Super hard starting motor

[BigPoser]

My motor is really hard to start, especially in the cold mornings. I have a elec fuel pump and I let it run for a few seconds to pressure up. Pump the pedal a couple times and crank. Literally takes me a good 8 minutes of repeating the above mentioned steps before I can get it going. Once I've got it going, I can turn the motor off and it'll start right up every time.

Once I do get it running it runs pretty good. However, when I'm in drive and at a stop, if I hit the gas too hard it will kill the engine. I have to feather the pedal lightly and then she'll go. Like I said, once going, it goes well. Stalling the motor in traffic sucks and annoying.

I'm not well versed with engine related issues just yet, but am learning. A good friend of mine thinks the hard starting could be related to a lack of grounding.

I need some help. Any thoughts on either issue? Working out some kinks as this will be my daily. Good thing I have some vacation coming up next week cause I need to fix this.

Thanks in advance.

Brandon

 

[Georgeb]

Is your choke functional?

 

[BigPoser]

Is your choke functional?

That is a great question. I'll have to check.

 

[rich weyand]

Hard starting cold sounds like choke or ignition timing. Do you get smoke when it starts? If so, what color is the smoke?

Falling on its face when giving it the gas sounds like the accelerator pump is shot or incorrectly adjusted.

 

[BigPoser]

Hard starting cold sounds like choke or ignition timing. Do you get smoke when it starts? If so, what color is the smoke?

Falling on its face when giving it the gas sounds like the accelerator pump is shot or incorrectly adjusted.

Thanks Rich. No smoke when starting which is good. The carb was recently rebuilt so the accel pump is new, but could certainly be improperly adjusted for sure. Maybe it went bad already too who knows. It is an Edelbrock.

 

[rich weyand]

Edelbrock with electric choke? Adjust the choke per the instructions. Super easy.

Look at the arm on the top of the accelerator pump. Driver's side front of the carb. There is a lever coming off the carb with three holes on it. In one of those holes is a rod to the throttle mechanism. Move the rod to the shortest hole on the arm, the hole closest to the carb body. These engines suck a lot of vacuum, which means air really rushes in when you open the throttle. The inner hole of the arm is the biggest shot from the accelerator pump.

 

[BigPoser]

Edelbrock with electric choke? Adjust the choke per the instructions. Super easy.

Look at the arm on the top of the accelerator pump. Driver's side front of the carb. There is a lever coming off the carb with three holes on it. In one of those holes is a rod to the throttle mechanism. Move the rod to the shortest hole on the arm, the hole closest to the carb body. These engines suck a lot of vacuum, which means air really rushes in when you open the throttle. The inner hole of the arm is the biggest shot from the accelerator pump.

It's a manual choke.

I'll check the position of the rod and move to the shortest if it isn't correct. One thing to note is that the hesitation is worse when the truck is in Drive rather than Park. Thanks for the help.

 

[Georgeb]

It's a manual choke.

I'll check the position of the rod and move to the shortest if it isn't correct. One thing to note is that the hesitation is worse when the truck is in Drive rather than Park. Thanks for the help.

It would be worth making sure the choke closes all the way with the throttle all the way open when you pull the knob. Check the accelerator rod positon too. Don't open the choke all the way untill the truck is warmed up. Just far enough to not be too rich and gradually opening as it warms up. Next would be to check the timing and be sure you have good ignition and not weak spark due to needing a tune up.

 

[BigPoser]

Well it was the choke and the rubber plunger on the accelerator pump had gotten folded over somehow. So I replaced it and now she starts on the first rip and doesn't stall anymore when stopped.

Now I could just find out where my oil leak is coming from I'd be all good. I changed my valve cover gaskets and valve covers, and now it's leaking more than before. Maybe I tightened them too much or not enough. Could also be my intake manifold gaskets too.

F'ing hate oil leaks.

 

[rich weyand]

Gen 1 SBCs always leak. I found the combination of these three things very helpful.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Proform/778/6...2&cadevice=c&gclid=CKDu3rHZ7ckCFYQ6aQodyvcHYw

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/21100/10002/-1

http://www.skygeek.com/gunk-t25-66-...aign=froogle&gclid=CJGspKba7ckCFQ6SaQod32sKDg

 

[BigPoser]

Gen 1 SBCs always leak. I found the combination of these three things very helpful.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Proform/778/6...2&cadevice=c&gclid=CKDu3rHZ7ckCFYQ6aQodyvcHYw

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/21100/10002/-1

http://www.skygeek.com/gunk-t25-66-...aign=froogle&gclid=CJGspKba7ckCFQ6SaQod32sKDg

Thanks Rich. I discovered that all the oil is coming out of the back of the passenger side valve cover. Driver side is good, but the pouring out the pass side for some reason. I'll try to tackle it today and see what happens.