Carburetor Coolant Bypass

I've read a little about why coolant lines are run to the carb, and obviously in the winter I'll leave it hooked up. Right now though its in the low 90s everyday and from what I can gather I'm having some issues with fuel boiling. For what it's worth I live at about 6100 ft elevation. My van is running poorly once its fully warmed up, and it's hard to get it to start when it's warm. I don't know if it's completely related or not, but it also loses power in left turns.

Would it be worth a try to bypass the carb and just cap it off until winter? Am I going to hurt/damage anything if I do so. Most the info I've found on people bypassing the carb coolant lines pertains to motorcycles.

It may bring heat to the carb in winter to help atomize the fuel, but in summer, the "coolant" cools the carburetor... provides a buffer between the manifold and carb, with the coolant absorbing excess heat. I highly doubt that the carb spacer plate is causing any fuel issues. Our carbs are situated directly above the exhaust manifold, so has a lot of heat to contend with during cooldown.

Unless you have an electric fan that will help disperse doghouse heat after turning off the engine, you can try any combination of the folllowing suggestions:

• leave the doghouse open
  
• fabbing up a larger plate made of aluminum or sheet metal, works like a deflector and additional heat sink... force rising heat from manifold around the carb, would be particularly important to deflect heat away from the float bowl
  
• use heat wrap around your fuel lines in the doghouse... insulate the fuel in the line from the doghouse heat
  
• make sure your cooling system is in tip-top shape to begin with... if engine is running too hot, will not properly cool the carb down anyway
  
• MOST IDEAL CONFIGURATION would include an electric water pump and fan that would run a cool-down cycle for a few minutes after the engine is turned off, but of course that is an upgrade that requires $$$... the rest of the suggestions are close to free.
  

Hope something here helps.

The taurus electric fans actually fit in the econos. They also push some crazy CFM's. I have an electric fan that is controlled by a temperature gauge and relay. Works greatto help with shut down temp spike and to blow the inevitable fumes out ... really helps in slow traffic ... just make sure your battery and charging system are in top shape

J=M BC

Got a temp guage/rad cap this morning and it's not running hot at all. Temps here were in the high 80's today and coolant temps are right around 190. I also added some water wetter. It seems to be running cooler than before but I don't think the water wetter would help that much. It still has a hard time restarting if I turn it off for 5 - 45 mins or so. It runs rough after restarting and still loses power on left turns. Runs well after 10 mins or so, but still loses power on left hand turns, just not as bad. A bit confused as to what is wrong.

sounds like you could use my fuel injection setup BOOM...problem solved.

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t22508-1967-multiport-fuel-injected-240-with-original-c4-trans

Just got back from a 500 ish mile round trip including driving over the continental divide at Monarch Pass (11300ft). I was leaving the doghouse open when stopped unless I knew I'd be parked for more than an hour. Other than driving over monarch pass around 10500 ft I didn't have any issues with the fuel boiling. Some issues on restarting still, but much better.

Anyone have pictures of how the fuel lines were originally run. I'm thinking if I ran the line from the fuel pump around the back of the doghouse and to the carb it might stay a little cooler. Any issues with using only flexible line from the pump to the carb instead of hardline? I assume it won't conduct heat as well as metal.

maybe it isnt the fuel or fuel lines...maybe its simply the carb getting heat soaked through the manifold....either way my fuel injection mani will solve the problem lol.

i know an old hot rodder trick is to add a couple of base gaskets or a wood spacer inbetween the carb and intake to help insulate the carb.

strukkingfuggle wrote:The taurus electric fans actually fit in the econos. They also push some crazy CFM's. I have an electric fan that is controlled by a temperature gauge and relay. Works greatto help with shut down temp spike and to blow the inevitable fumes out ... really helps in slow traffic ... just make sure your battery and charging system are in top shape

J=M BC

What year Taurus fan are you running? Do you have photos of how its mounted? Is it a pusher or puller? Thanks!

over the years - all manafacturers have hade carb isolators- some with water flow many without . dodge & ford had for all types over the years. usually in 60's . Chevrolet had some for the quadrajets & hollys. they consisted of a 1/4 -3/8 inch gasket , an aluminum shield & a thin gasket. Look in aftermarket parts providers- gasket types, phoenolic types are best as they insulate better.