I'm at the last of my build. I put in a new 350/700R4 combo with a D60 front/14bolt rear on 38's... I'm using a 600CFM Edelbrock with an electric choke...

Here's my problem...the carb squirts two small fountains of gas straight up when I attempt to start the motor for the first time.

I'm using a junkyard HEI rotor that now has been converted to use MSD coil & ignition. The cap and rotor are also new. I followed the MSD instructions EXACTLY...

I get spark at the plugs...
I have ck'd to insure I'm at TDC on #1 plug...using my finger on the plug hole...
I have spun the motor by hand to the timing mark, then gingerly removed the Dist. cap to see where the rotor is pointing...It was pointing at the #1 plug!

I'm stumped.

At first I wondered if some of the Jeep's previous life as a 4 cylinder/5 speed was hindering me...aka...the built-in saftey features...like the "clutch switch"...but that can't be true because I have spark at the plugs. My belief is the previous safety features do not matter since the machine no longer has a computer.

Any ideas??? It's been a 33 month build...my first...I'm really anxious to hear my beast.:)

Sounds like the floats are stuck open and it's shooting gas out the vent holes.

Sounds like the floats are stuck open and it's shooting gas out the vent holes.

I wondered the same thing...but tapping the carb sides with a ballpeen hammer should have released them...right?

...just came in from trying again...no joy. Whew! One of these times all that gas is gonna ignite, and I'm gonna need to change my shorts!

I had a girlfriend like that once. LOL
Do a search here. There is a fair bit of reading to go thru but you might find the info you need. Good luck and let us know what you find.

if your still running the intank pump for the fuel injection you will need to install regulator or eleminate the pump out of curcuit

Thanks for the replies...

>>I'm using a mechanical fuel pump...I thought I could simply remove the fuel relay fuse to disable the original pump; thus allowing the new mechanical pump to pull through the electric one...but some local guys killed that idea Friday night [today=Sunday]...They said I'd have to remove the pump and add a pickup tube. Meanwhile the intake hose for the mechanical pump is sitting in a gas can...just to see if I can get it to fire.

I diddo alot of reading last night on the boards...and found some interesting info on adjusting the floats. Since it looks like they are probably stuck anyway; now would be a good time to readjust them. I was the last one in the carb...I added two "off-road" spring-loaded valves that Edlebrock sells for rigs that will see severe angles.:) It would appear that I seriously screwed up the float adjustment...or perhaps they are just stuck!

I won't be able to do much today...got to drive to the GA mountains...to retrieve a new trailer...:D ...Pushing hard to finish this...I don't want to miss any of this riding season...I'll re-post when I know more...

Well, I called "Edelbrock Support" today...the tech said stuck floats would cause fuel to "dribble" over...or at most a tiny spurt up...but NOT what I'm describing! He suspects the culprit to be an overacheiving fuel pump...which is also new...
I'll check fuel pressure when I get home today from work. I kinda hope that's the problem; certainly easy enough to fix.
However, since I've spent a lot of time reading various "carb" threads on Pirate...I realize that I SHOULD have purchased a "Holley Truck Avenger" carb. Is what I have a REAL DOG? [Edelbrock #1406] Shall I cut my losses; put it on E-Bay and purchase the Holley? Opinions?

Thanks!

You don't need a mechanical pump, just keep your electric one and throw on a regulator so that you don't have to change the sending unit around.

That's a good idea re using the stock fuel pump...but where can I find a regulator? I was a Napa today looking for one...but they couldn't come up with one.

Also...:confused: sigh...I ck'd my mechanical pump...it's putting out 5 lbs of pressure...so it's NOT the culprit!

Just for grins, I connected everything back up after I ck'd the pump and tried to start the motor again...all it did was back-fire a couple of times...BUT NO FOUNTAIN OF FUEL THIS TIME:mad3: [edit: must have been because the choke plate was open.]


I'm almost ready to hire one of those portable car guys that will come to your house and give you a tune up...insult upon insult...

I can't believe I've gotten this far only to be stumped by a carb...or timing...Whatelse could it be? Is it possible the std. Jeep "failsafe" switches are somehow still activated even though there is no CPU in the vehicle???

I also disconected the fuel pump and connected a direct line full of gas...I wanted to determine if the fuel pressure was behind the fuel spurting in the air...Well, the fuel still spurted up...so it MUST be the backfire pressure squirting it up. BTW the backfire is more like a strong cough...there is no ignition of fuel.

Still clueless in Atlanta...

ok. don't cuss me.

but i've got to ask cause i've seen it done before.



are you sure you connected the fuel line to the fuel inlet? and not the vacumn port? there are two large vacumn port in the center front and rear, bottom of the carb for the brakes and pcv.










edit: just thought of something else, allthough i don't think it would create streams of feul flowing out of the carb.


are you sure you are not 180 out?

ok. don't cuss me.

but i've got to ask cause i've seen it done before.

are you sure you connected the fuel line to the fuel inlet? and not the vacumn port? there are two large vacumn port in the center front and rear, bottom of the carb for the brakes and pcv.

No offense taken...Yep...connected to inlet on upper passenger corner...I know the vac. inlet you speak of.

edit: just thought of something else, allthough i don't think it would create streams of feul flowing out of the carb.

are you sure you are not 180 out?

I've asked myself this more than once...I've done several things to ensure I'm not 180 out...

1. ...manually moved the motor to the timing mark; gently removed the dist. cap [noted that the rotor was pointed at #1 plug.] but rotated the distributor 180 degrees and placed back into the motor...Had the same result as before...motor "coughs"; and does NOT fire. {Hummm, wonder if I just screwed up my timing???}

2. ...removed the #1 plug; placed my thumb over the hole while I manually turned the motor over until I felt compression. I felt it build as the timing mark approached...then pressure released as the timing mark passed. I repeated the process and when I felt the pressure again [again at TDC], I removed the dist. cap to see where the rotor was pointing...it was pointing at the #1 cylinder!

This AM before leaving for work, I ck'd the spark per MSD instructions, and I have plenty good spark at the cap. I'll pull a plug to ck for spark at the cylinder [again] when I get home this afternoon. I'm at a loss at what to do next...except wonder if a Jeep [default] safety feature is cutting out the spark when I'm not looking :mad3:

Hummm, I just noticed something in your comment...you say there is a vacuum port for my BRAKES? I've only used the small one [on the front/low portion of the carb] for the vacuum advance on the dist. cap...and the large one [center/low on carb front] going to the PCV on the Valve cover. For my BRAKES, I've used a vacuum [I thought?] connection coming from the INTAKE MANIFOLD, right behind the carb mount on top of the manifold. Does the BRAKE vacuum connection MATTER???

3. ...I'm also now wondering if I "PUT" myself 180 degrees "out", by doing step #1 above...I did NOT go back and change it after the engine did not start! :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

FINALLY!...the problem was...it was 180 degrees out of phase...

After re-checking everything for the third time...it occured to me to leave the cap off the distributor while I hand cranked the motor with the #1 plug out...I had pressure when the rotor was pointing AWAY from the #1 plug!...

I had tried to fix this earlier...but evidently, when I re-installed the distributor, the gear spun back to it's original location.:shaking:

Now it runs [barely]...only on full throttle...but again...with some twisting of the distributor, I should be able to get it in the ballpark.

Many thanks to all who replied and tried to help. I've learned more than I wanted!:eek: