<VV> Leaking Fuel Pump=Rich mixture? Also choke adjustment. (somewhat long)

Derek Archer eggman@owt.com
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 16:07:29 -0800


I hadn't driven my '64 spyder in a while, so I got it out and took it 
for a drive around the neighborhood. I noticed that the fast idle 
didn't want to kick down for about 15 minutes of driving in 40-degree 
weather driving at about 30-35 mph. Then the engine started smoking a 
bit of black smoke and hesitating. I suspected a rich mixture and thus 
a maladjusted choke. The temp gauge was reading somewhere between 
250-350 ( I couldn't tell exactly because having the headlights on (and 
thus the dash lights) caused a bit of condensation inside the glass of 
the three small gauges. Anyway, I pulled over to adjust the choke when 
I noticed the "piss hole" at the back of the fuel pump was going drip, 
drip, drip. This explained the rich behavior because of all the excess 
gas fumes being sucked into the air intake. So now I need a new pump.

Also, when I start the engine cold, the fast idle is around 1800 RPM 
and I get a bit of black and/or blue smoke, probably have the choke set 
too long and/or the fast idle is too high. Is there anyone out there 
with a Clark's electric choke system on their turbo engine that can 
give me an easy and surefire way to adjust the choke and fast idle 
linkage properly?