So, I just bought my first minitruck last weekend, and I'm having a few issues with it... I have done quite a few searches here and on a couple of other sites, but I'm not finding what i really need. Here is the issue(s). Truck will start when cold and idle (seems excessively high), but wont hold idle when the choke opens up. Through my searches, i found that a couple of common issues are vacuum leaks and sticky choke assemblies, so I started the task of replacing all of the vacuum lines with new to eliminate that issue all together. Upon doing this, I found a few lines that were plugged off, and a few were not connected to anything at all... Soooo.... I found a vacuum diagram online and proceeded to try to weed out the vacuum situation... That was when I found out that somebody before me removed some sort of a vacuum manifold that it originally had installed from the factory.:frustration: I have done my best to replicate this "manifold" using vacuum line and "T" fittings, but I'm not 100% certain that I have it correct since the drawing is very "busy" and difficult to decipher. Does anybody have any pictures they could share with me on the correct vacuum line routing from their running Hijet? The choke appears to be moving freely and as far as i can tell, it is functioning properly. A friend and I had a feeling that the timing was not properly set due to a slight miss, and a light backfire developing during idle down. We got it up to temp, and got it to idle by adjusting the idle up a bit. (only way to keep it running on its own) We checked the timing and it was between 0-3 deg. We advanced it a little bit and it seemed to smooth it out quite a bit, but we didn't adjust it any further until I get all of my tune up parts in that I ordered the other day. I haven't messed with timing much in the past, but are you supposed to disconnect all the vacuum lines from the dist. prior to taking a reading and making adjustments? I thought I read something about that on here somewhere... any input/ suggestions are appreciated!
I have had similar problems but it was that the idle stop solenoid was not getting power due to a bad connection somewhere. Truck ran fine with the choke but wouldn't idle as the choke came off. I ended up having to wire a key on hot wire to the idle stop solenoid. This solenoid is at the back of the carb, 2 wires, check to see that it has power when the key is on. If not, try a battery direct wire to see if it makes a difference. Ralph in Winnipeg
I checked it today before I left for work, ant it does have 12 v when the key is turned on... I didn't have time to check any further than that though. Thanks for the suggestion, I might have to pull that solenoid and see if its actually doing anything...
I had one that had a bad connection inside the solenoid body and I carefully dug out the plastic around the wire,re soldered it and filled it with JB Weld.It's still working a year later. If you take it out watch for the tiny O ring on the end of the plunger.
Thanks Jim, ill keep an eye open for that. When I remove this thing and test it by applying 12v, I should be able to visually see movement correct? In other words, it isn't temperature sensitive or anything that I would have to test it at a certain temp right?
Right you can test it with a 12 V battery with the lead to the pos. post and ground the body to the neg. and you can hear and feel the action. Try to wiggle the lead to make sure the connection is good.There are small holes toward the end of the shaft where you can see movement.Good luck.
Ok, I removed the solenoid and tested it. Everything appears to be functioning as it should. I left it out of the carb and cycled the key, just to make sure it was working with the trucks wiring, and everything functioned as it should. I did notice that the o-ring was not seated on the groove at the end of the solenoid as it appears it is designed to be. I may be incorrect on that, but it seems to have a groove on the end of it that would be designed to hold the o-ring... It was however slightly loose when placed on this groove.... I re-assembled everything, and still have the same issues...
When I had problems with mine I inadvertantly lost the o ring and it ran terribly.I found a replacement in a kit I had and that fixed it. As I recall the o ring is really thin.
When I had problems with mine I inadvertantly lost the o ring and it ran terribly.I found a replacement in a kit I had and that fixed it. As I recall the o ring is really thin.
Yeah, its pretty thin... I'm gonna stop at the hardware store tomorrow and see if they have one that will fit it. Even if its not rated for a fuel system, it'll hold up at leas long enough to diagnose if that's my issue...
Well, I ended up having to make my own o ring since I was unable to locate one locally.... I took an o ring that fit snugly around the shaft and used a jewlers file to thin it out just enough to fit through the opening. Installed it then removed it to make sure it would seat properly, and it did... Started the truck up, and no difference... It started right up, idled high until the choke opened up, then would stall if I didn't keep feathering the throttle to keep it going. After a bit of feathering, she'll idle on her own for a while and then the rpms will start to drop and it stalls. I had it idleing on its own the other night for a good 5min, but if you bring the throttle up slowly and then let off it'll just wind down all the way until it stalls. I'm starting to get a little frustrated now. I hate to do it, but I might just try to source a "new" rebuilt carb... I still don't know if my vacuum lines are correct, and I can't adjust my timing correctly since I cant get it to stay running with the vacuum lines removed from the distributor. Still waiting on my tune up parts to arrive. For some reason according to the tracking info, they sat in a USPS sort facility in California for 4 days...
