My carb: super high idle & fuel leaking

[northernterritory]

I reassembled my 98 Volvo 3.0, hooked it up to muffes, and turned over the engine. I was anticipating I would need to tinker with it to get it to run, but to my surprise it fired up the very first time. I immediately noticed it was "idling" around 2800 rpms and killed it. I looked down the throat, and fuel was pooled up on-top of the throttle valve. Now, I did notice after the fact that i had forgotten to plug the air pressure/vacuum check port on the manifold, so I can imagine this was feeding extra air to the engine, which could have increased the idle speed, but still think the pooling of fuel on-top of the throttle valve is troubling. I didn't have a chance to try it again after plugging the port, but I will later.

The second issue was fuel leaking from the carb. I couldn't really tell where it was coming from, but maybe it was coming from the metering block contact areas? Any advice on how to troubleshoot and fix this?

I honestly am super happy to be at this point. I basically disassembled the motor down to the block, and replaced all of the bolt-on components. So for the engine to actually start, and sound like a sowing machine while it was "idling" is a huge win for me.

 

[Bondo]

The second issue was fuel leaking from the carb. I couldn't really tell where it was coming from, but maybe it was coming from the metering block contact areas? Any advice on how to troubleshoot and fix this?

Ayuh,..... Pull the carb, 'n Rebuild it,.....

 

[alldodge]

Agree, probably needs rebuild
Could also pull the top of the carb off and clean the needle seat. It might have a spec of crud on it. Still could use a rebuild but it might let you run it a bit before doing

 

[northernterritory]

Well, I already have rebuilt it.

 

[alldodge]

Well, I already have rebuilt it.

Something wasn't done right OR there is a piece of crud in the needle seat

 

[Scott Danforth]

Well, I already have rebuilt it.

something not right with the carb settings then. I personally would go back to the carb.

 

[northernterritory]

My float level was set too high and the bolts holding the bowl on weren't torqued tight enough. I dropped it a few mm, torqued the bolts, plugged the vacuum port, and all is well. Thanks guys!

 

[Lou C]

Great now did you ever pull the drive and make sure the engine is properly aligned? This is important and something to not avoid or else it will cost a lot of money and time to put right (ie causing the engine coupler to fail, necessitating an engine pull and new coupler)....vs a few hrs to pull the drive and align the engine....just buy the tool, you have an I/O and will use it every time you pull the drive (you SHOULD be doing that once a season anyway for the I/O maintenance).

 

[northernterritory]

Great now did you ever pull the drive and make sure the engine is properly aligned? This is important and something to not avoid or else it will cost a lot of money and time to put right (ie causing the engine coupler to fail, necessitating an engine pull and new coupler)....vs a few hrs to pull the drive and align the engine....just buy the tool, you have an I/O and will use it every time you pull the drive (you SHOULD be doing that once a season anyway for the I/O maintenance).

Tool just came in and I did the test. The tool slid all the way in with relative ease, and after pulling it straight out, there was equal amounts of grease marks from the spline on the tool. Any other maintenance I should do on the outdrive before putting it back together?

 

[Lou C]

Well while you have the drive off you should check the driveshaft bellows for cracks (if so replace), check the gimble bearing for smooth movement; grease it while you turn it by hand, check the U joints for free movement or loosness, and the gear oil for water (pull bottom drain plug to check).