Carb rebuilt - same issues

[suprasam]

I have a 351 PCM with a Holley on it, towards the end of the season last year boat ran great but after running 3/4 throttle then going through a no wake zone it would be hard to keep at idle as if it was overloading or something. So this year i had the carb built, I took it out on the lake this weekend and at first all was great no issues. Towards the end of the night it seemed like it was doing the exact samething as last year. It will start, but will not stay at idle or just above it seems it only wants to stay running at maybe 2k RPMs. Once your out of the no wake zone, it hauls ass and runs without any hicups. Anyone have any idea on what the issue could be? Is there any chance the mechanic didn't actually rebuild it and only soaked it? I don't know enough about carbs to tell if it was rebuilt, although he did give me new gaskets. Thanks for any help!

[Jetlink]

Sounds similiar to an issue I had with my carb, though not as extreme as my issue was. My secondaries were dumping fuel through the carb after the floats failed and it would only run at WOT or a little less than that. Anything remotely close to idle and there was too much fuel and not enough air to sustain combustion. Open the doghouse, remove the flame arrestor and see if there is an excessive amount of fuel running through your carb at low throttle settings...that is where I would start.

[suprasam]

Thanks I will look into that, I won't have it out again until maybe Wednesday of this week after work or definitly on Saturday. IF there is an excessive amount of fuel, is that meaning the floats are messed up somehow?
If it is something like the floats......wouldn't/shouldn't that all have been addressed when they rebuilt the carb? It was suppose to be a full rebuild(not sure if you can do it any other way).

[wotan2525]

I'd take it back to the guy that rebuilt it. Something is obviously still wrong.

[jasun]

Did he just rebuild it or did he tune it also?

When I rebuilt mine, I still had to mess with the float level to keep it from dumping fuel in. About the only that I know (and my knowledge is very limited) you can do to test a float is to put it in a jar of gas and see if it floats.

[suprasam]

He just rebuilt it, I asked when I picked it up if I needed to do anything additional and he said I should only have to mess with the idle screw. Would the manual let me know how to adjust the floats? The guy is closed on Monday's so maybe tomorrow I will give him a call and let him know it's doing the same issue.

[jasun]

http://www.holley.com/data/TechService/Technical/Adjusting%20Your%20Carburetor.pdf

My Salt has a 454 with the 4160 Holley on it:
http://www.holley.com/data/products/pictures/medium0-80319-1.jpg

I have to take the bowls off to adjust the floats but here are some general guide lines on how to adjust them:

http://www.holley.com/data/TechService/Technical/Adjusting%20Your%20Carburetor.pdf

It is easier then it seems, or so I found.