What I think May be wrong...
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2) could the power valve actuator be sticking, or mis-operating somehow ?
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5) what do you think is causing the "sudden death"? I think I May have a vacuum leak that gets opened up when the low temp vacuum control valve opens (maybe the egr?).
first things off: find out if it is your egr killing the vehicle! Get it started and running, and see if you can't press up on the egr valve and cause the same death you experience "almost warm." if your death happens very quickly I doubt it's the egr, but by verifying that it isn't stuck open and that it isn't killing your vehicle when you want it to, you can verify it isn't the issue.
in response to #5:
Now, depending on the kind of ignition you have... You could be experiencing Holley ignition module failure, especially if the "death" happens when you're moving slowly/stopping (and thus allowing heat to build up in the engine bay.) in the center of your firewall, there May or May not be a little ignition module box with some connectors leading to your main harness collection, and out to your motor's front end. If it's puking some black rubberish guts out, it May be a module on its way to, or currently at failure, usa.
What I'm talking about does not have any vacuum lines run to it, that's the deceleration module (also emissions, meant to gradually decrease throttle as you let off the pedal) that May be puking out black stuff as well, and failing to cut off vacuum to the dashpot. For me, this specific scenario resulted in a dashpot that increased throttle, which increased vacuum, which increased how hard the dashpot pushed on the throttle, which increased throttle... Etc.
I remember being the one chasing some crazy issue by getting a new cap, replacing plugs and wires, messing with timing so much that the vac advance can has a little greasy spot just for me... I was trying to figure out why, during the warmer summer months, my '77 Scout was simply dying and misfiring, losing power and becoming completely undrivable... Next day it's fine, until the underhood temps climb enough to scare the ignition module into submission!
My specific issue was that the "gold box" ignition module went the way it did in every other Scout II: it heated up on the firewall. I was told to relocate it, maybe mount it on radiating fins, but it was too late. I had to switch to pertronix.
Of course, I could be getting you worked up about absolutely nothing, but
it would be ideal if you could examine and verify a seamless ignition setup before messing with a carburetor (michael mayben learnt me on that one.) it would make the whole process a lot easier, and if you know it's not your ignition module or spark setup affecting your situation, you can then point the finger at the carb.
I would highly recommend going over to the ignition side of the forum, read up, maybe try to 'power time' the vehicle and see what number is indicated afterwards - it might surprise you, and it might make an honest difference in how it runs, until it mysteriously dies.
in response to #2:
You've had the carburetor apart. When you reinstalled the power valve actuator, did it go in fairly easily? Mine did, and I thought nothing of it until I realized what it was doing. Mine was actually a pretty sloppy fit.
Now I May be wrong here, but I -think- the "power valve" is set up like this: the heavy actuator, at high manifold vacuum, is drawn up and away from the power valve. When you mash the pedal (and vacuum drops like hell) this actuator's weight overcomes, drops down on the power valve, and enrichens the afr in accordance with your desire for more power!
It really helps to have a vacuum gauge, especially when messing with this type of carburetor in particular. A mity-vac could serve the purpose and then some, and also assist you with brake servicing. The mity-vac would also allow you to apply vacuum to the specific port on your carburetor with the whole shebang still assembled. You can then see how long the actuator holds this vacuum signal... It should, indefinitely.
From my own previously sloppy fit, I'm assuming my actuator was useless, and it even seemed to be from another series of carburetor!
Aside from all that, if you're experiencing a power valve held wide open, it would make sense that it is dumping fuel via that circuit and you'd still run with the idle bleeds turned way down.
As for "falling flat off idle," with my 2210c setup (which I need to ship to mayben just so he can have something else in his collection!) I never found the point where I had full-coverage response upon standstill takeoffs. I'm sure it had to do with more than just the accel pump, but no earthly amount of tinkering with the accel pump linkage got me anywhere... Only some places seemed "better."
now, a couple other things... Float first: I figure if the finish nail fills the holes well enough to be tight, it should work for the float - if I remember correctly, it only has room for a bit of overhang before the bowl body stops it from leaving its position. It's not like this is the first time one of these rigs was backwoods-serviced, and it's surely not as harmful as some shadetree "fixes."
as for the fuel bowl, there is really no good provision for figuring out which setting provides the best bowl full of fuel, but the precursory setpoint I've recognized is this:
- float top face parallel with the bowl cover when fully floated & closed
- float bottom face parallel with the bowl cover when fully dropped & open
peter, to tell you the truth, I don't want you to get rid of this vehicle! You're in the perfect place for learning how to fiddle with these things, and if you can interact with the forum accordingly, we can all work towards finding solutions for one another.
So stay with us, and stay with IH! Good luck!