Cold starts trying my patience!
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 190
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From: Pueblo West USA
Cold starts trying my patience!
My '73 has a 460 and a 4bbl carb. (the motor might be a '76)First start in the morning I pump the gas about 15 times. It will usually start then die in about three seconds. I do this about five times then she runs great. If I start it again while the engine is still warm it starts almost before I turn the key.
I just had a new fuel pump put in and I was hoping that would solve the problem, but there is no change.
Is it time for a carb rebuild, or is there something else I should try? Maybe I'm just spoiled by all the Hondas and such I've owned. There is a manual choke, but it is not hooked up. Maybe I just need to re-attatch the cable...
I did spray a bunch of carb cleaner in it about a month ago. Obviously that didn't help.
I just had a new fuel pump put in and I was hoping that would solve the problem, but there is no change.
Is it time for a carb rebuild, or is there something else I should try? Maybe I'm just spoiled by all the Hondas and such I've owned. There is a manual choke, but it is not hooked up. Maybe I just need to re-attatch the cable...
I did spray a bunch of carb cleaner in it about a month ago. Obviously that didn't help.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 122
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From: NE Oregon
Cold starts trying my patience!
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-Jan-02 AT 11:09 PM (EST)]Definitely hook up the manual choke. That's what's causing the problem. The engine needs a rich air/fuel mixture to run correctly when cold. You could also get an electric choke kit for the carb as well so you don't have to mess with the manual choke. If it had an electric choke, then the following would apply:
When the engine is cold, in the morning (assuming you have an electric choke) press the gas pedal down once, and pull the air cleaner off the carb. Does the choke plate close most/all of the way? If not, there should be three screws holding on the electric choke assembly. Loosen a couple of them and turn the plastic housing just far enough to close up the choke plate. Don't over do it, or the choke will stay closed too long. You might blast the choke plate and assembly good with some carb cleaner as well to make sure it's free. Move the choke plate back and forth by hand as well to feel if it's sticking. It should have a springy feel from the heating element in the electric choke assembly.
(I typed the last paragraph before I noticed you had a manual choke setup
)
When the engine is cold, in the morning (assuming you have an electric choke) press the gas pedal down once, and pull the air cleaner off the carb. Does the choke plate close most/all of the way? If not, there should be three screws holding on the electric choke assembly. Loosen a couple of them and turn the plastic housing just far enough to close up the choke plate. Don't over do it, or the choke will stay closed too long. You might blast the choke plate and assembly good with some carb cleaner as well to make sure it's free. Move the choke plate back and forth by hand as well to feel if it's sticking. It should have a springy feel from the heating element in the electric choke assembly.
(I typed the last paragraph before I noticed you had a manual choke setup
)
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 190
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From: Pueblo West USA
Cold starts trying my patience!
Thanks man!
I'll hook it up and see if that solves it. I'll also check for the electronic choke. Perhaps the previous owner didn't know it had one and installed the manual choke.
I'll hook it up and see if that solves it. I'll also check for the electronic choke. Perhaps the previous owner didn't know it had one and installed the manual choke.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 24,552
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From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
Cold starts trying my patience!
>I love the manual choke. Nothing beats it on a cold morning.
Nothing beats it better than a good electric choke. IMHO
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John
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.
Nothing beats it better than a good electric choke. IMHO
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John
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,931
Likes: 12
From: SW Michigan
Cold starts trying my patience!
Chris, could it be that your truck knows you consider it ugly and it is upset with you ?!! Do you have a motorcraft 4100 series 4 barrel carb on that truck ? The motorcrafts, (even rebuilts ) seem to have a poor design of linkage to the accelerator pump. The pumpshot on mine doesn't work at all with the accelerator pedal. If I need a squirt of gas to help start I open the hood and reach under the aircleaner lid and work the pump lever from the top of the carb. It gets more gas this way with 2 pumps that doing the pedal 20 times. After I got tired of opening the hood on cool mornings, I put on a manual choke and haven't had a problem since. DF
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Pueblo West USA
Cold starts trying my patience!
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-Jan-02 AT 09:44 AM (EST)]My truck knows it's ugly. I'm hoping it has the same sense of humor I do, and looks at it's ugliness as "character"
It's my job to make it not so ugly when I can afford paint and some nice wheels and tires. I have loved the look of the '73 style (signals above the headlights) since I was 15, and for some reason it took me 17 years to get one.
Unfortunately mine was originally light metallic green, but was painted with a dark flat metallic grey, I assume when the bed was replaced with a metallic brown unit. There is a dent in the driver's door big enough to park a car in, and it has the stock steel 8 bolt wheels. (Are these worth anything?)
The carb is a Motorcraft. I'll hook up that choke ASAP!
Thanks again guys!
It's my job to make it not so ugly when I can afford paint and some nice wheels and tires. I have loved the look of the '73 style (signals above the headlights) since I was 15, and for some reason it took me 17 years to get one.
Unfortunately mine was originally light metallic green, but was painted with a dark flat metallic grey, I assume when the bed was replaced with a metallic brown unit. There is a dent in the driver's door big enough to park a car in, and it has the stock steel 8 bolt wheels. (Are these worth anything?)
The carb is a Motorcraft. I'll hook up that choke ASAP!
Thanks again guys!
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 1,899
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From: Cullman Alabama
Cold starts trying my patience!
At the Risk of upsetting a lot of people, I gotta say this about that!
That Motorcraft Carb on the 460 is bullet proof. Just leave it alone until you know for sure you have a problem with it.
Next, the Auto Choke runs by Vacuam. You have to have a good tight chimney, the Stainless or Aluminum tube going from the Choke body to the Manifold, and good Vacuam hoses, and then all you have to do is put the Throttle down just a little, once, (You should hear the Choke slap shut) and turn the Key.
If the moving parts are clean and free of binds, and the Choke body is sealed, and the Vacuam lines are good, that thing should start right up. Most of the time they start better cold than they do Warm.
One more Humanoid problem is connecting the Vacuam line to the Dist, to the wrong port in the Front of the Carb.
The way it came from the Factory is the Very best way you can have it running.
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