Maxtanner1

I went to start my '82 12a this evening after putting on a new alternator and belt and it cranked a lot then finally fired with a poof of smoke out the exhaust then i revved the motor a couple times and it hit about 3000 then slowly dropped and sputtered off. I tried starting it again, same thing happened and then I heard a dripping sound, like water dripping off a kitchen sink from the carburator area. When I went to the back of the car there was a little puddle of dirty dirty oil accompanying a wide spray of it on the garage floor. Kind of freaking out because it ran fine this morning before i did any of that. Also it's some very old gas in the tank, could that be a problem?

Maxtanner1

just removed the gas line and then put the line in a clear container, then turned the fuel pump on and the gas is dark dark green in color, still smelling very potent though. What's on the ground is more black, but runny like gas, not thick like motor oil, plus the stuff on the ground smells like gas.

blandry23

could be that the gas that got into your exhaust soaked up and dissolved some carbon that coulda been in your exhaust or cats. that would cause the gas to be black that came out your exhaust.. i would drain the tank too. green gas doesn't sound too good to me.

Maxtanner1

What do you think the chances are that somethings wrong with the motor?

blandry23

black smoke ain't too bad if it only happens once. if its habitual i'm pretty sure it is a rich mixture issue.

blandry23

it shouldn't be too bad. drain the tank, and maybe replace the filter while you have it empty. refill it and run some seafoam through the motor. engines probably just not clean from sitting too long. and my bad about splitting the posts, didn't see that you just posted.

Maxtanner1

Yeah it's an '82 FB 12A with a stock nikki carb, but it's in a '74 Rx3 Wagon so I wasn't sure where exactly to post it. But the gas has been sitting since around 2010 (the year on the tabs is 2010 so I'm assuming it was driven sometime around then). Anyways the wagon isn't compatible with the rats nest emissions solenoids so we removed the rats nest and connected the wagon's emissions hosings so the carburator most likely needs adjustment but I'm waiting til I get my transmission mount to try driving it around a bit. I drained all the gas I could from the front end until foam started bubbling out the fuel line, then sprayed some carb cleaner into the car and left the fuel disconnected, then ran the motor dry and it stopped blowing black stuff. Tomorrow I'm gonna grab som seafoam and new gas!

blandry23

lol yea that'll work. i would definitely re adjust the carb when you get the chance. if it needs it. might have just done that cuz it was sitting for a while. if you don't want to fill the whole tank to put the whole bottle of seafoam in, you can mix it 1 oz per gallon of gas. cleaning the carb was a good idea too. the dripping sink sound could be something in the carb being stuck open. i think my 83 does the same thing. i just picked it up recently and noticed that theres a raw gas smell from the engine compartment. the free flow of gas would definitely explain how it managed to drip out of your exhaust lol.

i'd also check the plugs. when mine fouled on my 84 it sent smoke flying everywhere and would barely hold an idle. it was running on one rotor lol.
and yea i would say this would be your best bet to go to for anything engine or carb related. from what ive been told the FB 12a's are different from the earlier ones

Maxtanner1

Think I got it fixed with some new gas!

blandry23

sounds good. def sounds like it was idling a little high though. i usually set mine to 1500 or a little bit under. idk if the rx-3's have a manual choke but the FB's do. other than that it sounds perfect. i'd still do a seafoam treatment on it. always good to have a nice clean, carbon free engine lol.