Holley Carb Flooding issue

[jasun]

The Holley was acting up this week so I adjusted the floats down because it was dumping fuel in and flooding it out.
Ran great after that!

2 days later, back to the same issue. I took a video of it dumping fuel in the back barrels at idle speed....

Should it be doing this?

at the 10 sec mark, it stops dripping, but it increased the RPM's...

Also when we were going back in, you could feel the RPM's surge at different time even though I was not touching the throttle. It would go from about 5 mph to 6.5 mph and then back down...

The guy I bought it from said it was rebuilt this spring, but the mechanic used RVT for the bottom gasket because the rebuild kit does not come with that gasket... should that be a sign of a shady rebuild? the carb kinda just looks crappy... Think it out to be rebuilt again or just replace?

I dont know a whole lot about this sorta thing and am looking for something to put on there and go and not have to tweak everytime I am out on the lake.

Any thoughts???

http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad38/jasunderland/th_VID-20120909-00002.jpg (http://s919.photobucket.com/albums/ad38/jasunderland/?action=view&current=VID-20120909-00002.mp4)

[CornRickey]

Rebuild and verify that there is a filter on it.

[jasun]

When I first took off, it was sluggish out of the hole and then I could hear it backfiring under the dog house. Think this is still a Carb issue?

[Jetlink]

When I first took off, it was sluggish out of the hole and then I could hear it backfiring under the dog house. Think this is still a Carb issue?Yeah, carb issue is the most likely culprit. I had my holley fail where the secondaries were dumping fuel. Made it so that the boat flat out would not run at anything other than WOT, couldn't idle. I thought that the carb was failing leading up to it because the engine would surge like you are describing and hesitate out of the hole but then run smoother.

[jasun]

Yeah, carb issue is the most likely culprit. I had my holley fail where the secondaries were dumping fuel. Made it so that the boat flat out would not run at anything other than WOT, couldn't idle. I thought that the carb was failing leading up to it because the engine would surge like you are describing and hesitate out of the hole but then run smoother.

were you able to rebuild it or did you end up replacing it?

[Jetlink]

I had no choice but to replace it that day on the water as I had a 3,100 foot long no wake zone between me and my trailer. I put and edlebrock on there instead of another Holley as I have been more preferential towards edlebrock carbs since they bought out carter.

[CornRickey]

If your not familiar with carb rebuilding, I'd replace it or have a shop rebuild it. I lean towards buying new since you'll be in it a couple hundred on a rebuild anyway. If it was in a car I'd say go for it and try a rebuild but your starting on a vehicle you dont know exactly what the problem is (although it sounds like carb but there may be several issues) and rebuilding a carb for the first time so you don't know if your fixing it. Also its a situation of jack g to have it on the water to know if you fixed it making things more difficult. Also summers coming to a end, get it fixed and enjoy the last days of summer.

[jasun]

Thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards a Edlebrock 1410... Does anyone know what the OEM carb was? I thought I read somewhere that it was a Rochester? Any issue with putting one of those back on it?

[CornRickey]

Marine carbs have J tubes for both bowls that forces the gas to shoot down the throat of the carb causing the engine to die. They are the hook things on the top of the carb.

[CornRickey]

Cheapest place I found a Holley Marine was Jegs

[TitanTn]

I think the original carb was a Holley 4160. If you have any basic mechanical skills, a rebuild is pretty straightforward and simple. It's certainly a lot cheaper than a new carb. $600 versus $50. Based on the RTF sealant alone, I would not trust the "rebuild" that was done this spring. Do it, or have it done.

[Supra-in-steamboat]

Agree in regard to the RTV sealant...no telling where a small glob of that stuff might be. And if it was used there, where else in the carb did they not have a gasket for. Pretty simple rebuild. Good luck.

[jasun]

This look right for the rebuild kit?
http://www.holley.com/703-1.asp

[TitanTn]

This look right for the rebuild kit?
http://www.holley.com/703-1.asp

Looks like it. Depends on exactly what carb you have. The best way to know for sure is to call skidim.com. You can't put a price on their expertise for these boats.

