Hi, new guy here, I've got an '86 w150 5.2 2bbl 4sp that has started giving me trouble of late. Since it has gotten cold here in NJ she has been hard to start and pops through the carb. When it was warm she ran good, occasionally would be hard to start(flooding?) but always ran rich and knocked when shutting her down. It has a newer Hollley on it (about 1 yr old) but doesn't have any adjustment screws other than fast idle. It appears as if the adj screws were plugged from the factory. I'm going to change the plugs, wires, cap, rotor and fuel filter tomorrow as a start but wondered why she would start running like crap just from the cold. Any help would be appreciated. Lots of good stuff here, I've been reading for over an hour already!
Ken

 

I think I would look into the choke being off. Is it an automatic, electric or manual choke? You need to check it to see if it is working properly. Also, you might want to check your timing to make sure it is set correctly. Many times one that is popping and backfiring on shut down can be attributed to incorrect timing. I'm sure others will want to chime in here.

 

Went to the parts store this morning and picked up some supplies. Changed cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coil, and a couple of broken vac lines I found while poking around in there. Starting and running much better, no more popping through the carb. I retimed it, was off a degree or two. Most of the power I had previously is back, I think I still have some tweaking to do, it's still idling a bit rough, I think maybe the EGR is not functioning properly. I put a vac tester on it and it didn't make any difference with up to 15 lbs applice vac. The NAPA didn't have one in stock so that will have to wait. I think I'm moving in the right direction. She's a good old truck, I hope to keep her on the road for a while yet.
Ken

 

Good deal. Glad to hear you got her going.