Printable View
Im having a heck of a time getting my boat started when its cold, when warmed up no problem starts right up and runs fine. Its a BBC with 750 holley w/proform body and an rpm air gap intake with 1" spacer. Im pretty decent with carb tuning but im stumped on this one. Ive got 7-8psi fuel pressure and the front squirters are working fine as well. Any ideas?
when its cold ,if you choke or push the gas peddle several times,does the engine start better.If not , when the engine is cold,push down on the gas pedel.All the way down to the floor and keep it there ,then start the engine.If there is an emprovement,then you have a carb leak and it is flooding.By pushing the pedal down to the floor ,you are opening the butterflies to your card and letting as much air in as possible.
Thanks for the suggestions. If I had a leak wouldnt it be hard to start when warm as well? I know the float are adjusted properly. Ive only had the boat out with this carb/intake a couple of times so I havent messed with it much except for timing and idle. I'll be going out on the lake tomarrow and i'll have a freind with me to drive so may put a timing light on it again and mess with the carb some. Any suggestions on what to look for?
BBC's need allot of fuel to start when cold. Give the throttle four solid pumps and just crack it a little then fire it off. If this doesn't work you may have a problem with your ignition system or the power to the ignition. I have seen allot of ignition switches go bad. You can crank the engine over but when the key is in the start mode the switch does not send power to the ignition coil, as soon as you release the key it fires when to switch returns to the on mode. This is not noticed to much when the engine is hot because you get into the habit of hitting the swith for so many seconds an letting go, with the engine warm it fires right off. Also a weak coil may be something to look at, not enough voltage output while cranking the engine over. ;)
Hope this helps
I had the same problem for years. I finally replaced my starter this yr=ear and found that I have always needed shims between the starter and the motor. Now the Kachina starts without hesitation. Cold or hot. I still would like to know how adding a ford starter solenoid helps starting.
I see this application on allot of boats with Chevy's and other than Ford powered boats. I was going to go this route before I broke the phenolic on my old starter.
My 454 has always been a cold-blooded beast to start first time of the day, worse after a week at home. A couple strokes on the pedal and she fires right up though (no choke). All day long you just bump the key and she fires instantly, without a toe on the throttle. Has always been her nature and is slightly worse cold now with the new RPM Air Gap manifold and steeper cam profile (.565 lift, 280 duration, 110 deg overlap) but not a problem.