1988 Caprice 305 Carb Questions - need help

Hey all,
This is my first post, but I have been a reader for some time. I have an 88 Caprice, all original equipment, with a 305 under the hood. It was running a little rough, so I got some carb cleaner and sprayed down the carb. Then, while running, I sprayed down the intake and the carb jets, etc.

Next, I let the car run for about 5 minutes, and then I tried to drive it. About 1 mile down the road, it started to run really rough, and almost stalled. I pulled off into a gas station, and ran it a for a little bit, and when I finally turned it off I got about 15 seconds of run on. It just kept sputtering, etc.

So, I let it cool down a little, pulled off the air cleaner, and started it again. Now, it appears that the choke is not engaging, and the car is running at a higher RPM than usual. All of this happened about an hour ago, and I got the car home and now I am letting it cool off.

What should my next move be? I don't know much about carbs, but I am trying to learn. Any advice would be greatly appriciated.

Sounds like a vacuum leak! Check and double-check all vacuum lines to the carb, especially the large ones (PCV, EFE etc). Chances are, one got knocked off.

Sounds like a vacuum leak! Check and double-check all vacuum lines to the carb, especially the large ones (PCV, EFE etc). Chances are, one got knocked off.

Thanks for the tip. I am going to go and check them now, before it gets dark. Are they just any hoese that are leading up to the carb?

all of them in the vicinity of the carb.

Ok,
I checked it out and as far as I can tell, all the hoses are connected, and not damaged. Do you think that the electric choke might have gotten messed up?

Everything was working fine before I disconnected the air cleaner, and sprayed down the carb. I sprayed all the top, the side, and down into the jets while the car was running. The car almost stalled, but I let it run for a while, and I gassed it pretty good to get all the crap out. The car was smoking a good amount out the tailpipe.

It just seems like the choke is not engaging at all, and before I did all this the choke was working fine.

Any ideas?

Would hoses to the air cleaner effect the performance? Is it possible I damaged something?

You should have a VECI label affixed to the upper radiator shell or underside of the hood. It should look something like this:

http://72.19.213.157/files/CarbVacHose.gif

Verifty the hose connections with the label. Make especially sure the line to the choke pull-off is intact. By your description, you might also want to verify that the choke heater element is connected and has power when the engine is running (alternator must be charging to energize the choke heater).

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Here is an update - I let the car sit for a couple of days, and on monday I started it up, and after about 3 minutes the choke engaged, and it dropped down to low idle once again. I'm not sure why; my best guess is that the carb cleaner had to dry out in the carb, but I'm not sure that makes sense. I have driven the car since then, and it is drving nice, idling nice, and seems to be running smoother than before.

Does anyone have an explanation for this? I'm not complaning, and I don't want to jinx it, but I am curious if anyone has any ideas.