Ok, out of frustration I may have jumped to conclusions a bit... It appears that re-connecting vacuun lines after a few drinks isn't the best of ideas! Apparently after reinstalling the solenoid last night, I miss connected a couple lines... I came home from work and was looking at this thing when I noticed that something didn't look like it did before... I switched a couple lines around, and fired it up to get it up to temp. While I was waiting for the choke to open and the motor to stall soon after, I walked out to the mailbox to find my cap, rotor, plugwires, filter, and oil filter arrived today! I was happy they weren't still somewhere in California, but I was ready to be upset about spending $200 on stuff for a truck I hadn't even been able to get anywhere with so far... I got back in the garage as the choke was opening, and to my amazement, it didn't stall! It almost did, but I adjusted the idle up a bit and it stayed running. I let it run a few more minutes while I opened up my package, and startet the play with the throttle to see if it would stall. All seems well so far, so I will actually drive it a bit either tonight or tomorrow after I get the new parts put in... If this all goes well, my next question is this. Is there an adjustment for the idle speed while the choke is engaged? It seems excessively high... I ordered a tach on Amazon yesterday so hopefully I can get some actual numbers on where its idling. Am I correct that it should be around 1000 rpm at normal temp? Its kind of hard to go by ear when the exhaust has a small leak in it and it almost sounds like your listening to 2 different motors when you couple the exhaust noise with the occasional miss that will hopefully go away with the cap/rotor/wire install...
It's usually the simple things that get you and it's usually after they have driven you to drink.The warm idle should be 950 +/- 50 so 1000 works.Cold is a lot higher but I don't know any numbers,sounds like around 2000 to me. Glad you got it running better & hopefully the tune up will have it purring for you.
Ok, frustrated again... Tune up parts are installed. Truck starts runs and idles just fine in the garage. When I back it out of the garage, the idle starts going up. My garage is on a hill.... when I turn around, the idle goes way down and the truck stalls. When I drive it, everything is fine until I come to a stop it stalls out. If I just coast to a stop, it'll stay running. So.... there is definitely an issue related to the fuel sloshing from front to rear. It currently has 1/2 a tank of fuel in it, so I doubt its related to the fuel pickup in the tank not being able to get fuel... Maybe a float issue? Is there an adjustment for the float? Or if needed, are any replacements available?
I took the carb off and cleaned everything up in it, and it really didn't seem too bad... The float appears to be working as it should. Any suggestions?
After doing some poking around online, I found a carburetor troubleshooting guide that lists "stalls under hard braking" as one of the problems. It suggests slightly lowering the float level to fix this issue. My thinking is that since my truck will stall when facing downhill or under braking, that I may need to adjust mine a little more than "slightly". Is there an actual float adjustment on these, or is it just a trial and error with bending the tab on the float? I had it all apart once, and don't recall seeing an adjustment, but I also wasn't really paying attention for it. Also, my tach arrived this week, anyone know a good place to pick up the tach signal from? It doesn't have an inductive pickup, so a plug wire won't work....
Ok, I don't want to jump to any conclusions this time, but I think I have it fixed... I removed the carb to have a little better access to the float so I could adjust it as mentioned earlier, when I noticed the brass screw on the top near the float bowl. I hadn't noticed it the last time... So I removed it, and low and behold there was another jet in there! After fighting with it for about an hour trying to get it removed, I was successful and found it to be completely clogged. I used a small file set for cleaning oxy/acy torch tips and cleared the blockage and reinstalled everything. She started right up, and after it warmed up, I re-adjusted the idle and took it for a spin. Everything appears to be working as it should now. I thought I was going to have to dump $150 on a carb kit, or worse, a whole different carb when I couldn't get that jet out... It was seized in there pretty good, and every time I tried to turn it, the screwdriver would strip and it kept getting worse. I was just about to take the drill and EZout to it when I figured I would try making a new slot in it by just beating the hell out of with a screwdriver and hammer. That ended up working better than expected... Now to get the tach installed and finish dialing things in!
