How do I take apart Weber throttle linkage?

[flipper]

In my never ending quest to figure out why my car stumbles and hesitates so badly whenever I stomp even mildly on the gas, I'm going to check my Weber 32/36 throttle linkage and see if it's binding, but I don't know how to even take it apart. See pix. Do I bend that metal tab up and then unscrew the long not thing?

And if you do that often enuf, won't the tab break off?

And when people (and Weber) talk about not overtightening the nut, what nut are they talking about? That long nut?

And in some diagrams I see a circlip but in my linkage I don't see no stinkin' circlip, do you? Am I missing one?

And, finally, if'n when I get the thing apart, how do I in fact check that it's not binding?

TIA!

[Scott Sislane]

hey Erik-

unscrew that piece dead-ctr in your pic. When you screw that off, the pieces it snugs up against will come loose. And the shaft will back into the firewall as you pull it away, if I recall correctly.

[eurotrash]

That ball joint pops apart. But look close, it may have a little cotter pin in it to as a safety measure..

[flipper]

hey Erik-

unscrew that piece dead-ctr in your pic. When you screw that off, the pieces it snugs up against will come loose. And the shaft will back into the firewall as you pull it away, if I recall correctly.

I have to bend up that metal tab first, right? I've tried unscrewing that piece along and just succeed in moving the throttle up and down.

---

I don't think there's a cotter pin in the ball but I'll go have another look...

[eurotrash]

Yeah. Just bent the tab. Then twist till the nut breaks free. Just go for it. Or pry the ball joint apart if it makes you nervous.

[bills2002]

Why would throttle linkage binding cause an off-idle stumble? You can check for binding right there, I'd think. Just work it by hand. Maybe I don't understand your problem and excuse me if I'm jumping in the middle of an ongoing dialogue; but shouldn't you check for vacuum leaks? Ensure the seal is good between the carb and the intake. Make sure the PO properly plugged all of those extra vacuum ports.

My TCW.

[flipper]

no vacuum leaks that i can see, tested all the way around.

as to the linkage, i don't know what diff binding would make but I just wanted to make sure the nut wasn't overtightened and see if that made any changes. so, i did that. then i messed around with the various idle screws and it's running marginally better.

i wish i knew what i did to do that, so i could do it some more. sheesh.

[bills2002]

Ok. So you've cheked with WD40 around the carb base and throttle shafts and got no change in idle speed/eveness. Next I would check the accelerator pump. With the air cleaner off, do you see it squirting raw fuel down the throat of the carb when you cycle the throttle all of the way open? No accel pump, no accel when you stomp the pedal on the right.

Oh crap, I forgot, do that last part with the engine OFF 8-o

[flipper]

actually, i take back what i said earlier. it's now running marginally worse, not better.

when cold i see fuel squirting on the one side. but hot or cold i've never seen it squirting from the other side. could zat be the problem?

also: the idle doesn't kick down. hot or cold, it idles at around 1100 - 1200 rpm. i know that's wrong but i don't know how to fix or diagnosis it and searching here hasn't helped. mainly the searches have produced things like, make sure it kicks down, if it doesn't, fix it. which to me is along the lines of, cook until done. can anyone offer a step-by-step 1-2-3 idiots guide to diagnosing the problem?

[bills2002]

Accel pump squirts into one side only, the primary, so ur ok there. Step by step instructions on how to set up the carb can be found at Redline's site. If I have time later I'll post the link here. Sounds like you are way out of tune on the carb, your timing or both. Get it set up by the Redline instructions and go from there. Aren't there any FAQers near you that could lend a hand?

[jgerock]

Does your car have the original distributor?

Does it have a vacuum advance canister on the side of the housing?

Is there a vacuum hose connected from the advance unit to the intake manifold (or possibly routed to another emissions device first)?

THEN... Pull the vacuum hose off the manifold (car OFF), remove the distributor cap and apply some vacuum to the hose. You can use a hand-held vacuum pump (Mityvac type) or just suck on it. There is a linkage inside the distributor that moves the advance mechanism. If the linkage moves when you apply vacuum, the plate should turn a little. If not, the diaphragm is most likely shot or the advance plate is frozen.

[flipper]

no need to post the link to the redline instructions; i've gone over em time and again to no avail. i think something else is wrong or way out of tune that's got to be made right before the redline steps will work. i just don't know what that something is.

Nope, no FAQers in the immediate area ...

i'll do the suck test and report back ...

thanks!

[flipper]

okay, did the suck test and i think i failed.

first of all, it's got the crane xr700 electronic ignition stuff in the dizzy.

but i sucked and got no movement. i puffed and sucked a few times and saw a *flicker* of movement once, then no more. going back and forth like that, i could hear the diaphram making an in out noise (i guess that's what it is). and it did feel like i was getting suction on the sucking ...

so, what do you surmise from this?

[jgerock]

Sounds like your advance mechanism is "frozen" or the diaphragm is bad.

Take the same hose, pull a vacuum on it and hold your finger on it to see if the vacuum holds or if it slowly leaks. This will help test the diaphragm.

Pull off the rotor and spray a little bit of PB Blaster, Kroil, WD40,etc. at the advance plate. Don't spray too much.

Aim the spray at the small flat weights...see here for a typical example