help with my new to me k5
 

my name is chris, i live in myrtle beach south carolina and i just got a new to me 1984 k5 blazer with a 350 drop in, holley 4 barrel 600 series w/ electric choke. im having a few problems, and the search feature refuses to work for me, im browsing the forum as i write this, so sorry if some qeustions i have, allready have been covered several thousand times. also google has just brought me to useless crap for the most part.


problem one: bogging down/lack of power from standing start. could this be just a symptom of needing to re-jet my carb? if not share any ideas, im still tracking down vacuum leaks since the shop who did the engine swap removed the smog pump, and disconnected the egr valve, they also disconnected pretty much all the emission equipment beside the PCV valve, and i think the charcoal cansiter? ( round ball on firewall???) sorry for the bold text, i just wanted to highlight what i found important.

Problem two: miss when accelerating ( more or less when flooring it ) while at highway speeds. cap and plugs are new, even tough they put on crappy AC Delco plug wires, and god knows what kind of plugs. i have really no idea what this could be


Problem three: no passing gear. i tried adjusting the TV cable on my k5, i just cannot seem to get it tight enough to get the tranny to kick down, but now the shifts seem better and firmer. i believe since i changed the geometry from stock with the new engine, carb, and carb spacer that i might need some type of new bracket.


Problem four: giving me a hard time when starting. sometimes it will not start until i take the air cleaner off and force the choke plate open, but most of the time it will either turn over but die within 15 seconds, or i will have to give it lots of gas, could this be from a vacuum leak letting too much air in? today when leaving a local parking lot after a few mile drive, it refused to start, when i got it to start by pumping the gas, i noticed a vacuum line had come off once i connected it my idle smoothed out.



other then that (all that i can think of that is ) i just have to normal problem, gauge lights not working, and the fuel gauge not working. all ideas and suggestions are much appreciated

Did you check the Timing? sounds like it's not timed right. check your dimmer switch and fuses also check the bulbs... Check the fuel tank Sending unit and wire connections.

GET A NEW cARB
 

Buy a electric eledelbrock 750 cpm and check all your vacuum lines. It sounds like your carb is faulty and sticky.

thanks, i have always heard the only way to fix a holley is with a edlebrock!

i think my choke is F#%$ed up, and im almost positive that it needs a different jet size!

im almost positive my timing is a tiny bit off, and the sending unit has a ground problem, or so i have been told

****bump****

It sounds like a lot of your problems are caused by the carb.

How do your plugs look? Do they look black (too rich), white (too lean), or a nice light brown?

With the engine off, choke held open, when you open the throttle, do you see fuel squirt in through the accelerator pump nozzles in the primary bores? This could be the cause of your off idle stumble. The accelerator pump is located under the front fuel bowl. You can activate it manually without opening the throttle by pushing down on the arm that is connected to it. I have had the roll pin come out on the accelerator pump arm in the past. I have also had a few holley's that were not adjusted properly at the pump actuating arm.

As far as the TV cable goes, do you have the old carb? The pin for the TV cable is likely not in the proper position and may have to be relocated to get it working correctly.

When the engine is fully warmed up, does the choke open all of the way? A miss while accelerating could be caused by a restriction in air flow causing a rich condition, or it could be caused by a lean condition in the carb (jets and/or power valve).

Going over your distributor wouldn't hurt either. I recently installed an HEI distributor in my K5 and I had poor performance right after dropping it in. The mechanical advance weights were way too loose (worn out bushings) and the vacuum advance was bent and locked up. After replacing those parts, the distributor was working correctly, but I still had some issues. I found out that the distributor was connected to a ported vacuum source which does not advance the timing at idle and while cruising and this caused some rumbling while coming to a stop. Plugged it into a direct manifold vacuum source and that went away.

The round ball on your firewall is for vacuum not a charcoal canister. AC Delco wires are gonna be very high quality and probably the best even when compared to brands like Moroso and Mallory. I would stay away from Accel (my opinion). Sounds to me like you need to address your timing issues before playing musical carburetors.