Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

**Terry M.** · April 25, 2012, 01:08 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Larry Evoskis (16324)

Stored my 70 Z28 last October and bagged it in a Omni Bag. Car ran perfect and stored it with 101LL Av.Gas.

Question: Have you ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" (New Term invented by me.) Barely got 70Z back tohouse garage today (4555). (2Blocks!) I noticed with all my Holley Carb Cars that when 1st started in the Spring they run real rough; hard to keep idle; and run rich. Have
to run for quit a while a higher RPM to get it to settle down. Seems to be OK now; will see. This does not happen with my quadrajet vehicles. Why is this? Comments Please and Thanks in advance.==Larry

Check out this recent thread:
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...T-1-Fuel-Leaks

It might have come up on the five "free" recent threads at the bottom of your thread but for your "Holley Winter Sicxkness" title.

**Clem Z.** · April 25, 2012, 04:10 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

if the holley has cork gaskets they dry out and shrink. even the later cork-prene ones shrink.

**Terry M.** · April 25, 2012, 04:19 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Clem Zahrobsky (45134)

if the holley has cork gaskets they dry out and shrink. even the later cork-prene ones shrink.

Clem are the "cork-prene" gaskets the blue ones?

**Clem Z.** · April 25, 2012, 05:54 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Terry McManmon (3966)

Clem are the "cork-prene" gaskets the blue ones?

the cork-prene ones are cork with some neoprene added. they have a speckled look. i prefer the brown paper ones with a thermal setting adhesive on them. they are a son of a gun to get off but they seal and don't leak. the last ones i bought were after market and i do not know if they are still available. the blue are the "non stick" type and they work great on new carbs but i do not like them on older carbs

**Clem Z.** · April 25, 2012, 08:15 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

also i would used double gaskets on old carbs if the mating surfaces have not been machined flat. the main body surface that meets the throttle body has very narrow sealing areas around the passages and if there are any irregularities the thin paper gasket may not seal well and i would use a double gasket there

**Larry E.** · April 27, 2012, 07:42 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Terry McManmon (3966)

Check out this recent thread:
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...T-1-Fuel-Leaks

It might have come up on the five "free" recent threads at the bottom of your thread but for your "Holley Winter Sicxkness" title.

Terry: Thanks for the response but my carb 4555 has no fuel leaks. (Lucky I guess) Still wondering what exactly is happening inside the carb
to make it run rough,can't keep idle, and run rich until it runs at a higher RPM for a while. Is this normal for all Holley 4150 series carbs?(After Storage)
Thanks again; Larry

**Clem Z.** · April 27, 2012, 08:21 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Larry Evoskis (16324)

Terry: Thanks for the response but my carb 4555 has no fuel leaks. (Lucky I guess) Still wondering what exactly is happening inside the carb
to make it run rough,can't keep idle, and run rich until it runs at a higher RPM for a while. Is this normal for all Holley 4150 series carbs?(After Storage)
Thanks again; Larry

the carb can have internal leaks that cause it to run rich without any external leaks when the gaskets don't seal correctly around the metering body and main body passages

**Ken P.** · April 27, 2012, 08:55 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

I had that problem years ago. I found if I use a good gasoline stabilizer it wouldn’t happen. My guess as to what is happening is that as the gas evaporates over the winter it leaves a varnish ring on the floathinge or needle valve and causes it to stick.

**Joe C.** · April 27, 2012, 09:06 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by Larry Evoskis (16324)

Terry: Thanks for the response but my carb 4555 has no fuel leaks. (Lucky I guess) Still wondering what exactly is happening inside the carb
to make it run rough,can't keep idle, and run rich until it runs at a higher RPM for a while. Is this normal for all Holley 4150 series carbs?(After Storage)
Thanks again; Larry

The Holley leaks all of its contained fuel into the intake manifold, where it then drips past any open intake valves, gets on the plugs and floods the chambers. Affected plugs/chambers are contaminated with varnish if the fuel has evaporated, otherwise they are wet with gas. Engine must be run at high speed to clear the unburned fuel and clean the affected plugs.

There is no way to prevent this with a Holley unless you drain the carburetor before storage, and refill the fuel bowls through the bowl vent stacks with a large syringe in initial firing.

**Jack C.** · April 29, 2012, 08:44 PM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Question for Joe Ciaravino: Can this happen when the car has set for just a week? I had this kind of thing happen a couple years ago, then not for a couple of years now it's back, three times this spring. I assumed I had water in the gas so I have been adding "Heet" to take up the water.
Jack Coffman

**John M.** · April 30, 2012, 09:48 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Just yesterday I was working on my 69 which had been sitting all winter. I wanted to change the jets on the center carb so I opened the hole used for checking float height and stuck a little tube in there to syphon off any remaining gas. Well, of course there was none but when I got to the metering body to change the jets it was pretty dull and discolored and this had just been redone, refinished last fall. Garge kept, no moisture. Looked like it was very lightly corroded on the surface.
When I restared the car it ran fine but there was fuel weeping out of two of the carbs until it came home from test ride.
I believe the drying up and "re-swelling" scenario of these gaskets, blue ones, to be true. Would keeping gas in the carbs by starting car occasionally in winter help?

**Clem Z.** · April 30, 2012, 09:57 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by John McRae (30025)

Just yesterday I was working on my 69 which had been sitting all winter. I wanted to change the jets on the center carb so I opened the hole used for checking float height and stuck a little tube in there to syphon off any remaining gas. Well, of course there was none but when I got to the metering body to change the jets it was pretty dull and discolored and this had just been redone, refinished last fall. Garge kept, no moisture. Looked like it was very lightly corroded on the surface.
When I restared the car it ran fine but there was fuel weeping out of two of the carbs until it came home from test ride.
I believe the drying up and "re-swelling" scenario of these gaskets, blue ones, to be true. Would keeping gas in the carbs by starting car occasionally in winter help?

just use a syringe to refill them thru the bowl vent tubes

**John M.** · April 30, 2012, 09:59 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Brilliant Clem,
Why didn't I think of that?
That's why we pay you so much..

Just like keeping the battery topped up once a month.

**Clem Z.** · April 30, 2012, 10:03 AM

Re: Ever had "Holley Winter Sickness" ??

Originally posted by John McRae (30025)

Brilliant Clem,
Why didn't I think of that?
That's why we pay you so much..

Just like keeping the battery topped up once a month.

i would also use this fuel as it contains no ethanol. most places that sell chain saws and such have it. http://www.seffuels.com/