Hey everyone! I have a 75 Super Cab with the 460 engine and Eddy 1406 carb. Ever since I bought the truck, it has been difficult to crank first thing in the AM or after sitting a while. It normally takes about 10 pumps and three or four cranks to get it to turn over properly then i have to keep my foot on the petal for about 30 seconds so it won't stall out. I just recently replaced the fuel pump so I'm fairly certain that isn't the issue. My next thought is it may be the choke? I've played with it some but have not had any progress. Any suggestions on a solution?

P.S. - I know these older trucks can be stubborn to crank, but I feel like mine is a little too stubborn.

 

That's the way mine is in hot weather, I always thought it was normal

 

It may be normal, but it's not right. When I bought the 77 a few years ago, it was terribly hard to start after sitting for a while. You had to pump and pump, crank and crank. I put an electric fuel pump on it. Turn the key to energize the pump, wait a second to two for it to "pump-up" (you can hear the pitch change), pump it once to set the choke, and hit it! All my dents now start quicker than my EFI Tacoma ever did

Carter 4600 from Summit. I've got a thread on the installation in my 79 somewhere...

 

I want to stay away from an electric FP, but that's not a bad solution. I also wonder if my truck has an in tank pump? Maybe that is going bad.

 

It may very well be normal, but I wanted to be sure. I've never had an engine this big.

 

Only the newer EFI trucks have in-tank pumps. Our dents have engine-mounted mechanical pumps

Several problems:
1) Today's new gas has a lower boiling point, and simply boils out of the carb/lines
2) There's a lot of tube between the tanks and fuel pump
3) Heat from the engine boils the fuel out of the carb

Today's corn alcohol gas also eats up the fuel hoses

You might:
1) Add a spacer between the intake and carb
2) Run (replace) a fuel filter
3) Change the rubber hose sections on the fuel lines

 

Our trucks don't have in tank fuel pumps unless they are aftermarket.

My guess is you are having a fuel boiling problem or drainage after shut off.

Heat boiling the fuel in the lines can be rectified in a number of ways from insulating the metal fuel line to phenolic spacers under the carb.

Fuel draining back to the tank and out of the pump and lines can be fixed with either a low pressure check valve or a filter between the tank and mechanical pump. Had the drainage problem on a car I used to own. Went through 3 pumps to realize they weren't actually bad and that there was dirt in my fuel holding their internal check valve open allowing the gas to drain backwards.

 

Mine has eec and has a return line going from the carb back to the tank, I guess all of my fuel is draining out of the carb. Makes sense why it's so hard to start in the mornings.

 

Could be a small hole or crack somewhere in the fuel line. Not big enough to cause a leak, but enough to let air in and drain the fuel back into the tank. That would also account for the even longer cranking time...ever try to drink through a straw w a crack in it?

 

So I did more research and I think I figured it out.

With these electric chokes, you have to slowly depress the accelerator once before cranking to release the tension for the choke valve. Only once. I just tried it and it worked.

user error!

 

You're on the right track! A full push of the accelerator before starting does two things:
1) sets the choke plate for the current engine state
2) shoots a stream of fuel into the primary venturi(s) - assuming there's fuel in the bowl

If there's a bowl leak, or the fuel is otherwise absent due to bad lines or evaporation, you'll be back to cranking to re-fill the bowls.

The mechanical fuel pump "sucks", literally, by design. A cracked or leaking line just makes it work that much harder

 

Good find!
Different vehicles like different cold start techniques. I usually turn the key to "run", give the gas a long, slow push to set the choke and give it an initial pump-shot, and then another quick half-pedal shot...then start it w my foot off the gas. If everything is working, it should start and run at fast idle while I walk around and scrape the windows (or whatever).

A couple of nights ago a guy flagged me down from a parking lot as I was sitting at a red light. He said he needed a jump. I pulled around and obliged but he still couldn't get the minivan started...cranking but not starting. I had been sitting in my truck keeping the revs up and got out to tell him I think he had a different problem besides a dead battery. He was a little frazzled (his family was inside, the only reason I stopped to help, really) and tried it "one more time" and now I noticed that he was furiously pumping the gas pedal so I told him it's injected, stop that, they don't like it. He tried it again w/out pedaling it and it started right up...I thought his wife was gonna blow me right there, she was very grateful (and probably verbally smacked him around a bit when they were alone for being a tool). Not sure if there's a point to this story, or that it adds anything to this thread at all. But it was in my head when I read the OP.*

* NOT that you're a tool, just the hard-start, engines-are-simple-until-they're-not part. I think I'm ready for a second round...

 

I have the manual choke version of the Edelbrock carb. I hit the pedal once, hold it down just a hair to take tension off the choke linkage then pull the **** out about 1/4" to 3/8" then hit the key. It usually starts right up if it's been started within the last week so all I have to do is finesse the gas and tweak the **** till I get a steady idle without blubbering. A couple of minutes of warm-up and away I go. I usually have the choke off within a mile or so.