vehicle=1975 American clipper motor home built on a b300 dodge,360v8 engine,2bbl. Holley carb. This vehicle has been sitting in AZ climate,past 10 years.repairs so far, new fuel filter and fuel pump.replaced lower radiator hose,cleaned carb. in solvent and blew out well. new carb gaskets and carb. to manifold gasket( it was leaking).I have engine running, (not well) I believe intake manifold gasket is leaking also. I had to open idle needles 4 turns to make it idle. when I spray carb. cleaner around edges of manifold gasket.engine smooths out and picks up.wouldn't these be symptoms of leaking intake manifold? Also when automatic transmission is engaged, engine stalls.are there other ways to check manifold vacuum? maybe vacuum gauge in some way? Anything special have to be careful of if I replacemanifold gasket.thanks for any suggestions andyc
vandude
12-07-2004, 08:32 PM
Mine is a 1077 B200, 360 V8 . It had a 2bbl. Holley when I got it. It
also had a terrible vacuum leak. I used WD-40 to check for the leaks (idle momentarily smooths and oil cloud out the exhaust). After removing intake and carb and cleaning both, (I reccomend soaking intake in a tub of water with T.S.P. -it removes all the gunk, even under the heat shield rivited to the underside) I found that the carb also leaked around the throttle bushing, so in a fit of rage, I raided my used-parts stash for an Edelbrock intake and Holley 4 bbl. While it's hard to see in the pic, there is a full-time vacuum gauge installed on the intake. The gauge close to the regulator is for fuel pressure.
If you make this swap though, you will have to lengthen the linkage for carb and trans kickdown.
Dodgevanman
12-07-2004, 09:49 PM
Yeah that definitely sounds like an intake vacuum leak just like VANDUDE suggested. Get that all straightened out and then we'll tackle the transmission problem.
andyc
12-07-2004, 10:41 PM
Thanks guys, I am really not a very advanced mechanic. I will start by removing the carb. and intake manifold,and soak the manifold in t.s.p, like vandude suggests. I will replace the gaskets,scrape the surfaces clean, and tourque to 35 ft.lbs. I have the factory manuel and it also calls for side seals. Is there anything special I have to watch for here, or will become obvious when I remove the manifold? (I have never removed a manifold before, but it doesn't look that complicated) andyc
andyc
12-07-2004, 11:27 PM
addednum to reply. b.t.w. vandude i forgot to thank you for the pics. your carb. conversion looks great! I dont think I am learned enough to try that yet. (but, I am a fast learner and may well try it when i get the engine running properly)
was your engine also leaking at the manifold gaskets?
Dodgevanman
12-08-2004, 07:07 AM
Just make sure you drain the coolant completely. Drain the radiator and you may want to drain the block as well. On each side of the block near the motor mount brackets are the block drains....a small square plug.
Use good quality silicone sealer on the end seals and around the water passages on the intake. I recommend the black sealer or even better the red high-temp silicone. Just take your time and take pictures if you need to.
SPs 77 Dodge
12-08-2004, 09:36 AM
I recently replaced my intake and the Felpro gasket set I used came with a small tube of sealer. The set was only $30.00 cdn. at Partsource here in Canada.
vandude
12-08-2004, 09:51 AM
Mine had at least 282,00 miles on it. speedo cable had given up just before previous owner parked it for use as a storage shed. He said odometer had rolled over twice and it was on second trans, but engine was original and had gotten only tune-ups and a water pump.
Once running (needed 3 rotted freeze plugs replaced first), it leaked everywhere I swear! All gaskets had dried up and only thing helping was fact that engine was stuffed w/oil sludge (it wouldn't make enough oil pressure at idle to keep idiot light off).
