1967 Ford Mustang Leaky Carb and Rough Idle

MBDAVIDO

MEMBER
1967 FORD MUSTANG
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
130,000 MILES

My wife and I bought this car 4 years ago. Have only driven it a handful of times. It's very clean. All original 2 bbl 289. When cleaning it the other day I had thought about taking it out for a run. I noticed it would not keep an idle after it warmed up. Very Rough. Ran fine at higher rpms. I opened the hood thinking I would check vacuum hoses etc to find there was a leak under the front of the carb just under the bowl. It may have been there all along but never noticed. Do I need to rebuild the whole carb or is this just the accelerator pump. Also wondered what you thought of the idle.

Thanks, Mark

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,755 POSTS

Mark:
If the car isn't driven very often, starting it from time to time (just to keep it running) or very short trips will foul the plugs. That will cause a rough idle. Also, I don't know how old the fuel is, but that can cause it to.

As far as the carb, the accelerator pump won't cause a leak. However, a sticking float will and it will dump fuel which can also have an effect on the idle. I recommend taking the carb apart, checking it the needle and seat are in good condition, make sure the float actualy floats and doesn't have gas in the it, and give it a good cleaning if everything looks ok. If that doesn't help, then the rebuild may be the answer.

Let me know what you find.

Joe