'85 XJ

[Chuck]

Alright, the carb on this truck is a Rochester E2SE electronically controlled Varajet. I'm usually pretty comfortable with carburetors, but I'm used to Ford systems and have no experience with the GM feedback control system. I can say two things for certain:

• The choke is not pulling off as the engine warms up. For the moment this is probably a good thing, because ...
  
• The carb is creating a very lean mix.

Aside from mixture issues, the thing runs beautifully at fast idle -- provided I hold the throttle open a bit and tweak the choke blade with my little finger to keep it rich enough to run.

The mixture issue is the first thing to solve. It may be as simple as several very bad vacuum leaks, and going over every vacuum line very thoroughly would be the first thing to do. Extra air leans the mix, obviously.

Okay, who here has more CCC Rochester experience? About all I could find was this, and my few Rochester refs don't have much on the Varajet.

[JeepinGoose]

so anyone got any suggestions?

Chuck, did you come up with anything else yet?

[4WDnRocksNmud]

Check all the smog stuff, and additional vac. lines. a leak or split in the lines will do that to ya.

i also highly recommend a rebuild on the carb. cheap, easy, little time consuming but you'll see a definite difference.

[Chuck]

I haven't been able to find anything else on this one in the last couple of days. This is apparently a very common carb, though, so it might actually be simpler to find one in good shape at U-Wrench-It (there are probably at least a dozen there right now, since it was the only carb used in the early 80's on a very common Chevy engine), if the carb turns out to be the problem.

I think the first thing I'd do would be a VERY careful check of every hose and fitting for vacuum leaks. If it's a vacuum leak, that's the cheapest thing to fix anyway. If it's not a hose or a missing cap, it may be a leak through the gasket at the base of the carburetor. You'll have to check every hose on it for splits and cracks, end to end, though the mix is off far enough that I'd suspect one that's actually loose instead of just a very small crack.

After checking for leaks and making sure the computer's happy, a carb rebuild would be the next thing to do. I usually go for a rebuild last -- they're usually not difficult, but if it turns out to be another problem (and vacuum leaks are MUCH more common), there's too much risk involved in rebuilding a carb that isn't broken. Compound that with the fact that I'm not directly familiar with this particular carb, and so far no one else has stepped forward and said they are. Might want to put a post in "Help Wanted" with a topic like "Anyone experienced with Rochester two-barrels?" and a link to here, might find someone who knows them but hasn't seen this post.

A good-sized vacuum leak, like a loose hose of the manifold, would easily explain why it's running so lean but is otherwise consistent. If we can find that, then all we have to do is get that choke working right, and that's not usually hard to do.

[JeepinGoose]

ok i found this webpage, www.carbsonly.com/index/carsandtrks.htm
seems to be the best deal SO FAR, the rebuilds come with a 12 month warr. and they have the 2 AND 4 bbrl rochester WITH cali emission stuff too. I emailed them for a quote and asked a couple questions as well, will let you know what i come up with.

Adam

[Chuck]

Sounds good. I'm still hoping it's a loose vacuum hose -- if that's the case, no need to replace the carb. If it's not a vacuum hose, it might still be something as simple as a bad gasket between the carb and manifold. There's a simple trick to checking those -- get it running, hold it steady, and spray the area around the gasket with carb cleaner. If it changes the idle/run quality at all, there's your leak.

I've been trying to figure out when I'm going to be able to get back over there with a couple more tools to get a better look at it, but my weekend was shot, and it's looking like I'm going to be stuck late at work most of the week. I'll update when I can get loose. Maybe if Keith can get out that way he can spot what it's doing.

[JeepinGoose]

that would be sweet, i am off tomorrow night and wed i have plans for the night. work a double thurs and fri night but im off on sat so that might be the best option so far.

[4WDnRocksNmud]

Adam, I might try and swing by with Rani and another Lady friend for an hour or so on Saturday, and swing a wrench or two. I have to show Marissa what real power is (she has a thing for rice... )

[JeepinGoose]

sounds good to me,
oh by the way...


I tried to jack the XJ up the other day, but being on dirt doesnt allow the jack stands to support the weight. whos got a couple sheets of steel i can set my jack stands on? just like 1x1 would be fine , 2 of them would work, 4 would kick a**. ;D tanx ev'rone

[Chuck]

JeepinGoose said:

that would be sweet, i am off tomorrow night and wed i have plans for the night. work a double thurs and fri night but im off on sat so that might be the best option so far.

That might be a possibility, at least the part of the day where I'm not helping Cory get his new (to him, at least) 318 with associated junk car out of my back yard and onto his trailer. ;D

Cory said:

Adam, I might try and swing by with Rani and another Lady friend for an hour or so on Saturday, and swing a wrench or two. I have to show Marissa what real power is (she has a thing for rice... )

I have no clue who you're talking about, but if she's with ya when you head our way, that could be arranged ... not all my toys have a transfer case, and I haven't had an excuse to hit triple digits in a long while.

Incidentally, you can look for that and the Bronco as landmarks when you're heading out. Should be easy to see in the yard. We've got long straightaways on either side of the house, and we're right by the only curve in that section of the road, so we're hard to miss.

[JeepinGoose]

hey chuck, what about the 904 tranny you said was with it, you still got it? need to get the XJ running so i can troubleshoot the tranny next.

[4WDnRocksNmud]

that 904 wont bolt up... u'll need a differrent bellhousing and input/output shafts i believe.

You can have mine out of my cherokee however.

[JeepinGoose]

well i am thinking parts as well, hopefully its just a small problem but it would be nice to have three 904's so i could get one good one out of the bunch.

[Chuck]

Yep, 904 and all (two wheel drive), and as far as we know this transmission worked fine when the vehicle was parked. We moved it under its own power several times, though we haven't recently. Hence, internals should be good to swap into the right case.

We haven't removed anything from the vehicle aside from one seatbelt I cut when I needed some webbing to rest my new fuel tank on in the Bronco. LOL

[4WDnRocksNmud]

Chuck, i'm not sure if I have to go to a Suffolk Explorer car wash from 8-12, just yet that day, but pending the notification of aformentioned event, I'll be able to pick it up. i just have to grab a uhaul trailer dolly.