i think my carb is dying!!!!

[klaussk]

so my 85 k10 5.0 liter is having some issues. it started out as just a rough idle. then it would stall out sometimes. then it would start to bog out and stall if i gave it more than 1/4 throttle. now it just wont start. at first i assumed it was a lack of fuel. because of the visible lack of feul in the inline filter i installed, and those seem to be obvious lack of feul symptoms. so i swapped the feul pump and finally put in the new sending unit and feul tank that came with the truck. and that definelty solved the feul issue. the filter  almost completly fills up now. but the truck still isnt running correctly. and now i cant even get it to start. so the problem has gotten worse. im not currently near my truck. i rented a car to go home and see my wife this weekend. but the truck is at my friends house and he said he used my gm shop manual for the truck to trace out all the vaccum lines and he said they are good. i know the truck is gettings spark because i just put on a new msd cap and coil along with a new rotor button. and we tested for spark. does that distributer move at all for timing? i forgot to check but when i put on the parts i was careful and didnt notice any movement. im pretty sure we got it narrowed down to the carb. but it never hurts to ask for anothers advice especialy if there more experienced with these trucks. And if it is the carb do you think i should try to rebuild the stock quadrajet. or should i just buy a holley 4160 600cfm for it. id probly buy a used one off ebay or something and rebuild that. i have no experience rebuilding carbs. so i think an old quadrajet might be a little to complicated for me to start with. thanks guys

[VileZambonie]

Fuel not feul. Before you post click the spell check button, it makes it easier for people to read your posts.

spray some starting fluid in the carb and see if it starts. If not check for spark.

[klaussk]

sorry about the misspelling. and i have sprayed starter fluid in it. and it starts up but dies very shortly after that.

[VileZambonie]

Did you perform a fuel volume test?

[klaussk]

no i haven't. how do you perform one. i know the carb is getting plenty of fuel so i assume its a problem in the carb.

[slammed79]

Sounds to me like your timing is out of whack. And yes the distributor sets the timing on these trucks.

[Irish_Alley]

when did you change the cap? can you hear/see fuel being sprayed into the carb. when did you spray starting fluid into the carb before of after the cap and rotor change?

[klaussk]

i sprayed it in after the cap and rotor change. thats when the problem got really bad. but its always had a little bit of an issue with a roough idle and it would stall out occasionaly. but it will idle just not for very long. how much timing adjustment does the distributor have. if it is timing then i think that might be a little wierd because when i try to accelerate it backfires like it aint gettin feul. ive never had a vehicle with adjustable timing on the distributor though. so ive never had a problem with timing.

[Jims86tpisub]

maybe you should let somebody with a little more experience help you in person. And if you need a carb, stay with the Quadrajet. SMI Carburetors are real good replacement carbs.
http://www.smicarburetor.com/products/sfID1/14/sfID2/9

[Irish_Alley]

double check your wires and firing order then your timing as long as its around 0 it should fire up and run ok +8 degrees is about where I think most people run. If it still acts up rebuild the carb. I think someone on here who had little experience rebuilding carbs did it with the help of a book maybe they will charm in and give some tips. But due to the back fire I almost want to say its timing

[klaussk]

i know the firing order is correct. i checked it like 5 times. ill have to have someone help me to check the timing though. the only thing is is that i had a little bit of a problem before the cap and rotor swap. it just got worse afterwards. and the idle isnt that bad. but ill check it. id rather adjust timeing then dig into that carb or spend 280 bucks on a new one.is the a marking or a reference point on the distributor or anything like that.

[Jims86tpisub]

not uncommon to cross 5 and 7 wires.

[1979C20]

I have our timing order memerized, and I still ended crossing 1 and 7 somehow and thought it was right 4 times, following each wire. Then I was like oh, crap, im dumb.

[klaussk]

man i must have went over them wires a dozen times. i even had my buddy double check them haha. im gonna check the timing out. maybe i accidently turned the hole thing without even noticing. the more i run the symptoms through my head the more i think the carb is bad. because the problem got progessivly worse. bad timing wouldnt do that, atleast i dont think so. and since i know its got fuel to the carb. it rules out the rest of the feul system. i do hope its jsut bad timing. id feel a little dumb but its a free fix.

[1979C20]

If you distributor hold down was loose, your distributor can turn on its own and progressively make your timing bad.