No good deed goes unpunished.

[airdvr1227]

End of last season I was having problems with my rig running rough, running rich, and not idling very well. Last thing to try after a full tune-up etc . was a reman carb (Holley 4160). Bought the carb at the end of March. Had a friend install it at the end of May. Wouldn't idle. Took it to my marine mechanic who said there was something wrong with the idle circuit.

Talked to the people who did the reman and asked for a replacement. They declined saying I had purchased it back in late March. Shipped it back at my expense.

They shipped it back to me on the 14th. No call to explain what was wrong or what they did. They replaced a powervalve and reset something to 1 pound or something like that.

Got a call this morning from my guy...same problem nothing has changed. Called the people who did the re-man. At this point I just want a refund of the $300+ I paid. Sure, with a 25% re-stocking fee

I've paid my friend to install it originally and will pay my mechanic to put it on and take it off twice.

Did some searching on the net and found my experience with these folks is not unique.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

I think after the first time I would have just paid the mechanic to rebuild it himself and skip the reman. company.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

Tried that. They refused to refund my money without a chance to look at it first. Seemed reasonable at the time.

I know I can't say the name of the company here, but if you need a reman carb stay away from the ones in Largo FL.

 

[ChrisCraftJohnny]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

A friend of mine who is a GM mechanic with 40 years of Experience.....
(Back when manufactures' trained their mechanics)

He told me many years ago during a carb. convo.....

"I have never seen anything run well for long with a Holley on it"
"You can tune it 10 ways to Sunday, and still does not seem right."

I have always steered clear of Holley's because of this reason. I have always read/heard of the engine not running right. Or something is just off.

If they were rely-able carbs, GM, Ford and Chrysler would have used them in production. Maybe Holley's are great for race-vehicles. But race vehicles get messed with on a daily basis.

Just my 2 cents.

Johnny

 

[scca vette]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

A friend of mine who is a GM mechanic with 40 years of Experience.....
(Back when manufactures' trained their mechanics)

He told me many years ago during a carb. convo.....

"I have never seen anything run well for long with a Holley on it"
"You can tune it 10 ways to Sunday, and still does not seem right."

I have always steered clear of Holley's because of this reason. I have always read/heard of the engine not running right. Or something is just off.

If they were rely-able carbs, GM, Ford and Chrysler would have used them in production. Maybe Holley's are great for race-vehicles. But race vehicles get messed with on a daily basis.

Just my 2 cents.

Johnny

You are correct! A Holley carb is very weather sensative. Can run great one day however a 10 degree in temp and you are retuning it. Theya re also very bad for power valves blowing if you get any kind of backfire. The older ones were also very prone to leak out of about all the seals however with the new material they are using this problem has pretty much gone away. There is also 100's of parts (PV, accelerator cams, secondary springs, jets, squirters) that can be changed to get the carburator to work like it should. They are not bolt on and forget it friendly carbs.

The reasons they are bad are the same good reasons they are used in racing applications, very very tunable. If you know what you are doing you can gain a lot of HP by tuning the Holley to the application that you are running. Most seasoned racers also know what combinations work best given the temp and humidity of the day they are racing. They will change the parts at the track to fit the conditions of the day.

Have somebody that knows Holley carbs go through it and clean it and set it up and you should be good.

Good Luck!

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

Possibly, but the carb I got wouldn't idle...at all. Ended up putting the old one back on.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

Possibly, but the carb I got wouldn't idle...at all. Ended up putting the old one back on.

Alot of (not all) reman carbs are ones that did not work or failed insp at the factory for some reason. They toss them out the back door as they cant bemelted down and recast. A "rebuilder" comes and buys them at a very discounted price and tosses a kit in them (if that) and sells them as a rebuilt. Some will run and some wont depending the reason they failed in the first place.
A factory reman is the only ones that you can have any kind of trust in as they are a direct reflection of the maker, not the rebuilder.
This holds true with any make not just Holley.

Morel of the story, By a good product in the first place and avoid the hassle.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

So...if you were in the market for a carburetor where would you turn?

 

[occarvers]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

I Got a re manufactured Solex carb out of Largo Florida bolted it on and went boating! Solved my carb issues!

 

[ziggy]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

So...if you were in the market for a carburetor where would you turn?

me personally, i'd go back to the carb the oem put on it. the oem thought that one worked best with whatever setup ya got. whether rebuilding the original or getting an aftermarket. but still the same carb it came with. if rebuild, i would also not assume that the rebuilder used proper specs for my engine or proper methods of rebuilding. so much shotty work being done these days in the name of quick turn around for profit.
if rebuilding the original. i'd use the oem s/m for specs and proper method the oem wants me to use to rebuild it..

 

[Lou C]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

I have had my Quadrajet rebuilt twice over the 8 years I have this boat, by my regular mechanic...each rebuild was about 140-160 or so...I prefer using local people for things like carbs and if I needed a new one I'd rather trust him to find a reliable vendor because he deals with this all the time and knows which ones are good and which ones are not...

 

[6meter]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

Carburetors DON'T wear out on boats. They get dirty. Overhaul them with a GOOD kit. Whether you do it or have a mechanic do it, it still is gonna be cheaper. Your boat did at one time run correctly with the setup is has.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

"I have never seen anything run well for long with a Holley on it"
"You can tune it 10 ways to Sunday, and still does not seem right."

I have never heard that myself..... Nor have I had that experience.....


I had one on my last boat engine and it it only ran for nearly 20 years before I pulled it and rebuilt it... Maybe I should have demanded a replacement from Holley!


Oh, and by the way, when I got it apart, the only thing wrong with it was the gaskets I destroyed getting it apart.

 

[ChrisCraftJohnny]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

You were the lucky one Rick!

We all have our own experiences. My neighbor loves Chevy's. Know why?
He had a Ford when he was young and it gave him trouble. So, even though the Chevy's still give him trouble, he never forgot his first experience.

Me, every Ford I have ever had ran great. Ran till the point of the body looking like swiss cheese.

I wish my boat had a 302V8 hooked up to the Alpha 1.

I loved every 302 I owned. In fact I moved over to Dodge when Ford stopped the 302 production. Love my HEMI.

Johnny

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

Yeah I suppose that's true....

I have never heard of people having problems with Holley in general..... I just bought a brand new Holley 0-8007 4160 for my Ford Y-block. I hope I don't have any problems with it!

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: No good deed goes unpunished.

I just bought a brand new Holley 0-8007 4160 for my Ford Y-block.

What I should have done.