here we go again: my 79 ford f350 351\m cought on fire about a month ago so i rewired it and all that fun stuff than replaced the accelerator pump which was the reason it cought on fire and now i cant get it to run right. it has a new vaccume advance on it and i could find no other leaks but i can hear a speratic leak that sounds like its coming from down inside the carb and if i close the choke just about all the way it runs better, if i close it all the way it stalls as it should. I thought it was a timing issue because thats how i thought it was acting then i started noticing strange sucking sound every now and then coming from inside the carb along with its norml sucking sound so here i am with nothing any suggestions other than maybe buying a dang holly and manifold from the salvage yard rebuilding it and spending more money

Sure sounds like the carb is the issue now. How extensive was the fire? Were some vac hoses destroyed? What I'm thinking is something (melted something) got drawn into a vacuum port of the carb and might not just clear out with usual carb cleaning now.

The holding the choke partially closed is a good clue. The ports for vacuum things low on the carbs three sections is for manifold actual pressure (vacuum) usually - the ports to areas in the mid section are usually venturi effect vacuum or say vacuum created by air speed down the throttle body. Those come in to play at part and possible full throttle use only. Some could route to manifold vacuum.

If not too trashed I'd try a kit and just clean it up. Does the fuel filter screw onto this carb? Is this the original 2v carb common on 353/400m engines? Those were pretty good. If it came with a VV (variable venturi) carb I think the last one was tossed in about a year after new as those were trouble out of the gate.

You might need a good core carb to rebuild. There are plastic rolls for washers/bearings kind of where the throttle plates turn and if the leak they are a vacuum leak - you could cover that with idle mixture adjustment if not too bad.

For now - tell me/us what carb is there now - OE or a replacement. The orig 2v was a pretty good set up but I know them in the cars not the trucks as my shop had no clearance for trucks back then

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

Hi Tom Thanks for the reply once again. It is the motorcraft 2v carb and the only vaccume hose is for the advance other than the brake booster which i have plugged off just fer now til i can find where the problem is. all other ports on the carb and manifold are plugged off including a metal plate with copper seal blocking off the egr ports. the fire got the plug wires, cap, pickup coil wires, coil wires vaccume advance hose and it got through the brake booster hose oh and the choke got a little messed up which it still seals to the carb it just doesn't work which it never did while ive owned it i was just gonna put a hole through to the dash with a little push pull type choke cable. anyhoo i'm gonna head back out there and take another look than maybe see about getting a carb kit i guess, but at the moment that would be like hangin parts til ya find the right one that was bad, so before i pull it off and rebuild it i wanna be sure thats the problem

Part Number: 6-391 Weight: 6.0 lbs. Warranty: 3 MO Application: Without California emission
Note:
Ford model 2150
O.E.M. #D9VE-LC, D9VE-VA, D9VE-YB Champion is no longer supplying AutoZone. If availability is zero, please use Holley or F/C National Carburetor until further notice


Ok: Took me twice to get a pic and info for the carb. AZ says they don't have it whole. That was a dependable carb and pretty easy. The one above was chosen for a 79 Continental Town Car that used the 400m just that year. It was a good engine and carb set up. Kit was only 20 bucks but that won't have all you might need. The Holley suggested was $400 and that's more than you need to spend to make this right.

Choke problems: I think I recall that there is an "on purpose vacuum leak" inside the cover that goes through to the body of the carb to draw in warm air - does that sound right? Help my buddy - it was a long time ago!

I'd keep the choke working and probably have the kits for fixing the choke heat source or they can be found. The trick with the lawnmower throttle cable thing to make the choke work was more trouble than just fixing them properly. Bet I have one of those too - saved to fix lawnmower if needed. If you do that just use the rubber grommet where the speedo cable goes thru and no need to make another hole.

I think you may need at least a good carb core to work with. The deal with the Lincolns (I'm the site's Lincoln freak) is they were forced to use the 351/400m in some 1978 and all 1979 Continental TC and Marks. Don't get confused with Continental as there were two - the Town Car was the full size but still called Continental in the 70s but most had the TC package which was trim - not the body of the cars.

The point is that the cars might be easier to find a used carb for a core than the trucks. In the boneyards you'll probably find something already replaced a couple times. The Motorcraft was made by Holley for Ford - I think but the spec for Ford was actually better for many of them - not always the case back when.

Just history: 1979 was the last year of a vintage and for LTD the beginning of the next. Engineering (brain damage) at Ford showed a flat line on an EEG till about 1986.

Hope I can help you with this. As I said the trucks didn't fit in my shop but I did work on them if weather was ok to do them outdoors. Plenty of stuff might not be OE now with it's age but I suggest sticking with as many original ideas as possible as they were pretty good,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/


(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Feb 28, 2008, 2:59 PM)

In Reply To

look back. I was altering my post while yours was just made,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

thanks Tom. gave my brother a call and he is saying that it may be starving for fuel sumwhere in the carb and to clamp off the fuel line and run it til the bowl is dry then open up the line again and that might jar loose what could be clogging up the fuel jet or pull the top off the carb and look down in there to see if its full of junk,and if so and the gasket didn't rip clean it and put it back together, if the gasket rips or no junk to be seen. rebuild it. with every fix i make i uncover new problems I was kinda hoping he would come down and visit me some time soon as he has owned about 15 of these thru out the years but he lives in Pa and i live in Tn. and gettin him on the phone is hard because he works all the time (sits in garage after work drinking Budweiser hiding from wife)

well I rebuilt the carb last night and it started and idled good I think one of the fuel ports where clogged I didn't test drive it yet though because I have the brake booster disconnected and plugged up so I have to go get a peace of hose today for it the old one burnt up in the fire so today is it's test drive and im slightly scared last test drive didn't go so well but I think Its ok now

Starting and idling good is great news! That's where the fussy stuff would show up. Do make sure the booster port is clear and if the check valve (plastic thing on booster) got burned get one of those. You'll know it works if the brakes still have power assist a few minutes to ages after a shut down of the engine.

Make sure that's a high quality vacuum hose! It should be tough enough so you can't pinch it closed and rated for fuel/oil resistance. Been a while there too, those shouldn't need clamps but just be plenty snug on their own.

Hope the choke works out. It's worth the hassle to make that work as the cable idea is a pest and a great anti-theft control as only a couple people will ever get it just right!

Good luck - wanna hear it all worked out!

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

well the choke may wait awhile, it got burned pretty bad in the fire but i just got back from driving it and wow what a difference. when you but the pedal to the floor now it dosent just bog down it actually takes off. I can pull out in traffic now!!! woohoo