I just bought a 81' Ram for a grand, I brought it to a shop and the carborator was bad, i got that replaced and the mechanic said it didn't run good. So he said it was the manifold. So i paid 2 hundred to get that fixed and it still doesn't run good. Was i taken advantage of? And are there any reasons you guys would know to fic the problem, maybe common ones. Im not into cars that much. Any help i thank and it will be appriciated. I'm guissing maybe choke? thanks

 

Carb could have been bad, but a bad manifold? Unless it was cracked or dropped, it's not going to be bad.

What could be causing it? A Chevy mechanic could be causing it.

What else? who knows... what's wrong with it? Cold start problems that clear up when it warms up, just crappy running in general?

Could be bad timing, bad ecm, bad heads, bad exhaust, improperly tuned carb, you name it. My friend just bought a new carb out of the box and the secondary spring was so tight that it wasn't opening at all.

So what are the symptoms? PS maybe find a new mechanic.

 

I was told(my truck is like 25 miles away at the shop) that it will start rough but it wont stay running. if it was kept in there warm garge that it would start nicely and run faily good. I asked my brother-in-law and he said maybe the fuel filter. He was the previos owner of it. He said he had replaced tons of parts. So far the total is $600 to replace the carborator and fic the manifold. It had been in the shop like 3 months and he now says that hes not sure whats wrong with it. Thats why i posted here. Thanks for the facts and keep em comin,- Jon

 

Sounds like a choke problem. See if you can't get them to take the air cleaner off before trying to start it, pump the gas once and then get their heads under the hood to verify that the choke is closed (but not sealed, there's gotta be a crack) and that it opens. Do you know what carb and manifold were put on? Does this mechanic have many older vehicles in the lot that he works on? You might have better luck with somebody who learned how to fix stuff back in the 60/70's instead of somebody who was taught how to use a computer to diagnose problems. Nothing wrong with that, but there aren't a lot of electronics on these old things to tell you what's wrong.