Intermittent NoStart 85 carbed

[RageCage]

Sometimes my 85 V8 305 Caprice doesn't want to start up. It turns over normally, and I can smell gas, but it doesn't fire on any cylinders at all. I didn't check it for spark. It's almost always when the car is warm, not hot or cold. It happens if I try to start it up when it hasn't cooled all the way down yet, such as one hour after I shut it off. (But not always !)

Once, when it happenned, I took off the air cleaner and jiggled all the wires and connectors near the carb, including the temp sensor on the thermostat housing. Also moved the throttle around, and saw gas squirting into the carb. Turned the key and it started right up for me. NEXT time it happenned, I tried the same thing, but it still wouldn't start. I left it overnight, came back next morning after it had cooled off, and it started right up.

One theory I have is that my carb is so old that it's leaking gas down into the engine (sometimes?) after shutdown, and flooding it. The car has a high idle that won't kick down, and the fast idle screw is already so far out, that it doesn't even affect anything. Sometimes I get dieseling on shutdown.

What I'm trying now is to put the car in gear when I shut it down, so at least I won't get as much gas into the cylinders, since it shuts off faster. So far that SEEMS to be working.

Any help will be appreciated.

[79_2door_caprice]

keeping it in gear on shut down will work however seems like a pain in the ass, It might be a good idea to look into rebuilding the carb. i had the same problem on my 78. i just started on a 79 caprice and will rebuild the carb just so i wont run into the same problem. run down to the local auto parts store and hook up a rebuild kit the you should be strait.

[PeteA216]

Yeah, it sounds like it time for a carb rebuild. It not that bad to rebuild one, and you will definately notice a difference in how your car runs afterwards.