My late grandfather left me a 1972 Monte Carlo with very few miles on it. In an attempt to keep his memory alive I preform routine maintenance on it and drive it very seldom. While starting it the other day, I noticed it would turn over but failed to start and run. Checked the battery and all good there. I pulled all 8 plugs from the engine block and all were wet. Assuming it was flooded, I removed the plugs all at once, blew pressurized air into the block to dry and blew off each of the plug heads. Returned all plugs tight and reconnected the
boots tight. Made sure all boots were tight at the distributor cap as well. I pulled the air filter off and used compressed air to blow any excess fuel from the carb. Double checked everything for posterity, turned the key and it fired right up. Let it high idle for a moment and tapped the gas to bring it down to about 10,000 rpm and let idle some more. Backed it out of the driveway no problem and as soon as I put it into drive the engine stalled and I had to grab a neighbor and my wife to push it back into the drive way/garage. The oil light
"flashes" (sometimes its on and sometimes not, it doesn't blink repeatedly) on the dash and now the car fails to start again. I'm at a loss..... any information or insight to the problem would be greatly appreciated. (all parts on the car are original)

I can provide more information on the vehicle if needed. i'm new to the forum and new to Montes so forgive me if this is a simple fix.

 

I would think the carburetor might be flooding the engine with gas.

 

I owned a 72 Monte Carlo and a 72 Chevelle back in the day when they were brand new.
I would make sure that the fuel filter is clean on these cars it is in the Carburetor. The fuel pump could be bad too, this one is a mechanical style. This one is on the lower block of the engine in front possible the passenger side as I recall.
When you start this car push the foot feed to the floor once! then let up. and turn the key. Never pump the thing ever!
The Carb should probably be cleaned as they will carbon up pretty good. get a good Carb spray like gumout and clean the thing up.

 

Thanks guys! I’ve attached a photo of the engine block here. I’m relatively new to car mechanical. I know the basics and I’ve dealt with small one and two stroke engines when I ran a lawn care company. I performed regular maintenance on the machines including carb cleaning. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous to disassemble and reassemble the carb for cleaning, any videos or help you could lend. Take a look at the photos as well for more clarification

 

this is what I believe to be a Rochester quadrajet Carb. I worked on a few and they can be a pain in the .............. Then also put the Carter AFB carbs on these things.
Well I wouldn't take it apart just clean the unit setting there with gumout spray carb cleaner. Then you might want to replace the vacuum lines too There are a couple of Solenoids on the carb that may need to be replaced.
there is plenty of info on adjustments online so you can look that up. Just google it, probably some stuff on youtube too.



I pointed out a few things

Rochester quadrajet Carb

Fuel pump

 

Thanks drivernumber3! I bought some plugs for it at Napa. Just got what they recommend but wasn’t sure is specific brand or type is better. See photo attached. I’m wondering if I should flush the coolant as well based on some foggy color. The reservoir is clear but when I pull the rad cap it looks a little foggy. What do you guys think? Should I flush it? I noticed a brake fluid leak at the master cylinder. I’m thinking the gasket needs to be replaced due to wear. There’s some unwanted travel in the brake pedal that id like to tighten up

 

COOLANT looks good to me. You migth want to change the battery posts as these don't appear to be stock ones.

 

Correct the posts are not factory, for some reason that seems to be the only item that I don’t have for the car. I’ve been looking around for a while and can’t find them anywhere. If anyone knows a parts supplier I’d be very interested. I purchased a rebuild kit for the carb from a part supplier after narrowing down that it is a Rochester quadrajet see photos attached. In my cleaning and exploration of the carb it looks like there may be a tear in one of the gaskets which could be a contributing factor. I think I’m going to have to remove and rebuild the carb. I’ve found a couple videos and how-to’s on YouTube. The problem I’m having is the carb that’s on the vehicle seems to be different than the ones in the video. The right angle fuel inlet in the front where the filter is located seems to be a rarity. All of the videos have straight fed fuel lines running north and south when facing the front of the vehicle as opposed to east west which is what I have. Any advice on the rebuild?

also the plugs that I mentioned in the last post were a bit longer than the ones that were in the car originally, any reason for concern there?



Identifier numbers are described on a Quadrajet website but the dj is not explained. The service manual and VIN comparison show the carb as a 4-bbl RPO L48. I have not been able to rectify those numbers either

This is the fuel filter I pulled out, looked pretty clean. Spayed with compressed air and reinstalled.

 

No advice on the rebuild back in the day I would not have attempted it as I had a few Carbs that even the dealers service dept. messed up. but some of the great old timers of the day were good at it they had little tricks that brought them back to life. Keep in mind that if you do mess it up you can buy a new carb. and toss the vintage one.

You should be able to get those posts at an Auto parts store I see them on the Cable replacements all the time.
maybe try Rock Auto for some of the parts too.
The filters usually fill with a fuel sludge that you may not get with compressed air?
check the google link for the rebuild.

https://www.google.com/search?client...ster+quadrajet

 

For those interested, I pulled the carb and disassembled it down in the basement with the help of some tutorials and manuals. The inside wasn’t dirty at all, some carbon buildup on the walls. All is in perfect condition except for one gasket. See photo attached. I’m not convinced this was the problem however, I feel like it may have been ripped in a previous attempt to clean the carb while it was on the vehicle, the filter is getting replaced, the vacuum pump works perfectly and the solenoid has free travel. I’m thinking that the tuning part of the carb once’s it’s back on the vehicle will make more of a difference than anything. Plenty of photos attached for those interested