Rochester quadrajet on my newly acquired grocery-getter '87 Olds Custom Cruiser was sitting for years. Hi mile 307 runs perfect when warm and not accelerating, but accelerator pump totally non-functional so eng stumbles when accelerating; needs a manually administered shot or 2 of gas to cold start.

I don't want to open the carb until forced to-any tricks re de-bugging these squirters? The pump is dry so I assume the fuel supply & maybe outlet circuits are gummed/maybe the accelerator supply valve is rusted?- a ball bearing & spring? Where do I squirt Seafoam or carb cleaner? What should I hit the carb with, and where, to try to shake loose the crud?

I doubt if I have sufficient memory capacity to reassemble such a complex device even if I were to manage to take it apart without breaking/losing something, so replacement may be in the offing; are new, after-mkt carbs better than these vintage q-jets? Edelbrock? Holley?

Thanks for any sage advice.

Ahh the old Q-jet verses Holley argument. I personally like a good working q-jet over a aftermarket performance carb but alas yours needs some TLC. Unfortunately I don't think a mechanic in a bottle is going to fix it. At very least the top of the carb is going to need to come off. Since your not interested in rebuilding it your self I'm sure if you ask around some of the local shops there is bound to be someone willing to O/H your carb for less than the cost of a new one.

im a big fan of holley carbs but i would agree for your application the carb you have is the best, just need to find someone to rebuild it. there are books and videos out every where on how to do anything on your car you can imagine. there is alot of cc quadrajet info on thirdgen.org if you go to the carb section and read the stickies it tells you how to set one up and all the issues you might have. or you could just pay someone but i think to find someone who really knows how still wont be that easy

I don't think a top end cleaner will do anything either, but I would give it a try anyways. What do you have to lose (other than $20)? Put half a can of Seafoam into the gas tank and spray the intake with carb cleaner. If you see improvement, repeat the Seafoam for the next 2 or 3 fuel fill ups.