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I guess I was confused on nomenclature. I want the flap in the position so hot exhaust gases aren't directed to heat up the carb. I would have thought that was closed. Is it open, as in the hot exhaust gasses are free to leave the manifold directly? Either way, sounds like I want the weight down, which is where it should drop when the car is warm. Please correct me if I'm still confused!

Just looked at the consolidated service manual again (the green book, thanks again Mal!) and it calls the valve in question an economizer valve, which is different from the Stromberg manual. It does state that leakage can cause excessive fuel consumption, which I have, so it appears to confirm my troubleshooting.

Any ideas where to find one? Planning on calling a few carb places tomorrow.

In Packard nomenclature you want the riser valve open which is weight down so exhaust has a free flow. When it is closed via the spring exhaust is diverted upwards thru another passage to the base of the carb and then back to the exhaust pipe.

Excellent, thanks. Original posted edited

Wouldn't you know it - wiring the heat riser in the open position made a pretty significant difference! Still running rich, but not as bad as it was. Before, it would dribble black soot on the ground from the tailpipe if it was parked and idling for a few minutes. Much less smoke now, but still running rich.

I did locate a new economizer valve from The Carburetor Shop in Eldon, MO. They were very hopeful over the phone, and actually gave me one more trick to confirm the economizer valve is the problem before I order any parts. All in all a productive few days.

Edit: After discussion with the gentleman above, he stated that the economizer valve should pass a vacuum in one direction, and hold in the other. If it did not hold a vacuum in either direction (that is, you can suck through both sides) the valve is bad. Mine is good.

I'm going to put fresh plugs in and drive it. A certain someone once told me, "Don't rebuild your heat riser, just wire the sucker open and drive." (paraphrased) Wish I would've listened!

I changed the title to "Running Rich" vice "Power Jet" since it turns out my power jet was just fine.

Public Service Announcement - always check your heat riser valve!

Reviving an old thread - so, I thought I had my running rich problem licked by wiring the manifold heat riser valve open when it was sticking. That solved a lot, but it still seems to run rich.

When I pulled the manifolds off to fix an exhaust leak, I noticed evidence multiple leaks, not just one. The one I am fixing was bad enough I didn't notice the others. I couldn't find any evidence of a vacuum leak before, but maybe I had a slight one and that also contributed to a rich running condition.

I had the carb (Stromberg EE-14) rebuilt, and confirmed the power valve wasn't bad. In methodically going over things on the car with a carb guy on the AACA forum (Jon of the The Carburetor Shop aka CarbKing), he said that I should only have 3 psi at the fuel pump outlet. I have 3.75 psi, and the Packard book says 4 psi.

Anyone have experience here? What are you guys making from your fuel pumps? Seems odd that Packard and Stromberg would differ by so much (3 psi vs. 4). He suggested I try lowering the float level 1/16 to compensate, so that will be my next plan, after re-assembling the manifolds.