83 Southwind 454 boggs badly

[jt1]

I have a 1983 Fleetwood Southwind 27ft class A with a Chevy 454 4BBL engine.
Ran fine last year but this year it starts up and idles fine, if you drive it while pushing on the gas pedal very lightlyit is fine but if you push the pedal down too far (like 1" or more) then it sputters/boggs/backfires/decellerates till i let up on the pedal.
Any guesses?

thanks.

[JimElliott]

Yep, On the carb (Rochester center) you will see a tube sticking up....
Pour some "Seafoam" down the throat of that pipe till it overflows a dab then let it sit overnight.
Run it the next day and repeat as needed.
"Berryman B-12" will clean it also but get the spray can.

Jim

[bdpreece]

Sure sounds like carb problems. Other thing to check is pull the dog house after dark and watch for shorting wires. Sometimes critters will get in there and chew on the wiring.

[TXiceman]

The good old QuadraJet. If the cleaning fluid does not work, plan to do a rebuild job. There a lot of parts in the card and it takes some work. It may be the accelerator pump.

Ken

[Campingman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman The good old QuadraJet. If the cleaning fluid does not work, plan to do a rebuild job. There a lot of parts in the card and it takes some work. It may be the accelerator pump. Ken

Had a lot of Quadrajet carbs and that is what I thought of first.It may be the accelerator pump.
Easy fix if all else is ok.

[bigskymt]

If it bogs under acceleration (and then catches up) it most likely the accelerator pump. Quadrajet uses a leather or rubber seal on the end of the piston that leaks. It's easy to replace and easy to find.

[jt1]

WOW! 5 replys to my question just over night. Thanks everyone. I think im gonna really like this web site.

[JimElliott]

Other items to look at are your main fuel filter along the passenger siderail and that small carb filter....
Another trick is remove the fuel cap and drive it around..Never know.

Jim

[Gary - K7GLD]

Typical accelerator pump issue, especially in engines that have not been run for longer periods of time - the fuel inside the carb evaporates, and internal parts dry out and shrink or deteriorate - the leather or similar plunger material used in the accelerator pump also dries out or deteriorates, and when heavier throttle is applied, engine bogs for lack of the needed additional shot of fuel. Sometimes, if the fuel is again present, the pump plunger will regain it's former shape and flexibility - and all will again be well - otherwise, the pump plunger will have to be replaced.

[Joe&Karen]

Another thing you can check is the electric fuel pump. When I had my 84 Southwind on a Chevy chassis I had the same experience. I found that the electric fuel pump mounted near the tank had a bad electrical connection. It would idle just fine and drive down the street up to about 20 M.P.H. Trying to go faster than that and it would do exactly what you decribed. Fixed that and it ran great.

The engine mounted mechanical pump can not pull enough fuel volume through that long of a line to keep up with the higher engine speed so the electric pump is added near the tank to help. Mine had the very common Holley Red pump which is a 4-7 lb. pump suitable to use without a pressure regulator.

Another possibility would be to check all your rubber fuel hoses for dry-rot cracks or leaks. I had that experience too.

[jt1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe&Karen Another thing you can check is the electric fuel pump. When I had my 84 Southwind on a Chevy chassis I had the same experience. I found that the electric fuel pump mounted near the tank had a bad electrical connection. It would idle just fine and drive down the street up to about 20 M.P.H. Trying to go faster than that and it would do exactly what you decribed. Fixed that and it ran great. The engine mounted mechanical pump can not pull enough fuel volume through that long of a line to keep up with the higher engine speed so the electric pump is added near the tank to help. Mine had the very common Holley Red pump which is a 4-7 lb. pump suitable to use without a pressure regulator. Another possibility would be to check all your rubber fuel hoses for dry-rot cracks or leaks. I had that experience too.

Interesting...2yrs ago I had a no start issue, i replaced all the fuel line and mechanical fuel pump, still no start, i removed the mechanical pump and put in an electric fuel pump and also replaced the rubber hoses on top of the gas tank and that solved the issue. I think it was the rubber hoses all along...but now the elec pump is still there...the mechanical pumphole was covered. This didnt appear to have a back "helper" elec pump.

[JimElliott]

Got rid of my electric pump (Carter street/strip) and went back to a better mechanical pump (Edelbrock 1722).

The A.C. Delco could NOT suck up the fuel with a 27 foot distance and a 3/8 fuel line, Your 27 footer has a much less distance with a 3/8.

Jim

[jt1]

I mounted the fuel pump to the frame in the back just a few feet forward of the tank so it is pushing fuel about 20 ft.

[Oldvet]

The accelerator pump is easy to check, look down the throat of the carb and slowly open the throttle. There should be a immediate strong stream of gas that shoots out from the side of the throat, if not it`s bad. It may work when ya open the throttle fast but not when opening under normal driving conditions.
Another thought is the possibility of the carb being plugged up, on our recent trip my 85 454 ran fine one day then all of a sudden it wouldn`t accelerate, would almost die and had no power. But if ya pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and kicked in the four barrels it would take right off which told me it wasn`t a fuel supply issue.
I would remove the carb and blow out the passage ways with only a can of WD and it would run fine again. Both times there was these little red balls of slime in the float bowl. The second time it happened I was by a tractor dealership so I went over and used their air hose to blow out the carb better. The mechanic asked me if i`d run any ethanol in it and I said that I probably had, he said that it will clog up a carburetor and that it won`t show in the filter but will form this slime like I found in the bowl.
I think he may be on to something, my filter was clean as a whistle both times but the float bowl had this junk floating around in it. I`m going to run premium in everything from now on and nothing with ethanol in it. Take that info for what it`s worth as I can`t swear that`s what caused it but i haven`t had the problem since.
If you can safely do so try kicking it into four barrel and see if it takes off, if so you know your getting plenty of gas and that the low side of the carb is plugged up.