86 Dodge Ram 50

[tyler111991]

I bought an 86 Ram 50 the other day, its just a little mitsubishi with dodge badges. It is 2wd, 5 speed manual and a little 2.6L carbed 4 cylinder. It cuts out under throttle and has no power at all, I had to pull hills in 3rd on the freeway! Anyone know anything about these things? Im thinking its an issue with the carb... possibly air\fuel mixture or something

 

[6.2 turbo]

I used to work on these in minivans. They had problems with the carb,mainly the choke. Also timing chain guides, and way more vac hoses than needed,but they did seem to last a long time . If it has a cat I would start by checking that.

 

[tyler111991]

yea there is a maze of hoses running all over the carb. It does have a cat, Im going to see if there is a sensor on it or something. I probably should take it off and see if it fell apart and clogged the pipe. Thanks

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've only worked on a couple of them, but the carbs on them are a PITA.

 

[tyler111991]

I think I found the problem. Its a 2 barrel carb but only one barrel and injector are actually pumping fuel, the second one is vacuum controled and is not opening at all. So im guessing its either a vacuum leak or the little valve that operates the second barrel is bad. It would explain the lack of power and why it seems to be running so lean. I agree that these carbs are a PITA! The only other carborated vehicle I have owned was a 1984 chevy 4x4 and it had a Edelbrock 4 barrel on top of a 350sb. That one was really simple to adjust haha

 

[btfarm]

Vacuum secondarys can be easily overcome to crack open by putting a small screw and nut in the slotted lever to manually actuate it enough to make the air velocity open it the rest of the way. Old trick on Holley 4Vs.

 

[tyler111991]

thats a good idea! I will try that out tomorrow. thanks

 

[tyler111991]

I bypassed the vacuum diaphram, it works good now!