Rebuilng Holley 2300 and I have some questions.

[northernterritory]

Hey guys,

I’m rebuilding the Holley 2300 that is on my Volvo 3.0. I have a few questions.

1. The instructions say to “turn the idle limiter caps to its leanest position and remove the cap. Observe and record the initial position of the needle slot. Turn the needs until lightly seated, record the number of turns required to seat the needles. This procedure is necessary to reinstall the needles after rendering.
***I am not sure what this is referring to. Could you shed some light? Also, if I have already disassembled this part, what should I do?

2. I am unable to get the pump check ball out. The check ball weight is out. Am I missing something?

3. Do I need to disassemble anything on the throttle body?

4. How do you recommend I remove gasket residue? A stainless steel brush on my drimel?

5. I didn’t see any of these parts when I disassembled (see picture below). Any idea what they go to?

6. What should I soak the parts in, for how long, and what solvent should I use to get the cleaner off?

 

[Scott Danforth]

1- count the number of turns (in or clockwise) to lightly seat the needles. this will be your baseline when you get done cleaning your carb

2. if the checkball moves and the passage is clear, leave it in

3. Normally not

4. gasket remover and a plastic putty knife

5. 2 check balls, the idle mixture needle packing, c-clips for the choke linkage, not sure

6. berrymans carb cleaner. soak until clean. compressed air to dry off. make sure to either use a can of spray cleaner or a fine wire to make sure every passage is clear. wear eye protection when using the compressed air or can of spray cleaner

 

[jimmbo]

I used to use Lacquer Thinner to clean my carbs. But you have to keep any plastic parts away from it. When removing old gaskets from the metering block, be careful as it does have a raised area to help the gaskets seal. Any damage and you will find it difficult to get a leak free carb. Make sure to replace the gaskets that are under the screws that hold the fuel bowl and metering block to the throttle body. As Scott said regarding disassembling the throttle body, not needed or recommended as the throttle plate screws are staked to keep them from loosening, removal and reinstalling quite often results in the screw getting ingested by the engine. It also can mess up the placement/centering of the throttle plate in relation to the carb bore, which can create some hard to solve idle issues.
One of the check balls is in the accelerator pump, the other is used on some carbs as a back-fire protector for the power valve.
The 2300 is one of the easiest carbs to rebuild. Just make sure to check and adjust the float height

 

[northernterritory]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

Is a straightened paper clip a good tool for cleaning out the passages?

I already removed the idle needles. What should I do?

I also removed the screws for the choke place, but not the throttle plate. I'm guessing these screws were staked too and I should put some blue loctite on the screws and recenter the plate?

 

[Scott Danforth]

no, a good tool is solvent.

i sometimes fish some copper wire in the passages if they are clogged, or have even used pin-drills in a pin vice.

not much you can do if you simply removed the idle needles without knowing where they were other than to start at 1.5 turns out and get your idle mix dialed in. I use a propane torch (unlit) to keep enrichening the idle until I get in the ball-park

no need to remove screws from the choke plate.

use RED locktite. you will not want the screws coming loose and getting sucked into the motor. sometimes it just beats up the piston, sometimes they become one with the piston, other times they break a piston.

I have a custom vice-grip I made about 25 years ago for re-staking the screws in throttle plates and choke plates. did it after my brother toasted the perfect motor I built him because he pulled the carb apart on his own and never mentioned it. 6 months later he brings me the car because it wont run. 1 choke screw and 5 throttle plate screws were missing, one throttle plate had fallen in the intake, 2 broken pistons and 2 damaged valves and seats. one piston had two of the screws permanently mashed into the top of the piston.

managed to save the carb, however a complete 2nd rebuild with two new heads was required.

 

[northernterritory]

It looks like the idle needles were screwed in a total of 10 time based on looking at the threads. That should be a good start.

After everything sits in the cleaner, what should I use to wash the cleaner off? Water?

 

[jimmbo]

As Scott said, just screw the needles in until they gently bottom, then back them out 11/2 turns.
When I used Lacquer Thinner, there was no cleaner residue to remove. I guess you could rinse the carb with a spray type carb cleaner, others would just blast any remain cleaner off with compressed air.
If your overhaul kit includes a new power valve, make sure it has the same calibration as the old one.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the cleaner should evaporate and leave little if any residue, or use compressed air.

 

[Maclin]

I tend to "rinse" with spray carb cleaner also. Using the tube to clear out the small holes, and take it off for a general rinse down. USE SAFETY GLASSES with any process using air or spray methods, had to say it...

