Dodge Vogue villa grande 1979 won't start

[jmd87]

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 Vogue and usual before there was a smell of fuel when starting but now there is no smell.

I have put new fuel into the motorhome (not much as fuel isn't cheap in the UK haha) do you think it could be a fuel pump issue? If so where would i source one of these?

I'm not 100% sure on the type of engine but I can try and find out of its required?

Thanks alot
Joe

[2bzy2c]

Here is a thread from another site regarding 440 water pump replacement
of a 440

Here

[jmd87]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies 🙂

It appears that in the manual it says if you don't have Aircon (I remove it!) you can take it out without removing the radiator. The only problem is its not very detailed in its removal. I have tried undoing the bolts where the fan goes into the water pump but it wont budge at all so I assume that maybe the gasket has stuck the 2 together!

Does anyone have any suggestions regarding this at all?

Thank you for all your help and I shall search for a chassis manual 🙂

Kind Regards

[Geocritter]

jmd87 wrote:

2bzy2c wrote:
I have done many 440 water pumps. Easy. If you can rebuild a carb., the water pump should be a walk in the park.

Thank you for posting the results. It helps all of us learn.

Hi,

I was hoping for a bit of advice from you if that's ok?

Basically I went up to the RV and tried to remove the water pump. I can't seem to get the radiator out at all! It seems to be in a surround which is bolted to the chassis which I've undone and have undone all the hoses etc but the radiator won't move at all.

Am I doing something stupidly wrong here? Do I even need to remove the radiator?

Kind Regards
Joe

Sorry Joe,

Giving generic advice on carburetor rebuilding is one thing, but since I've never worked on a classic RV with what I imagine is a Chrysler chassis I can't help you with your radiator removal issue. Perhaps you can find a good manual (I found an early 90's vintage manual for my RV's Ford F53 Chassis by going to abebooks.com).

Anyhow, good luck with it. I'll continue following this thread and if I find something I can help with I'll chime in.

Steve

[wallynm]

Also look for a ballast resister in the starting circuit. Our 73
Dodge 413 with a holly carb started on 12 volts and ran on 6 volts. I got to where I carried spares and just changed them out when we had starting problems.

[bsinmich]

Having a '75 GMC that is taking a lot of repairs I know the search for parts can be difficult. Most things are still available someplace but it takes some searching to find them. This is a pretty good place to come for help.

[2bzy2c]

Doubtful if you need to remove the radiator. Just remove the fan and the bolts holding it. Once the fan is out of the way, that should give you lots of room to work.

You might look to see if the radiator might drop out of the bottom. Maybe. Each RV is different.

[jmd87]

2bzy2c wrote:
I have done many 440 water pumps. Easy. If you can rebuild a carb., the water pump should be a walk in the park.

Thank you for posting the results. It helps all of us learn.

Hi,

I was hoping for a bit of advice from you if that's ok?

Basically I went up to the RV and tried to remove the water pump. I can't seem to get the radiator out at all! It seems to be in a surround which is bolted to the chassis which I've undone and have undone all the hoses etc but the radiator won't move at all.

Am I doing something stupidly wrong here? Do I even need to remove the radiator?

Kind Regards
Joe

[2bzy2c]

I have done many 440 water pumps. Easy. If you can rebuild a carb., the water pump should be a walk in the park.

Thank you for posting the results. It helps all of us learn.

[jmd87]

Hi,

Thanks Geocritter 🙂

I decided to take the carb apart and run the risk. The (what i believe) Accelerator pump was seized solid, Gaskets ruined, fuel bowl had alot of old fuel residue and what looked like dirt. I cleaned everything up, free'd the accelerator pump and made some temporary Gaskets. I put the carb back on the RV still didn't start.

So I checked all the fuel lines and found the filter as dry as bone (I did check all this at first but was advised to take the carb off by a passing mechanic due to all the dirt etc in it.) I checked everything and found that a simple lead and corroded on Fuel Sender unit on the fuel tank. Rewired that up and it started. I tried tuning the carb to try and get it to start better as it was always about 5 minutes to get the RV started! got it a little better but what we did was replace it with an Edelbrock 750 carb fitted that etc and it starts first time everytime which is fantastic as it never did before!

Now I have noticed that the water pump bearing has gone and have decided to replace the water pump and I was after a bit of advice. The Engine I have found is a "Chrysler 440" what pump would people advise?

I have no issues taking the pump off as I've done it on my Mercedes Gwagen before and that was harder that this to remove 🙂

Thanks alot for any help
Joe

[2bzy2c]

I think that is good advice ^

[Geocritter]

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

[jmd87]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
You should be able to find an "exploded" view of your carb online so that you can see if there are any hidden screws. Here is one that may help.
If they are all removed sometimes a tap on the side will separate the top and bottom from each other. When the old fuel evaporates it leaves a crusty type residue that can act as an adhesive and make all parts difficult to remove.
ThermoQuad

Thankyou for the diagram 🙂

[jmd87]

2bzy2c wrote:
To be honest, you are probably in over your head. Carbs are tricky to work on, and even more tricky to get them to run right.

I you can't get the top of the carb off in the first place, I would opt to simply get a rebuilt one. I am not trying to be critical, but just giving an honest assessment.

You should probably try to reply to previous problems you had 9 months ago.
A simply thank you for the advice would be welcomed. Far too often, people have an issue, we offer solutions, then they never check back to let us know what the outcome was.

Don't be one of "those people".

Hi,

Thankyou for both bits of advice. I honestly thought I had said Thankyou and got caught up in just replying so:

Thankyou everyone for your help and advice it is much appreciated and sorry for being rude 🙂

See this is the problem. I live in the United Kingdom and its hard getting parts here for anything related to our motorhome as they cost a fortune to get or simple things like to get a rebuild kit for the carb takes 3 weeks as apparently the kits are "rare" (not a clue if this is true) or they can't find any of the part numbers yet I can seem to find them from a simple google search.

But I will take your advice on this and not attempt to take it apart.

Thanks for your help

Kind Regards
Joe

[rgatijnet1]

You should be able to find an "exploded" view of your carb online so that you can see if there are any hidden screws. Here is one that may help.
If they are all removed sometimes a tap on the side will separate the top and bottom from each other. When the old fuel evaporates it leaves a crusty type residue that can act as an adhesive and make all parts difficult to remove.
ThermoQuad