The dreaded well-plug disease, in quick summary, is a condition where the blessed Q-Jet basically opens up two unwanted 3/8" holes from Throttle Body assembly of the carb directly into your intake manifold. Fuel in the bowl drains through these holes, causing the bowl to empty-out after sitting and resulting in a hard start as the bowl has to be re-filled to compensate. The plugs are these little concave-looking things - can't miss 'em when you have the Q-jet disassembled.

The fixes are really only ever temporary in most cases, but the best one out there is to use a product called JB Weld and goop the crap out of them. JB Weld is a two-part epoxy, but it seems to be better than the standard clear two-part stuff; like any other expoxy, it'll eventually break down with the heat and gas-rich atmosphere of the Q-Jet, but it works for a while. The other fix, which I personally am scared to try, it to tap-out the well-plug holes (with a fine-thread tap) and put small bolts in the holes. Obviously not something you want to do unless you can very accurately work the pot-metal/soft-alloy composition of the Q-Jet.

Submitted by: Greg Ludlam

October 11, 1996

Ref. a posting about well plugs from yesterday's digestion, yes, all QJs have well plugs. A little history, QJ was introduced in '66 (maybe '65 on Caddy, but I don't think so). I believe '66 carbs were of a different design than subsequent ones; they had trouble with them and _all_ were recalled and either modified or maybe replaced (not sure which). Not sure what the difference was, but will find out and post it. Story goes that _no_ "original" original ones are left because they all either burned up or were modified/replaced, whichever it was. Original ones that survive today are supposedly 2nd generation ones. Will check with my carb guy on details.