A few Questions

[Paultercel]

Hey all,

I just have a few questions and wondering if anyone could give me some insight.
My wagon has been driving really well... After making some adjustments to the carburetor, everything is functioning as it should...
But after an extended journey, she wants to stall out... Yesterday I was going along on the highway and I felt a sudden loss of power, then as I drove along and got off the ramp It continued to get worse.. Sputtering like it was starving for Gas... My first inclination was a new fuel filter. have one coming up to the parts store now... The fuel pump is good, it has a completely new dizztributer...
Anything else that it could be?

ANOTHER THING

After driving for a while the radiator will refuse to switch on.. after cooling down and starting again it works just fine... I am not sure what could be inhibiting the radiator from kicking on in certain circumstances... Maybe because the fuel filter is clogged that the engine is starving for gas and that is bringing the rpm's down to the point where not enough electricity is getting to the radiator switch?

Any insight would help tremendously.

Thanks,

Paul

[irowiki]

We've ran into the exact same thing on our 83. Took 4-5 fuel filters over the course of a few months before it finally stopped. As a tip, you can use the Corolla fuel filter from the same era (4AC) as it is larger, just swap the in and out ports.

Unplug the radiator fan switch and see if it turns on and stays on. It would have nothing to do with RPM's or electricity!

A "new" or "reman" distributor?

[Paultercel]

Ok. A bit of disheartening news. I just checked the fuel filter and it looks like the previous owner bypassed the main fuel filter...Its not even there. Theres a coupling connecting the two hoses. So It appears I have some problems... What are the names of the pre fuel filters on the outside of the carbeurator? Can I even find them in a conventional auto parts store?

[irowiki]

I bet there's a fuel filter somewhere else. Check around the fuel pump. I'm not sure what you mean by "names of pre fuel filters"

[Paultercel]

Here are 2 pictures of what it looks like.... Trust me I spent an hour trying to find the Damned FILTER!

[irowiki]

Oh, those are jets, check valves, and vacuum transmitting valves depending on the color. Like the orange and black one is a check valve. You will not find those in auto parts stores anymore. Just from junkers and other members stashing them away!

If you indeed have no filter your carb is probably screwed and needs a good cleaning.

[Paultercel]

Meaning I will have to disassemble the entire mechanism?

[irowiki]

At the very least the top would need to come off and you'd need to clean the float bowl. May be better off sourcing a carb from a junk car, or another member.

In the short term definitely install a fuel filter on there! Trace the line from there all the way to your fuel pump to make sure there isn't a filter... unless a PO put a filter back by the tank.

[Paultercel]

Ok. Thanks Iron Wiki, I will check to see if there is a filter hiding somewhere other than under the hood!

IF anyone out there reads this and wants to do a carb swap, if necessary, let me know and I will try to make it worth your while!

[Gottolovem]

I can sell you another carb but no guarantees on how well it will work. It's off a parts car that has been sitting quite some time.
I hav a guy in LA that specializes in old Toyota carburetors last time I sent him one it was 250 dollars that carburetor has performed flawlessly ever since.

[ARCHINSTL]

Fuel filter info, with pix: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6411&p=51127&hilit=filter#p51127
Tom M.

[dlb]

rebuilding carbs sounds intimidating but it's easy. i did my first one not long ago, and am very pleased i did. i think it's preferable to trying other carbs which may have their own problems -- you might just be trading your current problem for a whole other set of problems. on top of that, carb rebuild kits are cheap.

that being said, you may not even need a rebuild. there is a mesh screen in the carb where the fuel enters the float bowl which acts as a secondary filter. i would check it for crud and blow it out backwards with compressed air if it's jammed. IIRC, this would only require removing the carb top, which is quick and easy. while you're in there you can inspect the float bowl for any crud that may have got through the fine screen and clean it out. hopefully the jets aren't plugged but if they are you might be able to vacuum them out if you put a thin flexible tip on a vacuum.

do some digging and let us know what you find. don't go replacing anything until you know for sure what the problem is.

good luck.

[Petros]

your carb could need cleaning out but I would not open it up just yet. You could have lost a vac line or developed a vac leak causing it to loose power. so look for a vac leak first, veryify all of those vac lines are connected and not damage, split, etc.

The cooling fan never comes on once you are above about 20-25 mph because the natural airflow is more than the fan anyway. It only comes on when you are stopped and idling or moving very slow in heavy traffic. So it would not matter if you have elecriticy to it or not. BTW that is a very unusual way to consider what might be the reason the fan does not come on, that is not where most peoples thoughts would go. even if you had no alternator output the battery has way more power in it than it needs to run the cooling fan.

[Paultercel]

DLB! That's what I'm talkin about! I needed a confidence booster!~

Update: I installed the fuel filter and ran seafoam through one of the vac lines (skinny one coming out of the air filter plastic mechanism part). And its running pretty well... Although it still is hesitant to accelerate like it once did..... I will try checking that pre filter and go through all the vac lines again.

Thanks for all the information and help.

Paul