Hi once again

Sorry for not posting more here ... work and no work and etc>!

I have problems in my Truck starting when it sits for days or a day when it rains or a day when cold or just a day etc ... sounds simple ... but let me know the full story ... but when sunny and warm... just a click and two pumps on gas... she starts right up

This Truck is a daily construction working truck ... when it starts

63 uni straight 6 223 all original LWB camper for tools etc

engine ... 12k .... carb, fuel pump, distributor. generator, battery. fuel filter. pligs points voltage reg. ign coil dist cap and rotter and a few other things all new or less than a year old

I have original wiring and ignition switch manual choke... real basic .. I bought her because I could do all normal basics .. and have done it so far myself ... but this perplexes me

I have waterproofed everything ... still when it rains all night.. wont start up until sun comes up ... hmm just like me... lol

Real cold ... wont start up ... hmm just like me ... hmmm

What the hell am I missing ... new wiring? poor ignition switch... should I invest 200 bucks on electronic conversion? .. Been trying to keep her basic and original as she is begging for body improvements and a hair dew

Let me know before I kick her and get a 40s or 59s which are more basic to this 59 year older man

Thanks for any help as always

I am Carpenter and side of curb street mechanic

 

Always start with the basics. You need fuel, ignition, and compression. The latter is not going to depend on humidity...

So, when it won't start, do you not have fuel, or do you not have spark? Has to be one or the other. Sitting for a while tends to be fuel-related (carb bowl goes dry). Not firing in rainy weather is ignition on the high-voltage side (coil, wires, cap, rotor, plugs).

I'd be looking for spark from the coil first - hold the wire from the coil tower close to a ground and crank it over. If you don't get lots of good blue sparks, there is your problem.

My dad had an equally basic '60 Chevy that would start missing or die completely on rainy days. New wires, cap, rotor didn't help. Turned out it had a hairline crack in the coil tower, very hard to see unless you had it in your hand under a bright light... covering it with grease fixed it temporarily, until he put in a new coil.

-Charles

 

are you using the choke when you start your truck

 

Might check the timing i had a similar problem And my timing was off a hair

 

had a simlar problem it was a crack in coil, but i'd ck the cap for condinsate
do the less expence first ck the coil wire also

 

If you can, try it at night with the hood up watching for arcing wires. Humidity will make that worse. Easy to see in the dark.

 

I know that when I hose by truck off if i get water in the engine compartment it won't start. I think it is an electrical issue, but it rains about three times a year where I live, so i don't worry about it. Arcing between wires is a good possibility as noted by others.

 

check the condenser...bought a truck once for $200 that had the same issues and frustrated the ____ out of the PO. turned out to be the condenser..

 

I didn't see spark plug wires on your list... If those aren't new they might be the culprit. The condenser is not a bad idea either, and cheap.

 

Sounds to me like a accelerator pump or choke issue. Have you recently checked to see if the accelerator pump is working correctly? How are you using the choke? Does it even fire when cold? Please check the accel pump for proper opperation.

Have you done a recent compression test?

 

Try working from the other direction. On a sunny dry day, start it up, open the hood and get out a mister... lightly spray individual components of the ignition system. If you get a miss develop, you know where your problem it. It's it oK, you can turn to the carb... (mist it too, might be drawing mositure on a damp day... who knows).

 

Probably a cracked distributor cap or carbon arcked. More likely craked causing misfire or crossfire. It is easier to see at night but if you take it off and do a visual check you can see it too but you have to look close use a good bright flashlight.

Edit.... just because you got something new check the place part was manufactured..... if made in certain places it was probably out of specs before it ever left the box. Add one year to that and those new parts could all be suspect.

 

This sounds good to me.....................

 

This was an old mechanic's trick I picked up when I had an 78 f-150 with an intermittant miss. (especially on rainy days). No one could diagnose it, until this old guy threw up the hood and started spritzing around under the hood.

 

Windex works really well for this purpose.