 

[Scott Danforth]

USE SAFETY GLASSES with any process using air or spray methods, had to say it...

covered in post #2. BTDT, own the tee shirt. especially on a holley where the passages go in, left, right, down, up, and end up 1/2' from where you are spraying and aimed right at your eyeballs.

 

[Maclin]

Yup, teeshirt here, I added that caution as I reminisced about what the spray felt like in my eyes, even when I had them closed hard :facepalm:

Good luck northernterritory , I always liked working on Holleys, you can usually get good results.

 

[northernterritory]

Is it possible for the carb to not have have a checkball? When I put the new one in, and then add the weight on it, there isn’t hardly any threads available for the screw. I never saw a ball come out when I was taking it apart, and I can’t see anything in the hole when shining a light in it.

 

[Lou C]

If you have questions I suggest that you go onto Holley's website and get their tech support number, if you call you get an actual person and they probably can help you figure this out.

 

[northernterritory]

If you have questions I suggest that you go onto Holley's website and get their tech support number, if you call you get an actual person and they probably can help you figure this out.

I did. Only older models had the check valve, so I'm good.

Should the choke flap be completely closed? It seems like there are different ideas on closed versus a little open.

 

[Lou C]

It depends on the air temperature, if it is set with the engine at a cooler temp like 40-50*F it may not close all the way on a hot summer day with the morning temp being 70-80*F. If you are still putting the carb back together and are going to test run the engine anytime soon then set it so it just closes. The point of closing the choke is to further drop the pressure in the carb throat which pulls more fuel from the bowl to enrich the mixture for the cold engine, so it may start faster if it does close all the way. Engines and chokes are notoriously individual.
There is a vaccum operated linkage that will pull it open a fraction of an inch as soon as the engine starts. Make sure it opens up all the way as the engine warms up. These have an electric choke that uses an electric heating element instead of exhaust heat to open the choke as on some of the older designs like the Rochester 2 & 4 bbl carbs. It can work well on boats because they run cooler than the auto version of the same engine which made it take longer than optimal for the choke to open...my old 4.3 has a Rochester Q-Jet with the manifold mounted thermostatic spring choke. This is heated by exhaust passing through the exhaust crossover in the intake manifold but with this system in a boat, the choke will not fully open till the engine has run a bit, because the manifold just does not get that hot with the engine idling, even with a 160 thermostat. So the electric choke should respond faster and you will have the choke open earlier in the engine run time.

 

[northernterritory]

Got ya. I hooked it up to a 12 V source. It started to open at around two minutes and completed opening around three minutes. It started to close, after disconnecting power, in around five minutes and fully closed around 15.

As you all probably know, I've pretty much went through the entire engine and its components. I have had the cylinder head worked by a machine shop (valves were not seating, head was warped, head gasket blown, block was still level though; looks like someone allowed it to overheat since the water pump wasn't work correctly). The manifold is new, starter is new, new supply water pump impeller and seal, new cap and rotor, new plugs and wires, rebuilt carb with new brass float, new fuel filter, new belts, and new gaskets. I'm probably leaving off a few new things as well. What started all of this was a crack manifold. There was also detonation. I am hoping this was caused by the cylinder head issues or carb, and not a flawed fuel pump.

Now that I am about all back together, I need to start thinking about my re-starting checklist. Here is what I thinking and questions I also have.

* I set the float in the carb to be parallel with the body, as per the directions, and the idle screws in their original position. I also checked the accelerator pump lever gap, and it is in-spec. I assume the carb should be good to go?

* I'm unsure how old the gas is, so I am going to completely drain it. Once I re-hook the fuel system up, the fuel filter bowl, the carb, and all of the lines will be empty. Any special procedures to prime the carb?

* Should I install an in-line fuel pressure gauge, or borrow a tester from an auto-parts store to make sure my fuel pump is working correctly? Or, should I just run it and look/listen for the signs of a lean mixture? I know I need to do this in the water; running about idle on tongs is bad idea.

* Will using the garden hose tongs around the foot adequately fill the entire coolant circuit, or do I need to fill it from up around the t-stat as well? I know impellers do not like to be ran dry.

* I know I should re-adjust the valves and re-torque the manifold bolts after a heat cycle, and also re-torque the cylinder head bolts after 20hrs, but is there any other things like this I should do?

* Should I install a water-seperator fuel filter?

* Anything else?