Idling problem Volvo 350

[peejcj8]

I have a 79 model Volvo 350 Sterndrive in a 79 Albemarle. It has a edlebrock marine 650 cfm carb on it that is 3 years old.

Motor has ran like a champ with no problems since the carb was replaced 3 years ago.

Lately, I have needed to add some gas to the carb to get it to fire. Weather does not seem to be a factor, 2 weeks ago it fired right up on the coldest day without gas being added.

Well went fishing the other day, I had to add gas to the carb, but after that it ran fine. I ran out 10 miles with no problem to where we were going to start trolling, came off throttle to idle and it died. Tried to crank and it would not idle good, just spudder then die. I replaced fuel filter, bypassed the fuel flow meter, still spuddered. I then bypassed the water seperator and it fired right up. Now Im thinking we have it figured out, we fish for a few hours, making short runs and trolling, everything is fine.

I then run back 15 miles to the marina, get to the no wake and come off throttle and it dies and does not idle right again. I had to keep it at 1500 rpms to get through the no wake, and coming up on the dock it dies again.

Any suggestions?

Im thinking anything from
carb needing rebuild
water in the fuel
or fuel pump

Today Im having a buddy come over with a fuel pressure guage and check the fuel pressure from the pump. We are also planning on putting the fuel line in a 5 gallon fuel container of fresh fuel to see how it runs.
The tank was half full before we went. 50 gallons in a 118 gallon tank.

 

[Don S]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Sounds like water in the fuel.
Pull the filter, dump it into a clear container and look at it. Is there water in the gas? It will seperate and the gas will float.

 

[peejcj8]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Is there a treatment, or just replace?

 

[Don S]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Is there a treatment, or just replace?

If there is water in the filter, it needs replaced. But before you run it again you have to pump the water out of the tank.
But first you need to determine IF water in the fuel is your problem or not.

 

[peejcj8]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Will do, thanks again for all your help.

 

[peejcj8]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Update

I took off the Water seperator filter and emptied it into a glass jar. No water at all!

We then cranked the engine and it cranked right up and idled perfectly, I bumped up the throttle some and back down everything is great.

Engine begines to warm and the choke begins to open and it starts sputtering again.

I have my gearhead buddy over so we test the fuel pump, its around 5 psi. He said it was good.

We looked at the 2 jets on the top side of the carb, one was leaking fuel(right side looking from the front) the other looked like it was not dripping a drop. The left side would drip fuel but only right after I closed the choke some and opened it back up it would drip for a few seconds then nothing.

We then took the top side of the carb off and looked at the floats and valves that the floats close (im not a carb man so I do not know what everything is called) we found some debris in the screens that are around the valves that the floats close. Since we were already into the carb, and I tore a gasket and we were going to need a kit anyway, we went ahead and removed the whole carb and Im going to rebuild the whole thing.

One thing that my buddy kept mentioning is air leaking into the intake, im not really sure if thats the problem, I hope not, really do not want to take the intake off.

Anyone have something to add?

Thanks in advance

Eric

 

[Don S]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

When you get the carb back together, you can do a vacuum check on the engine while it's running.
You may also have other fuel system problems, try this.
Either hook up a remote fuel tank (outboard tank) directly to the fuel pump and see how it runs. If it clears up, you have a boat fuel sysem problem you can check out as in this link.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=167561

 

[peejcj8]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Sounds great Don, thanks for the link.

Ill let you know what I find.

Thanks again

Eric

 

[peejcj8]

Re: Idling problem Volvo 350

Don

I rebuilt the carb with no noticable change in the problem. I then cut to the chase and took the fitting off the tank and checked the pick up tube. The pick up tube did not pass the "blow test" It leaked considerably at the point that it connects to the fitting.

I sealed it up "temporary repair" with epoxy to see how it acted sealed. Motor ran fine, even with me opening and closing the choke manually.

I called atlantic coast welding (speedy tanks) since the fuel tank is less than 2 years old. They said to call back later and they will send me a new tube. So we will see how that goes.

Thanks for all your help.

Eric