Hard Start when cold

F

Falconman62

Well-known member
Hello all,
Having some starting issues with a 170 in a 1964 Falcon Futura. When the engine is cold it seems to take a lot of pumping and cranking to get it to fire. When up to temp no choke and two pumps all it takes although sometimes I do have to pump/ crank it like when it is cold. It has the autolite carb that the holley 1940 is based on. Is there anything I should check before tinkering with the catb?
 
Sounds normal to me... :mrgreen:
but then, I don't live in AZ. Welcome to the wonderful world of carburetors. :p
 
Before you turn the key, push the gas pedal all the way to the floor. This sets the choke and sends a squirt of gas into the throat. Then depress it half way and turn the key. THEN you can start fluttering the pedal and such.

If you changed to one of the electronic ignitions, most of this would go away, except for pushing the pedal all the way down first.
 
On my carbureted cars, I always push the pedal to the floor, and then pump it 3 or 4 times before hitting the key, when cold.
 
X3 Those are already some excellent tips for you to try and (yes JackFish) it does get pretty cold here in Flagstaff at night. That said does all the carbs choke linkage move freely setting the choke blade close when you first step on the pedel? What do you have the choke cover set at? Dose it keep running good after you get it started and what is the idea RPM? Good luck :nod:
 
Thank you all for your replies. I do pump the pedal before attempting to start. The car has a manual choke. My issue is I have to pump the pedal about 20 times with full choke to get a pop off. Then it is 3 more times like this before she fires up and runs. This whole process takes up to 5 min sometimes and I really do not want to burn up a starter.
 
:unsure: Might be time to go for a good carb cleaning and rebuild then!
 
Is your choke closing properly?
I had the same problem with my car. I have the Autolite 1100 with automatic choke. After I finally figured out the choke problem (with a lot of help from the fine folks here) my car has been starting great when cold even after sitting for weeks at a time. I always assumed the choke was working fine and I had a dry fuel bowl in the carburetor. Make sure your choke is working properly by visually checking before you do anything else.
 
jimlj66":9y6pdhr7 said:
Is your choke closing properly?
I had the same problem with my car. I have the Autolite 1100 with automatic choke. After I finally figured out the choke problem (with a lot of help from the fine folks here) my car has been starting great when cold even after sitting for weeks at a time. I always assumed the choke was working fine and I had a dry fuel bowl in the carburetor. Make sure your choke is working properly by visually checking before you do anything else.
Click to expand...
He did mention it was a manual choke.

I've always assumed that the dry bowl will require cranking the car enough to get the fuel pump to fill it.
Why would it go dry?
Maybe check the needle valve? Maybe it's stuck open?
 
woodbutcher":oaw42sjg said:
Hi Ludwig.What ya need a heater for?
Click to expand...
:LOL:

I don't. He does.

When I lived in Minnesota, I just took the battery in the house at night.
 
JackFish":1p4imlvs said:
jimlj66":1p4imlvs said:
Is your choke closing properly?
I had the same problem with my car. I have the Autolite 1100 with automatic choke. After I finally figured out the choke problem (with a lot of help from the fine folks here) my car has been starting great when cold even after sitting for weeks at a time. I always assumed the choke was working fine and I had a dry fuel bowl in the carburetor. Make sure your choke is working properly by visually checking before you do anything else.
Click to expand...
He did mention it was a manual choke.

I've always assumed that the dry bowl will require cranking the car enough to get the fuel pump to fill it.
Why would it go dry?
Maybe check the needle valve? Maybe it's stuck open?
Click to expand...

I saw the manual choke comment in the original post, but wanted to make sure he did a visual to see if it was adjusted and working properly.

Not sure what would cause the carb to go dry, but I have heard that the gasoline of today will boil/flash off faster than 60's gas did?? When I was convinced that was my problem I was looking into some kind of insulator to raise the carburetor off of the hot manifold.
 
Falconman62":1amx9ix1 said:
Thank you all for your replies. I do pump the pedal before attempting to start. The car has a manual choke. My issue is I have to pump the pedal about 20 times with full choke to get a pop off. Then it is 3 more times like this before she fires up and runs. This whole process takes up to 5 min sometimes and I really do not want to burn up a starter.
Click to expand...

How long has this vehicle sat without running between starts? Four hours? Overnight? A week? A month?

I think that the fuel has drained out of the carb somehow. No amount of choking or pumping will do any good until you get some fuel up there into the bowl.

Five minutes of cranking is indeed a bit worrisome. An electric fuel pump may be the best solution; just turn it on and wait for it to fill the carburetor, then start coking, pumping, etc.
Joe
 
Lazy JW":1hyj38mw said:
Falconman62":1hyj38mw said:
Thank you all for your replies. I do pump the pedal before attempting to start. The car has a manual choke. My issue is I have to pump the pedal about 20 times with full choke to get a pop off. Then it is 3 more times like this before she fires up and runs. This whole process takes up to 5 min sometimes and I really do not want to burn up a starter.
Click to expand...

How long has this vehicle sat without running between starts? Four hours? Overnight? A week? A month?

I think that the fuel has drained out of the carb somehow. No amount of choking or pumping will do any good until you get some fuel up there into the bowl.

Five minutes of cranking is indeed a bit worrisome. An electric fuel pump may be the best solution; just turn it on and wait for it to fill the carburetor, then start coking, pumping, etc.
Joe
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. Next time, look down throat of carb, move accelerator and see if you are getting fuel immediately. If not, you have issues that need resolved. If it's not evaporating, it's dumping the fuel from bowl into intake possibly washing cylinder walls and even dumping into oil pan.
 
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