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Honestly Dennis it does. Just apperently not bad enuf for you to have noticed. Just simple physics. If you have a carb that does not ice up it must be one of those unique experimental orange carbs like that 200MPG job that would be worth a fortune.
I may be in a parallel universe, but I've had many Ford products, no moisture problems in any weather... Period. Physics may be different on this side of the stargate.
One morning we were driving to Sunshine Ski Hill.
We left at 5:15 am the temp was -32*C in and just west of Calgary.
At happy valley ESSO,I knew the carb was icing up and the choke was stuck ON.
The Maverick didn't have any power what so ever, The ahole who owns it knows that I was an automotive mechanic yet because he was spoiled brat that always had have his way he refused to allow me to fix the problems. The initial deal was to split the gas. Ha !
By the time we got to scott lake hill the tank was 1/2 empty.
For the 10th time I said let me fix it or we will run out of gas by Banff .
He refused.
We got to Banff and filled the tank, the tank had a gallon left in it.
We made it to Sunshine and skiied the day.
Returning to Calgary in the afternoon and the temp being about +5 the engine operated at peak performance.
You should have seen the look on his face when after askling me for gas money I told him to screw himself,
My payment he was told was in my knowledge, that he refused to respect and allow me to save fuel.
My 63 Ford 390 did not have a problem with it after I fitted it with a hollow block under the carb with coolant flowing thru it that kept the carb toasty. I think it was standard equipment but had been removed by the PO. A mechanic suggested the fix for some problems I was having at the time but never explained why it worked. My 64 Ford 292 had major problems with it until I got a heated air intake on it. That one was a bear to figure out but my uncle (who was a pilot) suggested the cause of the problem. I never did figure out whether there was any stock system to prevent it on that truck. My 68 VW 1600 had difficulties until I fabricated a heated air intake that pulled the intake air off the cylinders. By the time I worked on the 68 I knew what the symptoms were and how to diagnose and fix them. On my other vehicles since then I kept the stock systems operating properly. Most carb vehicles use the heated intake air system. It is not a huge problem with EFI but even some of those vehicles have some sort of heated air system.
Yes we do and fuel formulation helps slightly but it can not eliminate carb icing. I believe there are some notations about volatility in your reading assignment.
Last edited by Torque1st; May 24, 2006 at 10:21 AM.
I've experienced this myself. I've got a 79 F-150, 302. I've had this problem happen to my at about 55 degrees F, and rainy. The chilly, wet, miserable days. Now can I still have carb icing at that temp? Especially when the engine is warmed up. I've experienced this with both a factory air cleaner with heat riser, and an open air cleaner-motorcraft carb, and edelbrock. Also, when it's running like a dog in wet weather, it doesn't clear up or get better over time. It has to run quite a while, then out of no where it will just start to run like a champ. It really seems more like moisture than carb icing, but I'm not arguing concept. Most newer vehicle have coolant running through the throttle bodies to prevent icing of the throttle blades in cold climates. Having that on a carb setup like Torque1st mentioned would be pretty sweeet.
Those carb plates can be found on the old FE engines. They were about 1" thick if I remember right. One could probably be made by a machine shop out of some 1" aluminum plate with 1/2" drilled passages, pipe plugs, and hose barbs.
The sudden clear up can occur when air flow drops and engine heat melts the ice.
If you check on that chart I listed you will find that at 55°F and anything above about 35%RH carb icing can occur depending on engine power levels. When it is raining it is 100%RH.
Checking the chart again... To get out of the icing zone intake air temp needs to be around 85°F or higher which is why the OEM systems usually use 85+ degree thermostats on the air intake systems. I set mine at 75-80°F and just try to vary the throttle in rainy weather.
Those things are great for trailer queens. Other than that they look good at a car show, at least to some people. To me it is like the Fords at the show with a GM engine all duded up with chrome thingies... They give me that cold water down the spine feeling. I like to see the proper functional setup or a good modified one that actually works right day in and day out. Maybe that is just my engineer side showing. Cheap chrome rusts and is really a lousy finish for most things. Functionality comes first, durability a close second since they are both really the same, then workmanship, then lastly looks.