Hey guys. On the way back from my girlfriend's house my LeSabre (in my signature) suddenly quit running after pulling out of her driveway. I cranked for a little while but it didn't seem to be firing. I checked under the hood and found the intake manifold to be pooled up with gas on top. I took the air cleaner off and peeked at the carb while cranking and saw gas spewing out from both the throttle shaft (and both sides of the throttle shaft) and this port on the top... ...I googled a Quadrajet image and it's the port that's the highest point of the carb and most forward within the bottom part of the air cleaner (I hope that explanation makes sense). Gas was bubbling up out of there pretty well. This carb was a rebuild I purchased from a local performance shop last season (might have been 2 seasons ago I'll have to find my receipt). I don't think they'd warranty it anymore but at any rate I need to fix it. Is there a seal that went bad? Or something? Thanks guys.
It sounds like the float is stuck and pouring gas out of the vent. Sometimes you can tap on the top front of the carb to get it to stop. Do you have a fuel filter in the carb, If not you need one? You might have a small piece of dirt or, rust stuck in the needle seat. Nelson
Like was said, there may be something caught between the needle & seat. What I do to try & clear. Get a pair of needle nose pliers. The longer the better. While a helper is cranking over the engine with the starter use the pliers to squeeze the inlet of the rubber fuel line. This will STOP the fuel flow. After the engine starts & clears itself out release the pressure on the pliers. The engine will run for a short while with the fuel in the bowl. Don't remove the pliers as yet. The sudden in rush of fuel may just wash away the dirt under the needle & seat. You may have to do this a couple of times. Sometimes a few more times is nec. It WILL usually flush out the offending particle of debris. If this doesn't work the float may be bad. Don't forget to change the oil & filter. All that fuel washing down the cylinders & getting past the rings & thinning out the oil & is not a good replacement for the oil lubrication.
Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty active on GMInsidenews and posted on their tech forum too and two others were thinking it was a needle/seat issue. I tapped on the housing with a screwdrive handle, avoiding anything else but the body itself, and tried starting again and it fired up quick. I let it idle and revved it some and found no more leakage. Thanks again. I'll change the oil (just did it Friday :rant: ) just in case.
It could be that the needle and seat is leaking due to a poor seal. Remove the needle ans seat, Get an steel check ball from a Qjet and place ball in seat portion. Give the ball a few 'taps' with a drift to form a concentric seat allowing the needle to seal properly. Remove ball and reinstall seat assembly. I always 'seat' the needle and seat when ever I install one in my Quadrajet. Also verify that the float is installed properly and adjusted right.
