Machinos
01-26-2004, 09:55 AM
I've been dealing with this starting problem pretty much all winter, I have no idea how many times I've had to jumpstart the car but it's WAY too many, and I decided it's gotten way too bad when 12 volts barely even got the sucker going.
I'll start from the beginning...when it got to be about 15 degrees out, I readjusted the automatic choke thingy on the Carter WCFB. After that, it would fire RIGHT up every morning with no problem, but I soon realized that it wouldn't start when it was still warm, meaning if I drove it for like 10 minutes, I'd have to wait two hours or more for it to start properly again, or else I'd have to get a jump and then it'd fire right up. This is on a freshly rebuilt carb too.
Eventually I realized that I'd probably been flooding it by pumping the gas every time I tried to start it, instead of just when it was totally cold. Incredibly that seemed to be correct! I drove it around town plenty for a few weeks, but one night when I was out doing errands, it just BARELY started at the third store I went to, I mean it fired up right on the battery's last gasp. It had started instantly at all the other places, plus I'd let it warm up for 20 minutes before I even left the house.
This weekend I drove down to Minneapolis, it ran great the whole way, then I parked it, and when I tried to start it up again 5 minutes later it kind of half-fired a few cylinders a few times, but would not start. I just left it til the next morning, and in the morning when I tried to start it when it was COMPLETELY cold I got nothing. So I jumped it, and it BARELY started! I must have cranked it for 5+ seconds on 12 volts and it eventually sputtered to life.
At this point I'm completely stumped. The only other thing I can think of doing is throwing money at the whole ignition system, save for the distributor which I rebuilt not that long ago. The car RUNS great, I get like 16-18mpg at 70mph, but this starting problem has just gotten so bad I don't wanna even try driving it anymore.
Does anyone have any idea what I could do? I guess the first thing I'd like to do is replace the spark plugs and wires, but a plug wire set is fairly expensive ($65-$90) and I'm not even sure what kind of spark plugs are best for an early hemi.
I'll start from the beginning...when it got to be about 15 degrees out, I readjusted the automatic choke thingy on the Carter WCFB. After that, it would fire RIGHT up every morning with no problem, but I soon realized that it wouldn't start when it was still warm, meaning if I drove it for like 10 minutes, I'd have to wait two hours or more for it to start properly again, or else I'd have to get a jump and then it'd fire right up. This is on a freshly rebuilt carb too.
Eventually I realized that I'd probably been flooding it by pumping the gas every time I tried to start it, instead of just when it was totally cold. Incredibly that seemed to be correct! I drove it around town plenty for a few weeks, but one night when I was out doing errands, it just BARELY started at the third store I went to, I mean it fired up right on the battery's last gasp. It had started instantly at all the other places, plus I'd let it warm up for 20 minutes before I even left the house.
This weekend I drove down to Minneapolis, it ran great the whole way, then I parked it, and when I tried to start it up again 5 minutes later it kind of half-fired a few cylinders a few times, but would not start. I just left it til the next morning, and in the morning when I tried to start it when it was COMPLETELY cold I got nothing. So I jumped it, and it BARELY started! I must have cranked it for 5+ seconds on 12 volts and it eventually sputtered to life.
At this point I'm completely stumped. The only other thing I can think of doing is throwing money at the whole ignition system, save for the distributor which I rebuilt not that long ago. The car RUNS great, I get like 16-18mpg at 70mph, but this starting problem has just gotten so bad I don't wanna even try driving it anymore.
Does anyone have any idea what I could do? I guess the first thing I'd like to do is replace the spark plugs and wires, but a plug wire set is fairly expensive ($65-$90) and I'm not even sure what kind of spark plugs are best for an early hemi.