New owner of 85 Chevy Suburban

85burb · April 2, 2002

Well I just bought an 85 Chevy Suburban Travel Quest Conversion(whew). My wife is pissed! Oh well, I like it and I plan on fixin' her(the burb) up over the years. I got her for $1700 with a solid drive train, no rust, straight body, but a tired conversion interior. Had a tune up done and replaced some worn bushings on the front arms. Had to have an exhaust system installed, including cat, to pass visual and emissions inspection. She passed with flying colors, barely registered on the emissions test.

Looks like a previous owner spray painted the top surface with krylon. No rust, but no gloss either. Right now I am giving it the TLC it's been missing for some years, replacing switches and fixing little things. Gonna be a little hard with the interior as the Travel Quest conversion company has bit the dust, and its so old they probably wouldn't have been much help anyway. It's got the 350 with the 4 speed od auto tranny, and I think I saw 3.73 gears on the glove box options sticker. It had a GM Goodwrench motor installed 70k miles ago and the tranny rebuilt 50k miles ago. They also installed a tranny fluid cooler after the rebuild. All in all it seems I have a good truck. I've got lots to learn though as this is my first old vehicle to love and care for.

Glad I found this site as I am collecting as much info on these trucks as possible.

Stupid Question alert: What is the correct starting sequence for these? It has the quadrajet 4 barrel carb. So far I have been pumping the pedel 2 or three times to prime the carb then holding the pedel down 1/2 the way and turning the key, she starts with a roar(glass pack) and I remove my foot from the pedal so she doesn't rev too hard, but then she sputters and dies and I have to repeat the process. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks, looking forward to reading more about these trucks!

Doug.

Mansfield Texas (near Fort Worth)

April 3, 2002

Welcome to the site!

It's kinda funny that you wrote in, I was just logging on to ask about a Travel Quest. I saw one on Monday for the first time going down the highway. I was curious about the Travel Quest badge on the side. What made the interior special? Was it just a comfy package to travel in? I know those old 'Burbs weren't the greatest in comfort as we define it now. As far as the start sequence, use what ever will fire them up. It sounds to me like you have an idle problem, though. my solution was always to get rid of the Quadrajet, but Jeff (76bigblocksub) seems to be real good at them. be patient and I'm sure he'll get back to you on this.

TDS 854X4 · April 3, 2002

WELCOME DOUG!!!

Sounds to me like you have some carb issues to deal with. On my truck, it's usually 4 quick pumps of the accelerator, for the first start of the day, crank it over and it goes. For the rest of the day, I can just pop the starter and it fires right up. If i pump the pedal at all after that inital start, it doesn't want to start, and when it does, I puff smoke out the tailpipes. I might have some carb issues, too, actually! ;) I've never had one that worked quite like this one does.

The roar is due to the fact that you've got the throttle open when cranking. Not a procedure that I would recommend, but if that's what you gotta do, go ahead until you can get the carb straightened out. Did I read correctly that when you remove your foot from the pedal after starting, that the truck wants to die off?

You got a good truck to learn mechanical things on, that's for sure. Pretty simple, and LOTS of room for most under-hood tasks.

I hope that we can share some good info and tips with you in the future. Good luck with you Suburban project.

Kansas Kid · April 3, 2002

Back when I had a vehicle with the Quadrajet carb, this was my starting procedure for first thing in the morning. Give the accelerator 4 quick pumps, and then start the engine. It would start even in the coldest weather without much problem, and the high idle would take over after a few seconds until I tapped the accelerator to make it idle down. Any starts after that were usually one pump and it would start and idle fine. This was on a carb that had just been rebuilt and tuned by one of the best carb shops in the area, the guy is very good. When I get another truck with a carb, I'm going to get him to do the same thing to another quadrajet. No need for an aftermarket carb if you can find someone who is good with them.

I agree with the others in that it sounds like you have some carb issues to deal with. Depending on how long ago the carb was gone through (if ever), it may be time for a rebuild kit.

