1966 Plymouth Valiant /6 & Holley 1945 carb can only get to idle at 1250rpm. How to get a lower idle without dying?

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jacraest

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As described. Car would idle fine at ~900 rpm one drive on a nice warm clear day, and then didn't feel like it and kept wanting to die all the time later. Kept having to two foot the gas and brake. Idles fine when choke is engaged, doesn't wanna when choke isn't. In addition to the rough idle, on the freeway at full throttle at ~50mph, the engine would start sputtering unless I decreased throttle. Engine temp was always 79-82 C. Air cleaner is clean so I'm out of ideas. I was born when some of you probably joined, so I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!

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Your carburetor sounds like it is plugged up I would disassemble the carb soak everything clean all internal parts and then put a new carburetor kit in it then do your adjustments and tuning
 
Yup, what he ^^ said. The dead giveaway is that it runs better when the choke is closed. That says it’s starving for fuel. Likely the main circuit has trash in it.
 
Yup, what he ^^ said. The dead giveaway is that it runs better when the choke is closed. That says it’s starving for fuel. Likely the main circuit has trash in it.
I’ll try that and let you guys know how it goes. Weirdly, after turning up the idle to 1250, it fell back down to 1000 after a day of sitting. I really don’t know. But I’ll disassemble and soak in some carb cleaner.
 
I’ll try that and let you guys know how it goes. Weirdly, after turning up the idle to 1250, it fell back down to 1000 after a day of sitting. I really don’t know. But I’ll disassemble and soak in some carb cleaner.
Make sure you put a new carburetor kit in it or you will be taking it back apart after you soak it
 
You guys won't believe this. The clown I bought this from had a Holley 6145 mounted on it. Not a 1945. That'd be all good and all but it's missing one crucial detail: an idle mixture adjustment screw! It's just a filled hole instead of being there. No wonder it runs completely like ****.
 
So you went from one carb to another and still had issues. Make sure you go through all your vacuum lines as it could be a leak somewhere causing a problem with both carbs.
 
So you went from one carb to another and still had issues. Make sure you go through all your vacuum lines as it could be a leak somewhere causing a problem with both carbs.
No, I rebuilt the 6145 carb and am still having the issue. vac lines are good. I ordered a rebuild kit for a NOS Holley 1920 I found at a swap meet so I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
 
Hey guys,
I'm a complete dumbass too lol, I'll update this thread soon (actually soon, I got busy with school and work) again but in the meantime here's what's happened so far:
car has been converted to electronic ignition (by previous owner)
leaking about a quart a week (gonna find out where on sunday) get 13-15 mpg on freeway driving
spare 1945 carb looks really rough (rust, corrosion, overall not good)
rebuilt a NOS 1920 but didn't get any fuel flow
will replace vac lines in meantime to try and ascertain if carb or vacuum issue
also weird thing: there's a black wire coming off the ballast resistor that goes to a small nipple on the side of the choke spring. No idea what it does. Any clues?

Thx.
 
attached:
- cool instructions that came with my 1920 that looked important for the forum
- whatever this is. electronic choke solenoid? came with the carbs.
- the wire (white going to red/black) that goes to the bottom of the ballast resistor (black plug)
- weird exhaust manifold? Did this exhaust manifold come off a car with EGR? I have no idea what that big port is for.

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Do you have a vacuum leak?
Car DID have a major vac leak from a bad vacuum plug (made loud hissing noise and had really bad idle) and it went back to the other shitty idle it has now. I two foot it everywhere. It'll idle at ~650rpm most of the time, sometimes it wants to idle at ~1000. Just depends. I'll replace all the vac hoses tomorrow and see where that gets me.
 
Yup, what he ^^ said. The dead giveaway is that it runs better when the choke is closed. That says it’s starving for fuel. Likely the main circuit has trash in it.
Make sure you use some compressed air after soaking your carb ! Blowout every hole you see , from both ends of the passage ! You probably already know this , but just saying !
 
Make sure you use some compressed air after soaking your carb ! Blowout every hole you see , from both ends of the passage ! You probably already know this , but just saying !
Yeah I did that when I rebuild it. Ran the same as before. Big difference was made when I replaced the bad vacuum plug.
 
Alright. Replaced the vac line going from the distributor to the carb. and the line going from the pcv valve to the carb. Miiight be a bit smoother? can't really tell, seems the same. Auto parts store didn't have 1 1/4 hose in stock for the breather to the air cleaner, so gonna get that tomorrow. Will update tomorrow and see if I can get fuel flow in the 1920 or get the 6145 to idle good. Still two footing everywhere.
 
you replace this vacuum cap, it looks a little sus.

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what's the chrome capped breather attached to?

lets see a wide angle of what you got cookin. might be something obvious that's just hooked up wrong. pull the air cleaner so we can get a good look at the carb too.
 
Did you spray carb cleaner all around the engine while running to see if RPMs increased??
Haven’t yet, I don’t want to set my car on fire. Hard to do when it can barely maintain idle plus the choke doesn’t reset to cold position by itself, so I have to short the starter relay and set the idle in order to do any sort of troubleshooting in that regard. I’ll try later during a cold start.
 
you replace this vacuum cap, it looks a little sus.

