Why is my 80 Sport Coupe hard to start?

[Justa6MB]

Hi, so I' ve got a hot air Regal and it seems hard to start - or I haven't figured it out yet. It seems like if it sits for a while - maybe a few days or longer, it won't start right away. I pump the throttle 2 or 3 times to give it some gas and get the choke on, and crank - but it won't start. However if you leave it for a while and come back it will fire right up. Today I was moving it out of the shop and it did it. Waited a few minutes and hit the key and it fired up. Then it stalled while I was out of the car - and it wouldn't re-start. Then of coarse - fired up a few minutes later no problem. Is this something to do with the blow through turbo cars? Or is this uncommon?
Thanks
Darren

 

[futten]

try and pump it just once wait a sec and start it then 2-3 pumps you might be floodin it

 

[charlief1]

It's also a draw through, not blow through system. If what Kjetil suggested doesn't work try taking the cleaner off the carb and put a small amount of fuel in the carb and see what happens.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Q jet?? if so, base plugs leaking?

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Mine does the same thing. My doug roe Qjet book says that the base plugs dont leak on the newer carbs. Either mine do or it evaporates out of the carb vent tube since I have mine open to the atmosphere and not to the EVAP.

 

[Justa6MB]

I tried it again today and here's what I did. I cranked it without touching the pedal and it fired. Cranked it more and nothing. Pumped it once and cranked and nothing. Pumped it 2 more times and cranked and nothing. Waited a few minutes and cranked it and it fired but stalled. I cranked it right away and nothing. I put a shot of gas in the carb and cranked and nothing. I shot some ether at the carb and cranked it and it fired right up and ran like a champ. I wonder if a compression test is in order?

 

[charlief1]

Sounds like a fueling issue. Have you varified that the choke is closing all the way first? If it is get someone else to try and start it and see if the choke plate is opening slightly when the engine starts. Should be between a 3/16 to 5/16" gap when it starts so the engine can get air.

 

[Justa6MB]

Yes the choke is right closed and pulls open slightly when it starts. It sort of acts like it's flooding, but I did try holding the choke open with a screw driver too and that didn't change anything. I don't have an air cleaner on it? But I've been around carbs my entire life and didn't think that would be an issue.

 

[ek02]

A safe way to verify if it is a fuel issue is to rig a hose to a propane torch and put the hose in the carb intake. Turn on the propane slightly and crank the engine. If it's a lack of fuel issue, the engine will run fine on the propane. I have an old propane enrichment valve and hose that I used to use to set the idle mixture on Chrysler products years ago as recommended in the shop manuals. I have used it on injected engines also by putting the hose in the air intake. I've driven vehicles with a bad fuel pump into the shop that way. You can also verify vacuum leaks with that setup on an engine that is idling bad by running the hose around the intake to check for leaks. When the idle smooths out, you have found the leak. If an engine is running rich, it will shut right off when enriched. Easy way to diagnose fuel issues. Has anyone ever tried it? It beats spraying carb cleaner all over the place and will not hurt an O2 sensor or cat converter.