# Sticky carb **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford, f150\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573 "2010-08-15T06:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrdubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@mrdubs](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mrdubs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/1 "2010-08-15T06:17:03Z")
Hello car talk forum. Having a hard time fixing what I think is a sticky carburetor. It will stick off of idle, but come back down if I tap the gas pedal. I disconnected the throttle cable/gas pedal linkage and checked it, it seems fine. I’ve tried gum out on the carb and it is still sticking. Any suggestions? It’s an edelbrock performer carburetor. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![geeaea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@geeaea](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geeaea)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/2 "2010-08-15T07:46:17Z")
Is the electric choke set right and wired? ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/3 "2010-08-15T09:46:20Z")
What year Ford F150? How many miles? ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/4 "2010-08-15T11:27:54Z")
It may be a slightly bent throttle plate shaft. Most auto parts stores can get one of these for your model carb straight from Edelbrock. Some may even have it in stock. You’ll have to remove the carb to change it, tho. ---
**Author:** ![mrdubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@mrdubs](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mrdubs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/5 "2010-08-15T18:03:38Z")
Thanks for all the replies. It is a manual choke and a 1977 F150 and somewhere around 40,000 on the rebuilt engine which is the 351m. Maybe it is the throttle plate shaft, but why or how would that bend? I’ve been driving the truck for a month and this problem just started out of the blue. ---
**Author:** ![geeaea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@geeaea](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geeaea)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/6 "2010-08-15T18:10:38Z")
When it is running at high(er) idle, leave it running that way and then see what/where/how it’s hanging up. Then blip the throttle manually (local instead of remotely via gas pedal) and see what occurs …what gets out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/7 "2010-08-15T18:45:26Z")
Is the carburetor an OE model? Did you install the manual choke? If automatic, is the kick down linkage operating freely? How strong is the throttle return spring? With the throttle cable disconnected from the carburetor, how freely does the cable operate? Older Fords had a history of losing the ground from the body to the engine and feeding back to the throttle cable causing problems. ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/8 "2010-08-15T19:58:40Z")
He says in the message it is an Edelbrock performer carb. No way is that OE. ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/9 "2010-08-15T20:01:54Z")
IF you remove all the external linkages, and the throttle mechanism still hangs up, the carb will need to be pulled from the intake manifold and inspected further. It could be a bent throttle shaft or some other similar problem within the carb itself. ---
**Author:** ![mrdubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@mrdubs](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mrdubs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sticky-carb/53573/10 "2010-08-16T05:27:31Z")
Yep, with all the external linkages pulled it’s still hanging up. So looks like it’s a problem within the carb itself. Thanks everyone for all your input.