Volvo 230B starving for fuel.

[broncojeff78]

So i finally fixed the overheating problem on my 230b and now its on to the next one. It will start and run fine but every once in a while in starts to stumble when you let off the throttle and acts like it starving for fuel. If you stay at cruising speed its usually fine until you let off. It will idle fine but wont take any throttle for a while. If it sits for a while and then start it up again to go its fine then happens again. I took the carb apart a little and cleaned the bowl out thinking there was some crud in there but it was pretty clean. I installed a fuel water separator which didnt change anything but I thought it would be better than the cheesy glass fuel filter with a screen inside that it had. Is my fuel pump on its way out? Any ideas?

 

[broncojeff78]

OK its time to get the boat out again and dig in to this issue. I had a thought that maybe its not fuel related but maybe in the ignition. Is it possible that after letting off the throttle after cruising for a while that something is happening with the points of the advance mechanism inside the distributor? I was going to switch to a pertronix electronic ignition soon thinking this may help. For example we were cruising the St. Lawrence and went for probably 6-8 miles running at 1/2- 3/4 throttle and it ran perfect. As soon as I backed off it started to run rough and wouldnt take any throttle. Any thoughts?

 

[broncojeff78]

Ok so this past weekend I installed the pertronix electronic ignition and rebuilt the carb. After new fuel filter, cap, rotor, wires, coil and plugs I took it outside to see how it would run and check the timing. After gas filled the carb it fired but very rough. It would only stay running if I moved the throttle back and forth but as soon as I held it at part throttle the rpm's would drop and it would start to backfire thru the carb and then die. I couldnt get it to run enough to even check the timing. My first thought was I screwed up the carb rebuild but could this possibly be a timing issue? I got frustrated and pushed it back in the garage and closed the door. Any thoughts? Should I pull the carb apart again and see if I missed something or maybe try and play with the timing? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Bondo]

After gas filled the carb it fired but very rough. It would only stay running if I moved the throttle back and forth but as soon as I held it at part throttle the rpm's would drop and it would start to backfire thru the carb and then die.

Ayuh,.... Still sounds like it ain't gettin' any gas,.....

Bad gas, plugged vent, crap in the tank, rotten lines, bad fuel pump, or bad carb,.....

Verify each component is workin',.... a remote tank hooked to the fuel pump will eliminate the tank for testin',....

Take the gas line off the carb, direct it into a catchcan, 'n cycle the fuel pump,... is it pumpin' fuel,..??

How confident are ya, on yer carb rebuild,..??

 

[broncojeff78]

Could the bowl not filling with fuel properly cause that? I replaced the needle vale and it looked slightly different than the one that came out. I was thinking of popping the top off and putting the old valve back in and see what happens. As far as confidence in the carb rebuild I was until I tried to start it! I rebuilt a quadrajet top to bottom 2 years ago and it ran perfect. This carb is way simpler than the q-jet was.

 

[broncojeff78]

Success!!! Today I took the top of the carb off to put the original needle and seat back in because they were slightly different. Went to start it and it wouldn't run at all. Chugged a little bit is about all. I then advanced the timing a little bit and she fired right up! Set the timing and it purrs like kitten now. Going out for a maiden voyage on Friday!