Dodge Vogue villa grande 1979 won't start
Hi, I have a Dodge Vogue villa grande 1979 thats been in storage for 5 years. It used to start fine but now it doesn't. It turns over but never starts. I have removed the engine cover inside the Vo...
Forum Discussion
I’m 68 and though I’m not a professional mechanic I’ve worked on carburetor’s nearly all my life starting at the age of 12 with the lawn mower and chain saw engines that powered my go-kart. My last carb job was my generator a few months ago. If you’ve never worked on a carburetor before you may not want to tackle one as complicated as the one you have. If you do you’ll want to:
Clean it all out with carburetor cleaner. Cleaning involves taking the carburetor totally apart being certain to remove all the jets (some can be hidden at the bottom of long fuel passages) and next soaking everything in solvent followed by cleaning out any interior passages with carburetor spray using a long red plastic tube nozzle to get deep into passages and crevasses. Follow that with compressed air and repeat at least once. If debris is firmly stuck in passages or in the jets I use a wood toothpick to remove, never use metal picks to clean out jets. BTW it’s not a bad idea to take photos of the carburetor before and during disassembly.
Inspect the float valves for wear (a ring worn around the tapered part) and replace as needed. If your carb has foam plastic float(s), as many do, check to see that it hasn’t absorbed gasoline and is no longer floating. I place the float(s) in a small dish full of gasoline supporting only the metal hinged part with a string. If it sinks replace it. BTW I once purchased a professionally rebuilt carburetor that had a bad float that was overlooked by the rebuilder.
I almost forget, be certain to properly adjust the float level during reassembly.
Always replace the accelerator pump(s) they are wear items and even if they look good they may be on the verge of going bad.
Replace all the gaskets whether they look reusable or not. Also make certain all metal gasket surfaces are cleaned of old gasket material before reassembly.
As for your carburetor, I personally wouldn’t hesitate to rebuild/repair it. However in your case as someone new to the process, getting a new or rebuilt unit is probably a good idea. BTW when carburetor’s were more common rebuilt ones used to be quite cheap and being lazy, at times I’d get a rebuilt rather than going through the hassle of doing it myself. In other words don’t feel bad about getting a rebuilt carburetor.
Steve
Clean it all out with carburetor cleaner. Cleaning involves taking the carburetor totally apart being certain to remove all the jets (some can be hidden at the bottom of long fuel passages) and next soaking everything in solvent followed by cleaning out any interior passages with carburetor spray using a long red plastic tube nozzle to get deep into passages and crevasses. Follow that with compressed air and repeat at least once. If debris is firmly stuck in passages or in the jets I use a wood toothpick to remove, never use metal picks to clean out jets. BTW it’s not a bad idea to take photos of the carburetor before and during disassembly.
Inspect the float valves for wear (a ring worn around the tapered part) and replace as needed. If your carb has foam plastic float(s), as many do, check to see that it hasn’t absorbed gasoline and is no longer floating. I place the float(s) in a small dish full of gasoline supporting only the metal hinged part with a string. If it sinks replace it. BTW I once purchased a professionally rebuilt carburetor that had a bad float that was overlooked by the rebuilder.
I almost forget, be certain to properly adjust the float level during reassembly.
Always replace the accelerator pump(s) they are wear items and even if they look good they may be on the verge of going bad.
Replace all the gaskets whether they look reusable or not. Also make certain all metal gasket surfaces are cleaned of old gasket material before reassembly.
As for your carburetor, I personally wouldn’t hesitate to rebuild/repair it. However in your case as someone new to the process, getting a new or rebuilt unit is probably a good idea. BTW when carburetor’s were more common rebuilt ones used to be quite cheap and being lazy, at times I’d get a rebuilt rather than going through the hassle of doing it myself. In other words don’t feel bad about getting a rebuilt carburetor.
Steve
