I'm about to give in. Lots of smoke, engine dies at idle, only had truck a few weeks.

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I_chew_big_red

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1985
Engine
318 2bbl
I’m about to give up. I bought a 1985 Dodge W150 (318) about three weeks ago. I drove it home from the sales yard and it ran just fine for that four-hour trip. Over the past few days, I’ve been doing some simple maintenance on it. Here’s what I’ve done:

DAY 1: Cleaned up the wiring with looms, tape, and replacing cracked wires. The truck ran fine for several days after doing this.

DAY 4: Changed the oil and filter. I used 10w-40 high mileage. The old oil had a lot of chunks and deposits in it. Truck ran fine for several days after doing this.

DAY 6: Truck stalled out and died on road. While driving at low speed, the truck stalled and died. Pulled over, couldn’t see anything wrong, and tried to start it. Took several tries, but the truck started and made it home.

DAY 7: Stopped driving truck. Front left suspension/steering components have issues and the t-case rear output shaft is leaking ATF. After reading more about these components, I didn’t feel it was safe to drive until these issues were resolved. Have not driven truck since this day, I only fire it up and let it idle in the driveway.

DAY 8: Truck would not start. (This was resolved later, see DAY 14)

DAY 11: Changed the coolant. I used Prestone 50/50. I drained the old coolant, poured 3 gallons of distilled water through the radiator with the engine off (drain petcock open), closed the petcock, and refilled the coolant once distilled water had fully drained. While the coolant was empty, I put in a new water temp sensor. I squeezed air bubbles out of the upper radiator hose. I put on a new Mr. Gasket radiator cap (w/ temp gauge) because the old cap leaked. This new cap leaks as well. Truck still did not start after doing this (See DAY 14).

DAY 12: Fuel additive. I used Redline SI-1 fuel system cleaner. Via the suggestion of a friend, I poured a bottle of this stuff in the tank and added ten gallons of gas (total of 15 gallons in the tank). Truck still did not start after doing (See DAY 14).

DAY 14: Reconnected electric fuel pump wires. Previous owner installed a Mr. Gasket micro fuel pump near the fuel tank (there is also a mechanical fuel pump on the passenger side of the engine block at the bottom). I came home one day and the truck wouldn’t start. It would try, but it seemed starved for gas and I couldn’t hear the electric pump running. The wire from the alternator to the electric pump was connected to the fuel pump lead wire by a wire nut (wire ends were dirty and barely connected). I stripped the wire ends at the fuel pump, connected the two wires, put on a new wire nut, and wrapped it in electrical tape. After doing this, I could hear the pump work and the truck was able to start. Let it idle for a few minutes and shut it down.

DAY 15: Engine wash and engine bay wash. I removed the battery. I covered the electrical relays and exposed wiring with tape. After removing the air cleaner, I covered the alternator, carburetor, dizzy, coil pack, and ignition module with plastic bags sealed with tape. I used a small scrub brush, dabbing small amounts of dish soap on the brush, and lightly scrubbed the intake manifold and valve covers. I didn’t want to drown the engine bay with water, so did quick spurts of water from a gardening hose nozzle. I dabbed up any pooled water with rags and let the truck sit to dry off. This is when I started up the truck and let it idle for like ten minutes. At first, there was a lot of white smoke/steam coming from the exhaust, but it didn’t smell like burning coolant and my coolant levels did not go down. The truck actually sounded great and idled more smoothly than ever. I figured the white steam/smoke was from water that got into the engine during the wash or was due to the fuel additive cleaning carbon deposits.

DAY 17: Air cleaner change. I used a 14” x 3” K&N air cleaner. The old air cleaner smelled like fuel and was very thick and oily.

For a few days after washing the engine, it would blow out a lot of the same white smoke while warming up. As it’s warming up, the white smoke mixes with some bluish/grey smoke. Once warm, there is very little white smoke but a good bit of bluish/grey smoke. I went home to start up the truck today to see if there were any changes. I pumped the gas pedal three times and turned the key as usual with cold starts. Truck started right up. After about a second or two of idling, the engine would bog and stall. I tried again and revved the engine slightly just to keep it from dying. There was still a lot of white smoke, and with the wind blowing it past my cab, I could smell it and it didn’t smell like coolant (also no water/coolant on oil cap or dipstick). While my foot was on the gas, the engine sounded just fine. As soon as I removed my foot from the gas, the RPMs dropped and the engine stalled and died. I tried again and the same thing happened. I have not adjusted the idle screws or air/fuel mixture screws on the carb (edelbrock 1406) because it used to run just fine and I don’t want to throw off the mixture.

