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hard starting after sitting a few days

2K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  JCAllison 
#1 ·
if i start my 67 with the 289 every day or 2 it starts fine but if I let it sit 4 or 5 days its very hard to start. it just cranks and cranks.if I shoot starting fluid in the carb it fires up.its got a fairly new edelbrock 4 bbl carb on it.
any ideas?
 
#2 ·
The gas in the float bowl evaporates or leaks out so you have to crank the pump to fill it back up. Could be its too low to start with, could be a leak in the power valve or the PV gasket, more likely (ethanol) evaporation is the problem. Might also be a bad accelerator pump or the jet-to-booster pathway needs a cleaning.
 
#6 ·
Me too! It's not lack of fuel because I installed an electric fuel pump just because of this problem. Didn't help.
Mel

Whaaaa...? Now you've gone and upset me. I thought elec fuel pump was the solution.
 
#8 ·
An electric fuel pump is often a bandaid to cover other problems. I would look for leaky fuel bowl plugs (gas drains down the intake and evaporates) or a fuel pump that loses some of its prime. Does the car have a working choke? This is a big help to get a cold engine that has sat for a while to easily start.
Avoid starting fluid. It washes down cylinder walls and if the engine kicks back, it can break the starter drive and or nose cone.
 
#9 ·
My Gal will sit for weeks. I don't drive her much lately.

The elec.pump is to fill the carb bowl first so as not to exhaust the battery getting fuel from the tank to the carb mechancaly.

It usually takes 4 or 5 attempts to get her running and even then I have to wait awhile before backing up the 12 degree incline outside my garage or she will stall yet again.

Mel
 
#12 ·
so it sat for a few days and last nite we tried to start it.i pulled the aircleaner and noticed the choke was not closed at all even after giving it some gas.the 2nd thing I noticed was that it only had about 1 decent shot of gas before it seemed there was nothing left in the bowls.we cranked and cranked until it finally started but it took a long time and I didn't see a lot of fuel movement in the clear gas filter.
im going to try a new mech fuel pump 1st.
 
#13 ·
Shot in the dark, If you have a gas tank cap that does not vent, you get a vacuum in there. Do you get a hissing sound when you unscrew the cap? The vacuum would fight the pump. And, after you turned off the engine it would suck back some of the gas in the bowl.
 
#15 ·
we put a new stock style fuel pump on last nite that we bought from advance auto.we ran a new hardline up from the pump too.
the car had been sitting unstarted for 4 days and we knew how hard it was to start after sitting this long before.
it turned about 5 revolutions and fired right up!
im hoping this was the problem.
the fuel filter filled right up too.
im guessing it must need good fuel pump pressure to work properly.
 
#16 ·
Hey Me. CC,
Put a NEW Fuel Pump on Ms. American, and went to the Post Office to get the Pressure Test Kit, and while at the P.O. the NEW Fuel Pump overpowered the Needle&Seat, and the over flow of Gasoline out of the Carburetor Vent Tubes started a fire on the Engine. It was a mess.

Got everything cleaned up, and tested the Fuel Pump's Output Pressure. It was 9.5 PSI when it should have been 5. Put a Pressure Regulator between the Fuel Pump and the Carburetor.

Would recommend testing the Fuel Pump to see what pressure its putting out, and getting NEW Pressure Regulator for your NEW Fuel Pump.

JC
 
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