, now solenoid clicks on with IGN.

Played with all the adjust screws, minor differences in the way it runs, but sputtering/dying problem isn't affected.

Reinstalled carb + replaced lotsa vacuum lines for good measure.....SAME EXACT PROBLEM! Float bowl fills up past sight window very quick, then truck sputters and dies unless I keep applying throttle, which keeps it alive, but running very rough and rich.

Fuel pressure gauge + regulator installed. Reading about 4psi while running. Never overflows with gas, no leaks detected, just fills way too high. Maybe I need to set the float way lower for some reason? Even if it works, that seems like a work around that wouldn't be addressing the actual problem.

Any ideas? Resoldered the stupid grey ECC computer for good measure, but it seems like an issue with the carb itself? Or vacuum line? Isn't that float/needle supposed to cut all fuel going into the bowl? How else would it be getting in there?! Thanks fellas!

 

Just took this video showing what's going on. I'm keeping my foot slightly on the throttle pretty much the whole time, you can hear it try to die the couple times I let it up. Also, it's running VERY rich this whole time....lotsa white smoke coming out tailpipe (no catalytic on this truck BTW, it's been straight piped).

 

When you have eliminated the impossible, what remains must be the answer, no matter how improbable.
Only way fuel should be able to enter the carb is past the needle.
There is trouble there somewhere.
Maybe the seat is loose, or the float adjustment is still wrong, the parts used are incorrect, or the float is bent so that it touches somewhere it shouldn't.
For whatever reason, it is not stopping fuel flow.

 

Okay, that's really good to know! So that passage that is supposed to be blocked by the float needle is the only way for fuel to get into the carb, period? No other circuit or bypass or hidden pathway? If that's the case, then yes, you're right, it has to be an issue with that passage or the needle/float apparatus.

 

Millball hit every point I could think of. Only a few things usually cause flooding. (needle/seat, Gas leaking inside float. Float level set wrong)
I was dealing with this exact issue on a Suzuki Samurai I was smogging in preparation to sell. My culprit was the rebuilder had set float level wrong

 

Millball and Jimkola are right on!
Back in the day, when ALL we had to work on were carbureted engines(!), this happened fairly regularly. Almost always a bad float needle or a float level adjustment. One thing you could try would be to lightly tap the carb around the float area and see if the fuel level drops. If so-stuck float.

 

THANK YOU everyone for your input on this. Float level was indeed was the problem (even though it was carefully adjusted to FSM spec). I basically pushed the needle holder/pusher arm around til it idled nicely with the float level roughly in the middle. Seems ridiculous after all that time getting the float level within a fraction of a mm to FSM spec, it was still way off and the proper technique is just jab it randomly with a screwdriver until it behaves.

Soooooo, after about 10 minutes of idling and feeling pretty good about myself, I hear a sudden "Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....." sound that doesn't go away. See exhaust gas coming out near the exhaust manifold...."Ahhhhh, must be an exhaust manifold issue"....then I noticed the radiator boiling over. FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU......

So yeah, I'm guessing previous owner botched the head gasket job, likely didn't verify heads were properly flat before putting em back on so it just blew again with minimal stress. So, yeah....this oughta be fun. Never done a head gasket before....guess there's a first time for everything.

 

oR.....
Might it have been the belt, or the idler pulley, for the water pump? How about the belt/idler pulley for the fan?
The radiator clogged up?

Point is, before you dig in to a head gasket, there are other things to look at.

Having said that, a head gasket isn't all that tough on a 22R series engine.I did the one on my 87 4Runner. Mostly it's a matter of having the right gaskets, amd making sure you put the right bolts, nut, etc back in the right places. Torque values on everything is correct, and, if you get that far, that you find a GOOD machine shop to check the head. You can check the engine's decking yourself with a metal ruler.

Good luck, to ya!
Pat☺

 

You are correct. I think I'm safe with the head gasket actually. I'm pretty sure the high pitched "Squeeeeee....." sound I heard was a blown radiator seal from boiling/overheated fluid. This could be from multiple things, including gas leaking into the intake, past the piston rings and down into the oil pan. I checked the oil dipstick and it was pretty diluted with gas. Changed the oil, I'm not sure what viscosity it was supposed to be (PO did last oil change) but it was way too light. This could've caused the overheating and blown radiator line. Or, as you say, it could've been a number of other things.

The fan was definitely running and seemed happy, so pretty sure the fan/clutch is good. Didn't look closely at belts for water pump, but will definitely check that. What's the best way to determine if the pump is working properly while the engine is idling? Install an inline pressure gauge somewhere?

Unfortunately my engine temp gauge in the cab doesn't seem to be working. I should probably fix that before I go too much further with this thing.