I’m at a total loss here and think I may have screwed something up.
 

Rustycowl69

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to correctly start a properly adjusted carb on a cold engine, you only step on the gas once. The primary purpose is to 'set' the automatic choke linkage.
 

RonJon '06

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I agree with Rustycowl, first off I'd make sure that the choke is working. Let the engine warm up fully then shut it off. Wait a couple hours and pull off the air cleaner, the choke should be open. Press the gas pedal to the floor once and the choke should close. You can test the diaphragm in the choke pull off by removing the vacuum line, push the choke linkage in towards the pull off and hold your finger over the hole that the vacuum line was attached to. If the diaphragm goes back out then it's shot.

If the choke is working then I'd ho ahead and start adjusting the idle screws. I'm not familiar with that carb but there should be two, one for fast idle (adust while the engine is still warming up) and one curb idle.
 
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I_chew_big_red

I_chew_big_red

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The previous owner installed an edelbrock 1406 with an electric choke. The choke has no positive power going to it, the only wire on it is from the negative terminal to ground. I always thought that there was no need for a choke in hot weather (I live in the south). Is this not true?

Also, there is an external electric pump (35 gph 4.5-7.5 psi) by the tank pushing fuel to a mechanical fuel pump on the block. Someone on this site with much more wisdom than I have suggested removing the electric pump, but it turns out that the mechanical pump has trouble pulling the fuel from the tank (it's a long bed pickup), so I need a booster pump. Would my fuel pressure get messed up with the two pumps? Think I could use a fuel pressure regulator?
 

RonJon '06

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The previous owner installed an edelbrock 1406 with an electric choke. The choke has no positive power going to it, the only wire on it is from the negative terminal to ground. I always thought that there was no need for a choke in hot weather (I live in the south). Is this not true?

Also, there is an external electric pump (35 gph 4.5-7.5 psi) by the tank pushing fuel to a mechanical fuel pump on the block. Someone on this site with much more wisdom than I have suggested removing the electric pump, but it turns out that the mechanical pump has trouble pulling the fuel from the tank (it's a long bed pickup), so I need a booster pump. Would my fuel pressure get messed up with the two pumps? Think I could use a fuel pressure regulator?

That could be the problem, it's supposed to have a keyed 12V power supply that's hot when the key is turned on. Without a 12V power supply the choke won't open up.

A fuel pressure regulator wouldn't hurt either, it's possible to have too much pressure going to the carb as well. I found an online owners manual for that carb, if your interested I can send you the link.

John
 

Rustycowl69

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if and when you run power to the choke, be careful. The power feed should be fused. I bought a used vehicle, and PO had installed aftermarket carb with electric choke and failed to fuse the power feed wire. He also failed to properly crimp the solderless connector, nor heat shrink the connection. Stripped end of wire fell out of connector, and contacted intake manifold and burned down the engine wiring harness in just a couple of seconds.
 

crazzywolfie

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someone could have installed the inline electric fuel pump to compensate for a dying mechanical pump. it is still not advisable to have 2 pumps hooked up to 1 fuel line. they can still fight with each others. you should bypass 1 or the other. personally i preffer the mechanical ones.

hooking up the electric choke would definitely be a good idea. usually there is an extra slot or 2 in the fuse panel that is empty. that is how i hooked up the electric choke on my holley. you only need a small fuel like a 3 amp fuse or something like that. without the choke being hooked up it won't run properly.
 

Dodge trucker

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If you do give up drop it off here, I'll get it straightened Out and run the living $#1t out of it,
9 years ago when we bought the Durango I passed on many very clean and nice shape versions because they had the 4.7, before I bought the one I still have that has a 360.
I've put too many good miles on 318s and 360s over the past 30-some years to bail on them.
 

GTyankee

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I was not a Dodge guy, i worked on 40s, 50s, & 60s Chevys & Ferds for the most part
On the early vehicles, i ran an electric fuel pump that was mounted near the fuel tank.
Up on the firewall i had a mechanical fuel pressure regulator
I always removed the mechanical pump from the block & put a block off plate in its place
Very seldom did i run an electric choke, i always liked a manual choke

The ones that i used the most were this type, because almost every parts store carried them

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some of them had a by pass line, that allowed excess volume/pressure to return to the fuel tank
 
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