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81 Sunrader - The Sadie Series - Episode 6


shandamac

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A quick review to all those new.

Sadie is an 81 'rader I purchased from a client about 2 months ago. (She'd been sitting for the last 6 years....un-used, un-driven, and un-loved.) Now, she sits in my driveway; new paneling, new paint, new window seals, new carpet, new curtains, new cushions, a fiberglass patch or two, and filled with the sweet scent of apple mint and sage. She sits awaiting her new one ton rearend. (Happily, it shouldn't be too long now, since I've finally found one in Oklahoma within financial range.)

So during our wait, I've been working under the hood. The rough and ragged idle prompted me to start with new plugs/wires/dist.cap/rotor - That didn't help so I poured Berryman's into the gas tank and shot it into the carb and put on a new fuel filter......no change.....so last Sunday, with my Chilton's tune up guide, my Haynes Toy manual, a carb rebuild kit and some really great pics of my little 2 barrell, I set up my dining room table as an alter to cosmic carburetor rejuvination. Lit a stick of Nag Champa to commence little Sadie's carb deconstruction and got down to business. I pulled off the air cleaner and started labeling hoses.....hoses and jets.....hoses and jets.....hoses and jets......joses and hets..... accelerator assembly...a little springy thing....and some funky clip. By the time I got to the main bolts holding on the carburetor, I was in a total trance. Attempting to channel the mind of Diesel Mike, I kept repeating "one step at a time. take your time. one step at time. take your time"...screws....cleaner.....holes...shoot the cleaner.....springs......screws......cleaner......you'll shoot your eye out........(safety glasses)...holes...spring....clips....holes....levers....what the heck am I doing????....holes....screws....crap....shouldn't done that......drill what???.....11/16 bit.....quick trip to Lowe's.......sheesh...holes....how'd that go????.....screws....springs....... My head finally cleared when I saw the carb, spotless, clean and shining on my dining room table 7 or 8 hours later. Thankful that I'd marked the jets on the pictures with corresponding numbers of the jets on the carb prior to cleaning, I just retaped numbers on the jets and took it out to Sadie, reassembled and ready to hook up.........Put everything back together....and oh my gosh!!!!!! she started!!!!!! oh my gosh!!!! she idled....beautifully!!!!! oh my gosh.....it was friggin' amazing!!!!!. It had to be the most amazing thing I'd done, short of childbirth, and maybe winning first place in the campsite competition at Winfield. What a kick! I was high for a week. Then Thursday night, Garymac and I took her out for a drive.....She was doing great!....We drove through town and out on the highway...... We drove for a good 30 minutes...Then ....all of a sudden......she wasn't doing so great. Sadly, all those years of sitting had put water and gunk in her fuel tank....and the Berryman's had made no inpact....After a good 15 minutes of highway driving......she started bucking and sputtering... poor Sadie....She limped home.

This morning we drained the tank.....Thought it was odd that the fuel tank had a drain plug....but we jacked up the front end, drained the old gas.....and water.....the gunk ......flushed it good.....drained that, and added Heat and fresh gas......and even though she's still idling beautifully....and starts just fine....she's still not doing so good......I put her into first and she'll go a couple of second...then she dies........

I was thinking that maybe the fuel pump was having issues getting gas to the carb, so I changed out the fuel pump on the engine this afternoon, but that didn't help much.....

So still, little Sadie sits. I'm thinking there's another fuel pump near the gas tank that I'll need to consider....or something with the thermostat..... I hope we didn't screw up something by flushing the tank.....Back to the Books.

All ideas are welcome.

shanda

ps. I've enjoyed keeping up with the past posts! Welcome to all the new members! You've come to the right place!

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I'll preface this with this disclaimer: "I have not taken apart a Toyota carb"

With that said....

I would look for a screen before the float bowl and see if that has been clogged. Every carb I have worked on has one of these right at the inlet point for the fuel. You should be able to inspect the float bowl and screen without taking the carb back off of the engine.

You may also want to replace your "new" fuel filter now that you have flushed the tank.

You can also remove the fuel line at the carb, put it into a gallon milk jug and run the starter motor to flush out the fuel lines (do this before you replace your filter).

JUST make sure that you disconnect the spark coil and pop off the rotor cap to keep spark from getting to the engine.

AND watch out for spinning bits like the fan and drive belts when you are inside the engine compartment and things are turning over.

If this does not cure your problem you may have clogged up the jets again :(

Did you check the butterfly shaft for air leaks? If the carb is sucking air around the butterfly shaft you can never get it adjusted properly.

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Hello Shanda,

Have you replaced all of your rubber gas lines?

I may be wrong, but I think you might have a few inches to a foot of rubber

gas line, probably right at the carb, and there might be some rubber around

the fuel filter, and maybe even at a connection between two metal lines.

With age, a rubber fuel line can collaspe under pressure. The line could look

like new on the outside, but is structurally weak. The engine can run fine at

idle, even a few minutes on the highway, but once the hose gets a little warm

(engine heat) and is under pressure (suction from the engine at higher rpms),

the gas line rubber hose can collaspe, just like sucking too hard on a straw, it

collaspes together and pinches off the fuild. Then, once the suction is reduced,

it opens back up again.

Hope this helps, keep us updated,

Dennis...

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Mike and Dennis,

Thank you for your really great suggestions that totally make sense.

I can now finish my day with hope in my heart.

I did not change out fuel lines. I'll start there.

Humbly,

Shanda

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