Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

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squealingtires

Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

Post by squealingtires »

Thanks to all the help on this forum, I'm finally getting the motor back together on the '74 Spider. I'm currently setting the adjustments on the rebuilt Weber 34 DMSA carburetor, according to the Artigue tuning guide http://www.artigue.com/fiatcontent/Arti ... 124_MM.pdf
First I disconnected all of the vacuum hoses and sealed the ports with vacuum caps. I set the idle mixture screw about 1.5 turns out as an initial setting and let the car idle through a few fan cycles. From here I backed the idle stop screw out until the engine started to stumble and then increased idle about 1/4 turn until I had a steady needle on the vacuum guage (18inHG). I don't have a diagnostic tachometer yet but this RPM I'm guessing was around 900. From here I played with the idle mixture screw but it doesn't seem to do anything. All the way in and all the way out don't affect the idle quality at all. The Artigue manual has a note on this and mentions checking for fuel leaks and resetting the throttle stop nut. Aside from the throttle stop screw on the primary the only other stop-nut I'm aware of is the stop on the secondary and mine is set to allow full closure of the secondary throttle valve. The book wasn't clear on the reset "procedure" but maybe I didn't recognize it. I'm not sure where to go from here. Does everything look ok with the jetting?

Primary Air Correction = 165
Primary Emulsion = F7
Secondary Air Correction = 155
Secondary Emulsion = F7
Primary Main = 140
Secondary Main = 145
Primary Idle = 50
Secondary Idle = 60
Idles with mixture screw seated
If your carburetor idles with the mixture screw fully seated then the car is idling on the main throttle and not on the idle jets. Reset your throttle linkage by using the procedure described in the tune-up section. If this fails to solve the problem then observe your carburetor spraying fuel during operation and look for leaks. The accelerator pump may be leaking into the main barrel during idle operation, causing enough fuel to mix (and mix poorly) to maintain idle.
So Cal Mark

Re: Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

Post by So Cal Mark »

jetting won't cause your issue. You have to be getting fuel from another circuit or through the idle circuit. If the mixture screw is worn or incorrect it can cause your issue, but otherwise you have fuel going through the main circuit or secondary
carl

Re: Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

Post by carl »

Check that the idle jet is not plugged. Pull out the idle jet holder, remove the idle jet from the holder and hold up to a bright light to make sure you can see through it. Typically when the idle mixture screw has no effect, the idle speed screw is turned in too far making the motor "idle" on the main circuit. With the engine warm, adjust the idle speed screw for the lowest possible idle that keeps the motor running and then try the mixture screw to see if it has any effect.

carl
baltobernie
Patron 2020
Patron 2020
Posts: 3466
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:00 pm
Your car is a: 1973 Spider [sold]
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

Post by baltobernie »

Connect a vacuum gauge to "ported vacuum". This is a nipple located on the engine side of the butterflies. It is only active when the main circuit is active i.e. the butterflies are open. This is where the vacuum advance line going to the distributor is attached.

When you are tuning the idle circuit, the vacuum gauge MUST read zero. If it shows any value at all, you have activity on the main circuit, and it will be impossible to tune the low-speed ("idle") circuit. One manifestation of this condition is the ineffectiveness of turning the mixture screw (because the main circuit is doing some of the work). Your throttle linkage must be loose enough to allow the butterflies to completely close. If you're seeing vacuum here at idle, snap the throttle open and closed a few times to see if there is friction or obstruction.

I spent hundreds of dollars in jets (and FedEx :( ) before learning this.

As you may have heard here, from Brad, or in various Weber tuning books, the "idle" circuit is responsible for a huge percentage of driving conditions, not just idle. You've got to get this right before moving onwards.
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Cause for Idle Mixture Adjustment Screw doing nothing

Post by Akgriffith »

I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to say that this helped me out a lot tonight. Thanks!
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
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