[jasun]

I got to look at it tonight and I saw the Number 12R-4608...

tried to search on that part number and did not find anything on a rebuild kit.

I will try Skidim tomorrow when they open and see what they say.

[TallTex]

I would find a good re-builder that has a flow bench that can flow test the thing when complete. A "good" builder will take an old Holly (you don't say what model it is, I assume a 4160) and replace sunk/leaky floats, proper jets, etc. etc.

To do that "best practices" the builder needs to know the engine specs the carb is going on and custom build the carb to optimize the performance, what altitude is the boat running at most times, etc.....so when you send them the carb you also need to send them any/all info/specs of the engine and any mods you have performed so the carb can be customized to best suit the application.

I used a guy off ebay, I have to look to see his store id, or ad. He is around Lake Belton, TX (Temple/Waco area), carb was better than new because it was "custom" tuned to my application and not an "off the shelf" one size fits all. Running in the high desert of NM or CO is not the same as running at the coast. You can always send it back to Holley and let them do a complete restoration, and let them know the same sort of info, cost will be much higher from Holley rebuild shop.
my two cents

[jasun]

I found the list number and thanks a bunch to the people at SKIDIM for confirming that my carb is infact a 4160. I also order the rebuild kit and a new gasket (to get rid of the RVT that is currently being use). I am going to try the rebuild and if that doesn't work we will look into replacing with a Eldelbrock. I figure that this carb is stock for this engine ( or atleast that is what Travis at PCM told me) so a rebuild and some fine tuning and she should run like a dream! wish me luck! anyone in NE IN, NW Ohio or Southern MI incase I need some help?

[86 century]

I'm in jonesboro about 45min south of fortwane.
Would be more than happy to help you out if you get stuck

The two holleys on my firebird where in a scrap bin of a local shop with frozen butterflys among other things they came back to life just fine so I will bet yours will be just fine.

[TallTex]

I found the list number and thanks a bunch to the people at SKIDIM for confirming that my carb is infact a 4160. I also order the rebuild kit and a new gasket (to get rid of the RVT that is currently being use). I am going to try the rebuild and if that doesn't work we will look into replacing with a Eldelbrock. I figure that this carb is stock for this engine ( or atleast that is what Travis at PCM told me) so a rebuild and some fine tuning and she should run like a dream! wish me luck! anyone in NE IN, NW Ohio or Southern MI incase I need some help?

youtube is full of Holley rebuild guys, check some of those out to understand the "whats" and "whys"


here is a great Holley builder guy that wants all the application specs and then builds to perform, my 4160 was like $180 and it was flow benched tested and engine tested before they sent back to me. It was factory OEM and Wayne or William or whatever his name stated they had the wrong squirter? size and jets for my application.....he answers his phone when not busy. Seemed like a good shop with "best practices"

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/musclecarexpress_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_ipg Z

[jasun]

I'm in jonesboro about 45min south of fortwane.
Would be more than happy to help you out if you get stuck

The two holleys on my firebird where in a scrap bin of a local shop with frozen butterflys among other things they came back to life just fine so I will bet yours will be just fine.
I might take you up on that! I am just north of kendallville.

[jasun]

I read somewhere on here that the Edelbrocks are more fuel efficient then the Holley's...

Is this just opinion or is it the general consensus?

[TitanTn]

It's probably like 99% of the other things you read online. Opinions.

I don't know personally, but I've heard many say that Holley's are easier to tune. I'm no carb expert, but I rebuilt and tuned my Holley very easily. I'm sure that if you purchased an Edelbrock in order to save fuel, it would pay off in 15 short years.

[jasun]

That is why I asked if anyone has seen the usage get better... if it is better by 1 GPH, then it will have a payback period of just over 1 season based on the following assumptions:



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad38/jasunderland/NewPicture-1.png

:p

[86 century]

If tuned properly they would both use the same amount of fuel.


There is only so much energy stored in a gallon of fuel
You haft to put it in to get it back the carb design has little effect if its properly tuned