View attachment 1716193492

what's the chrome capped breather attached to?

lets see a wide angle of what you got cookin. might be something obvious that's just hooked up wrong. pull the air cleaner so we can get a good look at the carb too.
I dunno. I’ll reference factory manuals when I get home. I replaced the sus vacuum cap and it made no difference. The vacuum line from the distributor to the carb is fine, no cracking or anything. Still need to replace the one from the big red cap to the air cleaner though. Nobody has 1-1/4” line.

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Haven’t yet, I don’t want to set my car on fire. Hard to do when it can barely maintain idle plus the choke doesn’t reset to cold position by itself, so I have to short the starter relay and set the idle in order to do any sort of troubleshooting in that regard. I’ll try later during a cold start.
Then use water in a spray bottle. "Haven't yet" probably "never will".
 
I dunno. I’ll reference factory manuals when I get home. I replaced the sus vacuum cap and it made no difference. The vacuum line from the distributor to the carb is fine, no cracking or anything. Still need to replace the one from the big red cap to the air cleaner though. Nobody has 1-1/4” line.

View attachment 1716193686

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That bolts to the exhaust passage for the smog pump in the head. It should not have a breather on it. It should be blocked off. That could be a lot of your problem right there.
 
Have you verified your TDC mark yet, and checked the timing?
Most Engines that I have worked on, will pick up extra rpm with extra timing, up to somewhere around 20/25 degrees, or sometimes even more. If your Vcan is plumbed to the intake, those have a capacity to go to 22/24 degrees with mods; altho most slanty cans run around 9>11, sometimes down to just 7*.

If she were mine, and;
If you have cranked up the speed screw in an effort to keep a shaky engine running;
1) Check the firing order first, then the inside of the cap. if good then;
2) do a cylinder balance test. if bad, then first check the wires. If OK,
3) then do a compression test with the engine fully warmed up.
4) but if if test 2 is good, then go back to the carb and check the WET fuel level. Or you can just do this first.

If the fuel level is good then;
I'd plumb the Vcan to ported spark, and reset the Base timing to not more that 5* advance, and with the mixture screw(s) set to 2 turns out max. Then with the speed screw reset to put the underside of the throttle valve at about 1/16 inch from the bottom of the Transfer slot,
That's where I'd start

If the rpm is still outta sight, she's sucking air somewhere.
The usual culprits in order of most likely, and as may be applicable, are;
at the carb base gasket,
in the PCV system,
at the gasket between the intake and the head,
the booster,
the purge hose or valve,
at the floor of the carb heating chamber, between the two manifolds,
or at the tailpipe. yeah you heard that right. If one (or more) intake valves are not sealing on the intake stroke, the engine will suck from the exhaust rather than from the plenum, under the closed throttle. Time to check the valve lash.

edited
 
Last edited:
That bolts to the exhaust passage for the smog pump in the head. It should not have a breather on it. It should be blocked off. That could be a lot of your problem right there.
Blocked off the port, no change. I’ll hit search for the vac leak tmrw with carb cleaner.
 
Have you verified your TDC mark yet, and checked the timing?
Most Engines that I have worked on, will pick up extra rpm with extra timing, up to somewhere around 20/25 degrees, or sometimes even more. If your Vcan is plumbed to the intake, those have a capacity to go to 22/24 degrees with mods; altho most slanty cans run around 9>11, sometimes down to just 7*.

If she were mine, and;
If you have cranked up the speed screw in an effort to keep a shaky engine running;
1) Check the firing order first, then the inside of the cap. if good then;
2) do a cylinder balance test. if bad, then first check the wires. If OK,
3) then do a compression test with the engine fully warmed up.
4) but if if test 2 is good, then go back to the carb and check the WET fuel level. Or you can just do this first.

If the fuel level is good then;
I'd plumb the Vcan to ported spark, and reset the Base timing to not more that 5* advance, and with the mixture screw(s) set to 2 turns out max. Then with the speed screw reset to put the underside of the throttle valve at about 1/16 inch from the bottom of the Transfer slot,
That's where I'd start

If the rpm is still outta sight, she's sucking air somewhere.
The usual culprits in order of most likely, and as may be applicable, are;
at the carb base gasket,
in the PCV system,
at the gasket between the intake and the head,
the booster,
the purge hose or valve,
at the floor of the carb heating chamber, between the two manifolds,
or at the tailpipe. yeah you heard that right. If one (or more) intake valves are not sealing on the intake stroke, the engine will suck from the exhaust rather than from the plenum, under the closed throttle. Time to check the valve lash.

edited

Thanks for the input, lot of good information there. No, I haven’t verified TDC. Car’s been upgraded to a Petronix ignition, so I’m gonna have a look at some manuals and figure out how to use a lot of the words you gave me. I’ve never done timing stuff before, so I guess there’s a first for everything haha.

The PCV was nice and rattly, so I doubt it’s that.
 
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