85burb · April 3, 2002

Thanks guys for your responses. I will try the 4 pump, no thottle procedure in the morn to see if it helps. I agree that it may be time for a rebuild kit. Thanks again.

Doug

WhiteBeast · April 4, 2002

Hey Doug, First of all congrads on your new purchase (women never agree with spending money on "junk", as they see). Your problem with starting the old 'burb is exactly what the other guys have said, your carb. Personnaly I would put a new one on it, a Holley with electric choke and vacuum secondaries, got one on my 78 K10 and all I have to do is press the accelerator down about 1/4 until I hear the choke catch, and she will fire right up no matter what the conditions are. Good luck.

76BBSub · April 4, 2002

Hi guys,

First, a warm welcome to '85 Burb!

As for the carb question. On a properly functioning QJet the starting sequence when cold is to pump to the floor once and release, then turn key. This does two things, it pumps the accelerator pump giving the engine a quick shot of gas to get things firing. It also sets the choke, which kicks in the fast idle and enrichens the mixture.

It sounds like you have one or two problems, most likely the vacuum pull-off or the fast idle speed is adjusted incorrectly.

With the engine completly cool, preferably overnight, remove the air cleaner assembly and leave the hood open. If you stand next to the drivers door with the door open you can reach in and push the gas pedal once (or more if required in your case). While doing this peer through the gap between the hood and windshield base to ensure that the choke does in fact set. At this point it should be pretty much totally closed. Now, reach in and turn the key, preferably without hitting the gas pedal again. What you may see is that the RPMs start high, and then choke plate slowly opens within the first few seconds, causing the RPMs to drop and maybe even killing the engine. If this is the case the vacuum choke pull-off is pulling the choke plate open too much too soon. There's a rod connected to the pull-off diaphragm that you can bend to make it longer, this will minimize the amount that the diaphragm can pull off the choke.

If the choke doesn't set properly you need to adjust it. An '85 like yours should have the second style choke, which is a black cylinder with a plastic cover on the passenger side of the choke. This may also be a non-adjustable unit, since it is so new. Have a look at it and see if you can loosen the screws retaining the plastic cover enough to rotate it a little. Do this while the engine is completly cold or you'll get a setting that is too rich when it is cold.

Have a look at those items, then report back to us and we'll see where we're at.

I went through a similar procedure with Torque Junkie (I think it was TJ) a few months back, I should try to find the thread and post a link, but I've been WAY too busy at work lately...

C-ya

Jeff

85burb · April 11, 2002

Ok, now I have the carb sorted, it's a one turn start! The choke pull off wasn't working. Got the steering column back in, got my gear indicater fixed and some other minor things replaced and we're in bidnus! Now I have little things like overhead lights to fix/replace and door-open switches, electric windows and door lock switches. I need to fix my right rear door electric lock solinoid. It is binding when unlocking and will finally unlock if the button is hit up four times. I've been told the rubber dust seal/boot has twisted on the actuator shaft and I need to cut it loose. There doesn't seem to be an access panel for the solenoid, but I can see where the bolts are that hold it in. Any advise on how to get to it?

RE: gas mileage, I tested my speedo using the timed mile technique and by using a GPS device. Both agree that my speedo/odo is reading 5% slow. So after figuring in the 5% I got 10.6mpg on my first tank of gas with 235/75-15 tires and a 3.73(I think) rear end. Not too bad I guess.

Take it easy, and I'll keep ya'll posted on our progress.

Doug

April 11, 2002

10.6 doesn't really sound to shabby for that old beast. I assume it's primarily city miles.

Free up the intake and exhaust and you could probably add a couple mpg to that.

76BBSub · April 11, 2002

My '76 Suburban with 454 and 3.73 gears was getting about 7-8 when I bought it. Edelbrock Performer intake manifold and DynoMax headers brought it up to 10 city 11.5 highway...and I drive VERY aggressively. I think I could get low teens if I drove like an old man...

Check your timing and condition of the ignition system if you want to improve the mileage a little bit. That assumes that the carb is in decent shape. I had to rebuild mine.

Jeff