hey there..

first let me get this out of the way.. I know only a very little about cars.. most of which Iīve learnt since I bought my El Camino a couple of months ago.. anyway, Iīm taking it through central america.. possibly not the best choice.. but I love El Caminoīs.. anyway, it was going gangbusters until a couple of days ago..

itīs a 78 with a 305 ensegine and a recently rebuilt transmission..

a couple of issues.. itīs become really thirsty.. and I mean, REALLY thirsty.. even for a v8.. and secondly, itīs just konking out and dying when you pull up to a stop in drive or reverse.. unless you keep the revs right up.. idling in park itīs just fine..

is this a carb issue?.. or.. you know, what?..

you guys are my first port of call as my Spanish, sheīs not so good.. any help would be very greatly appreciated..

best

josh

Josh, you may be correct, (I say mabe). The first thing I'd look for is a vaccume leak somewhere, broken or disconnected hose.

If ite getting horrible mileage and dies, it may be flooding out. Check the float level in the carb, or take the air cleaner off and let the engine run, look down the carb and see if gas is spilling out the vents or puking out the venturis. May have a piece of dirt in the needle and seat to. Make sure it has a good fuel filter in the fuel line. Does the exhaust look black or smell rich?

hey there..

thanks for the advice.. so far, hereīs what I have..

the hoses seem to be a ok.. all connected.. no major breaks..

the exhaust is fine.. except for the big cloud of bluish smoke that it emits when she first roars to life.. but after a minute or two of warm up it settles down.. no problem there..

so Iīve looked down into the venturis and there does not seem to be anything spilling into it.. indeed, when revved two solid jets of fuel shoot into the bores.. the fuel filter was replaced recently.. though, as to the quality of a Mexican fuel filter.. I canīt say..

if itīs of any assistance, the carb is a Rochester Quadrajet.. Iīm not sure if this is stock or not..

as Iīve said.. everything with this car is a learning experience.. how would I go about checking the float level in the carb?

any assistance is invaluble..

best

josh

Josh, To check the Float level on that Carburator you would have to take the top of it off. And that is something that I would NOT recommend for you to do while out traveling as well as your NOT being familure with that Carburator. It is also possiable that you may have leaking plugs in the bottom of your Float Bowl, again with you NOT being familure with it, you probably have no idea what that is. Anyway, it's not something you can fix out on the road.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn18/coyoteon2/102-0275_IMG.jpg

Sound advice.. Iīd already pretty much drawn the line at anything that I couldnīt see or was easily replaceable.. it occured to me this afternoon that I could be in a lot worse position if I start messing around with something I canīt fix..

Thanks for your help