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Mod | | | Forums66 Topics128,193 Posts1,057,258 Members48,466 | | Most Online14,466 Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down with Ads! Again, thanks! | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | My 216 on my 49 Fleetline suddenly will only run at higher rpm and just dies at idle.(Choke must be on also) I think I have done it all. Changed carb,points, plugs, wires, coil, fuel pump, gas is good, head gasket changed last year. Valves not sticking. Plugged vacuum from manifold to wipermotor (no change). Only thing I have noticed is that it is easy to turn over by hand (springs weak?) Will this cause this? Gonna check the vacuum at plugs and manifold but cant think of anything else. Any help is appreciated. I work on these 216's all the time but this has me stumped. Eric
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 452 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 452 | If it's easy to turn by hand with the plugs in, I'd guess compression problems. Weak springs should be okay with low rpm's and worse as it speeds up (valve float), unless they are so weak the valves don't close at all.
Current fleet (subject to change w/o notice) \'49 GMC 3/4-Ton , 60 Austin Healey Frog-eye Sprite (some assembly required), 2011 Dodge Avenger, 2015 Jeep Cherokee. No, they don't all run. My other ride is a (B737)no, (B767)no, A320.... Update... was Embraer E190, now Boeing B787. Knowledge is a wonderful thing, but ignorance means you don't know you can't do something.
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | Im thinking the springs are weak, so the valves are not closing completely. I just dont know. | | | | | Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,897 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,897 | I didn't see where you adjusted the valves. That would be my first place to look.
However, the not running at idle really sounds like a leaking intake/exhaust manifold gasket. It is not uncommon for the head or the intake and exhaust to warp, causing this problem. | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 | I vote with bbsd.
A quick, dirty, and just a little dangerous diagnostic technique is to look for manifold leaks: with the engine running at the lowest idle you can manage, open (just a little) an unlit propane torch and direct the torch-end around the intake and exhaust gaskets (and maybe the carburetor lower-body). If the idle speed picks up, you have a vacuum leak due to a bad gasket/fitting/etc.
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | Ya I checked the gaskets but they are sealed and new when I did the head last year. I readjusted the valves also but gonna go thru them again. Any other things I can check? | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,441 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,441 |
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 | Redryder pixMy HotrodA veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of "up to and including my life."I am fighting cancer and I am winning the fight | Pain is part of life; misery is an option. | | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | Did the idle but compression b next. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 Riding in the Passing Lane | | Riding in the Passing Lane Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 | It sounds like a carb problem but you said you tried another carb. Have you set the idle speed up like Cletis says. Try turning the idle jet richer. Put your hand or a rag over part of the carb neck & see if the speed picks up. If so you hbave a vacuum leak or plugged idle passages. What part of Ks. are you in? They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne SuperIn the Gallery Forum | | | | | Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 | Cletis an't here George...lol Redryder pixMy HotrodA veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of "up to and including my life."I am fighting cancer and I am winning the fight | Pain is part of life; misery is an option. | | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | Yes I had the exact problem with the other carb. They are both new rebuilts. Just havent had time for the compression check yet. I am gonna get new springs and seals on the way though (cant hurt). Im in Gardner KS, freezin! | | | | | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 Riding in the Passing Lane | | Riding in the Passing Lane Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 | Cletis an't here George...lol Don't laugh. I'm an old man. I just know you 2 come from the Lone Star state. Edub, do you have the old carb or did you turn it in? They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne SuperIn the Gallery Forum | | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 69 | No I keep em all original, carb. was fine and put it on another car. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 | edub10068, I have had this happen to the carter W1 on my '36 Chevy pickup occasionally over the years. In each case a tiny obsruction found its way into the idle circuit. The solution that worked for me every time was to remove the idle air screw, squirt in a little carb cleaner and then blow compressed air through it.
That also worked on the Solex carb I had on a VW Bug decades ago.
Ray
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