Posted by Pegasus on August 10, 1998 at 16:49:39:
FYI:
Just finished a rebuild on my '76 two door Maverick 250 engine and while adjusting it, noted that the carburator would not take an idle mixture adjustment. Also, if the choke plate was opened only the slightest amount the engine would die. This told me that the engine was running too lean so the hunt for a vacuum leak was started...
Checking all of the hoses, etc revealed no leaks. Next, I got a bowl full of soapy water and a spoon. Scooping up some soap suds with the spoon and holding it around the carb with the engine running soon disclosed the problem! The base plate below the carburator was sucking the soap suds from the spoon! Upon removing the carb and examining the gasket (carb had been rebuilt 2 weeks earlier) and putting it back on the base plate still showed a very small gap between the carb and the base plate even with the gasket installed. Near as I can tell the car came from the factory with this semi-warped base plate. Anyways, I added another gasket ( for a total of two gaskets), re-installed the carb and it works like a charm!
Sorry for the long post but thought I'd pass along a tip about this problem in case someone else has this problem.
Pegasus