carb issues?? Engine quits on me

[cactuswren]

I'v had my car running for a while now. Always idled good when sitting in the garage. Keep in mind I have not had the car out on the road yet, let alone backed into the driveway. Got the brakes bled last week and recently been working on the transmission, changing filter, fluid etc.. Had the rear on stands so I could put the car in gear and get the transmission fluids circulating. After getting up to a bit higher rpms the engine started sputtering a little bit and finally died out. Could not get it started again unless I put a little gas in the carb. It would idle fine until I pushed the gas then it would die out again. It still starts everytime I put the gas in the carb but now it wont even idle for long.  I really dont know much about carburetors or how to adjust them. I do know it's a  carter thermoquad. Know how to adjust the idle screw.. thats about it. Any ideas on what else to try?

[Cooter]

Sounds like it's time for a rebuild. Sounds as if you have no accel. pump shot. Tired carb. Of course, I don't like TQ carbs.

[greymag]

Check your fuel pump. If it is an old one, todays new gas will eat up the fuel bladder.

[W4ATL]

I was like you in knowledge of carbs when all of a sudden my Road Runner wouldn't stay running unless I gave it a lot of gas. I was afraid I needed a carb rebuild since it was several years since the last one. My choices were to tow it to someone willing to rebuild it or try it myself. I figured that at this point I had nothing to lose on trying a re-build on my own.

Check out this Web site for a primer on how to re-build a carb.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/howto/mopp_0305_carter_avs_carburetor_install/viewall.html

And here is something I found on the Thermoquad. I have an AVS so I'm not sure how accurate this is but it looks great.
http://www.moparnuts.com/images/stuff/Tquad2.pdf

After reading up on a rebuild and getting a rebuild kit from NAPA I took a lot of digital pictures of the carb on the manifold with all the linkages in place so I knew how to hook them all back up when I was ready to re-install it. Then I took pictures of the carb as I took it apart so I would know where all the little parts go. Make sure you count the turns on the idle mixture screws by SLOWLY turning them in until they seat all the way in. That way you can set them back to the way they were without any fuss. I bought a gallon can of carb cleaner solution from NAPA along with my rebuild kit. The can is not large enough for a 4 barrel carb but I just put the solution in another pan so the parts could soak. I rotated the carb in the solution since it wouldn't cover the entire carb. I think the Thermoquad has a plastic body somewhere on it so I'm not sure if you should put that in this cleaning solution. But the goal is to thoroughly clean the carb of all the grime before reassembling with the new gaskets and parts.

This was a weekend job for me. I disassembled and cleaned it on Saturday. I used an air compressor to get all the water out from the rinse and then I let it completely dry overnight until Sunday when I put it back together. Low and behold it cranked right up and ran great after some adjustments to the fast idle and slow idle screws. I'll never forget that feeling of the car cranking right up and running great after the rebuild. Of course, I had the fire extinguisher handy just in case.    I never though I could do it but I did!

[Highbanked Hauler]

Check your fuel pump. If it is an old one, todays new gas will eat up the fuel bladder.

  If the diaphragm lets go won't you get gas in the oil ? 

[cactuswren]

W4ATL , thanks for all the information. It looks like it's going to be very useful. I guess I'm going to try and rebuild my carb too. Also think I'll get a new fuel pump right away. Thanks everyone for the tips.