Anyone know a direct extension at Holley who knows their stuff?

I have called Holley several times over the past 2 months regarding the lean running carb and jetting, and each time, I get someone different with a different "cure" and each has done nothing to fix the problem.

First guy said vacuum leak, did not find any.

Second said not vacuum leak if it idles ok, and to just jet it up until it is happy.

Third said not keeping a constant fuel flow so it is running out of fuel, but hooked up a gauge where I could see it and solid 8 psi.

Another said jet it back to stock and find some other source of problems, because it is jetted rich out of the box, and as high as I have it jetted isn't going to make a difference. So rejet it to stock, and find the problem, and fix it (yeah, thanks buddy, lot of help THAT was).

It FEELS like it is running lean at cruise, shows lean spark plugs, and no amount of jetting so far has fixed it (65 stock up to 76 currently, but have jets up to 99). Spark plugs color at idle, so it isn't "the newer fuels won't color spark plugs" as one guy said.

I am getting ready to quit this carb and buy a new 750 double pumper, just to cancel out some of the potential variables. I am wondering if this 600 is too small, despite the fact that it "should not be"...(I have been here before with the Edelbrock 600)

 

8 psi fuel pressure is a little on the high side for a Holley. Spark plugs will color at idle even with today's fuels because idle mixture is generally pretty rich. It's when you're actually letting some air into the engine that ethenoled / oxygenated fuels burn very clean. Instead of another carb why don't you invest in an A/F ratio gauge (Innovate LM-1)? Then you'll know what you really have instead of just "feels lean". BTW, over-advanced ignition timing can cause the same symptoms, and you always need to have the ignition right before messing with the carb.

 

First thing on my list tomorrow it to back of my timing. I have had that in the back of my mind for a few weeks.

Does the A/F meter mount before the burn chamber or after? How does it mount, and what is it reading?

By the way, when I say "feels" lean, I can actually feel it burping at cruise speed. It feels just like back in the old days when the P heads were burned through my plug boots, and every 8th or 10th spark went through the headers and not the plug on 2 or 3 cylinders. It feels like a miss, and you can hear it sputter or give a hollow sound, but not a pop, just an unburned cycle on the cylinder. I have been attacking it as an electrical issue, but with the plugs as white as they are, and the ground strap on the plugs looking as hot as it does, it seems like a lean mix to me. The ground strap looks like someone has put an acetylene torch on it. Has a little of that bluish look to it, and these are plugs with less than 50 miles on them.

That and new plugs, new rotor, distributor cap, and wires, I am running out of electrical demons to exorcise...:evilsmile

 

I may open a can of worms, But, Holley doesn't care anymore about the end user. When my two week old blower took a dump, The only answer i could get from Holley was " well it is a race part we will have to determine the cause before we can do anything" I mean come on the blower was two weeks old. The problem was when it was assembled at the Holley plant the bolts that held the idler gear was not tightened. Should i have sent the Blower back (at my expense) to only have them tell me i had did somthing to the blower? I ended up getting another for one of our other cars, Before installing the blower we disassembled and guess what, The same bolts that caused my problems was left loose on this one also. Along with other numerous things like stripped bolt holes, ect. Holley's quality control and tech Sux in my opinion. ( i have had other problems that they could not help with) The quality of there products has been lacking for many years in my opinion. But back to the subject. Give these guys at Quick fuel a call. I personally dont own one, But i know several people in the last few years that has done business with them, and had nothing but praise for them. I have personally saw several of these carbs running and the quality looks good and they ran good. And i have talked with their tech, They seem to know what they are doing. They are not all that expensive, But do remember you get what you pay for. Again i think you need to invest in a wide band. Plug reading is OK if you have the experience, But its like setting timing by ear, You will never know for sure where you are really at. As i said before, I know opinions are different on this board and this is just my 2 cents.
http://www.quickfueltechnology.com/home_2.htm

 

Hey blown, thanks for the new angle on tech support. And you are the 3rd or 4th person to suggest an A/F meter. I have been looking at them, but keep getting mixed messages about their use.

It seems like this issue, which is VERY similar to what I had with my last engine and carb, pretty much tells me I NEED one...

 

The sensor mounts in the exhaust pipe, They recommend as far back as possible. But not so far as to allow the reversion from the end of the pipe to affect the reading. Mine is mounted right behind my passenger seat.( I used the rear floorboard drain grommet to run my wires Thur.) It reads the Oxygen content in the exhaust and compares it to the outside Oxygen Content. There fore you get a true reading of what is really happening in the engine.

 

Anyone that is trying to tune needs one. But only the WIDE BAND will help you.

 

OK, time for my "I am dumb" question...

How does measuring AFTER the burn, in the header, determine your A/F mixture?

Does it measure how much was NOT burned and tell you to adjust from there?

 

Go here and absorb:

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

 

AAAAAAK!!! DATA OVERLOAD!!! DATA OVERLOAD!!! ABORT! ABANDON SHIP!!!

Too bad they don't make a Cliff's Notes version.

The LC-1 version hooks to a laptop, only $199. Putting that one on my FAVORITES list. Will have to keep an eye on that one for when the funds get freed up.

 

Talked to Derek at QuickFuel...VERY helpful. Gave me pointers that are pretty basic, that the Holley guys completely missed and would likely be embarrassed if they knew they missed them.

Best part is I didn't have to wait on hold for 20 minutes for crap solutions. They answered immediately and he gave me 3 or 4 things to look at and encouraged me to call again.

 

did that fix it and make it run better

 

Getting ready to take a break and try the first suggestion. It was that I am running 8psi into the carb. He said to back it down to 6-1/2 psi. He said 8 psi will not let the floats move up and down but will keep it up all the time.

Someone on here told me that 8 psi was "a little high", I should have listened to him...

 

for a street car 4 -6 psi is enough pressure at the carb. (regulator at the carb) for racing you may want to keep it between 5 and 6psi.

 

Paul, I actually messed with it a little while I was out test driving, and dropped it down to 4 just to see if it would make a difference. It ran just as good at 4 as it did at 8. Didn't fix my problem though.

I was under the impression that they needed 6-8 for the holley and 6 for the edelbrock. But it doesn't need that much.