What are possible causes for delay in starting?

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steveh

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Probably comes down to properly tuning the carb or timing, but my mild 69 318 now with 4bl intake, a 600 (i think) holley and rv cam is slow to fire. oh yeah it has an orange box MP electronic ingnition too.

Seems to have gotten worse here lately. When the engine is hot...no prob turn the key and it fires immediately without touching the pedal...but if it sits for more then 5 min it takes an awfully long time to fire up.

Would greatly appreaciate any advice on where I start and sequence of tweaks so I can sort this out...
1) retard or advance the timing
2) air/fuel mixture lean it out or richen it up

Many thanks
Steve
 
For me Its cause the Mrs ain't ready to go yet,...But seriously folks, I see you are in a warm climate, maybe a heat soak issue???,...How is it first thing in the AM,...Whats the timing set at???
 
I'm going to guess fuel leaking through the carb partially flooding the plugs. Get her good and hot turn it off and remove the air cleaner. Look down the air horn for fuel or very gently blow in the air horn and see if fuel vapor rises back at you. A little bit of vapor initially is normal but if 3 minutes later you still have vapor rising from the air horn, there's your problem. Could be as simple as the bowl float set too high
 
Unfortunately, i don't have a timing light handy.

Ok...but what exactly do you mean by the air horn?

And is the bowl float easily adjusted?

Thxs
 
Unfortunately, i don't have a timing light handy.

Ok...but what exactly do you mean by the air horn?

And is the bowl float easily adjusted?

Thxs

Sorry air horn is the top of the carb
 
thx redfish...Yeah, fumes were present after several minutes of sitting. Removed the the sight plug on the primary bowl and fuel came pouring out. Started to crack open the lock screw and Fuel began to spay out as if it was under pressure...that doesn't seem right.

I'm trying to read tech pages on on holley's website but haven't come across this situation just yet...where should I go from here?
 
VAPOR LOCK and related fuel boiling issues seems to be the "thing" nowadays. I had trouble on my own car. Here's some of the things I did, and some of it takes work

First I'm a huge believer in vapor return systems. First one I ever saw was on my old 70 sixpack RR "back then" and it WORKS.

You can add one easier / harder, depending on what you drive. Older cars you will have to add a third tube back to the tank, and figure a way to GET the tube INTO the tank. On my 67, I silver brazed a tube right into the face of the tank, above the rear axle, after draining the fuel, and filling the tank with CO2 from my MIG.

Wix makes the "front part" easy, as they and others make metal fuel filters with a built in return port (used on some AMC products in the 70's/ 80's) part not 33040 for 5/16 line, and 33041 for 3/8 line.

These have a 1/4" return port. You can hang the filter can either vertically or horizontally, so long as the 1/4" port is "up." This port returns a small amount of fuel through a built--in orifice to the tank, which does TWO things

One, it constantly returns some fuel, keeping vapor bubbles to a minimum, and when you shut off the car, it immediately releases pressure from the pump to the carb, preventing fuel from "pushing" up into the carb from pressure

33040.gif


Another thing that helps is to change to an electric pump, mounted at the tank. On my car, I just ran it through the mechanical pump, but I eventually plan to remove the mechanical pump.

And, you can buy thick spacers under your carb to isolate the carb from too much heat build--up. If you live in a warmer area, or mostly drive your car in warm weather, you can remove the intake manifold and plug the head crossover that runs under the plenum.

Of course you want to make sure the carb is set-up right. "pouring gas" out the sight plugs SOUNDS like the floats are set too high. This may take some "dirty fingers." I'd adjust them down some, and try to check the float before the engine gets very warm. This will show you whether it's from pressure build on hot shutdown, or whether the level is just plain too high.

You can get SOME idea also, by just holding the throttle at a "simulated medium cruise" RPM and looking down the throats. If you HEAR a sound like bacon frying, as droplets of fuel are sucked down, or SEE droplets out of the venturi boosters, the level is creeeping up too high.

Generally, mechanical pumps HURT you for vapor lock/ fuel boiling, because they must 'suck' fuel, and cause a low--pressure area in the fuel line, which tends to boil when going past hot exhaust/ other areas.

Yet another thing to check is that your tank IS getting vented. On the early cars, the vent is a fitting high up on the filler tube, inside the trunk. This tube then comes down the side of the filler tube, pokes through the gasket/ seal on the trunk floor, and ENDS inside the frame rail. I spose it's possible this could become rusted shut/ other problems, but worth checking.

I found one in a junk yard that had been PLUGGED by a human up inside the trunk.
 
ok, lowered the float...made a quick trip to get a 12pack of budweiser gonna let er sit for 10-15min an see if there is still a long delay before she fires over.
 
Often delay time in starting my car is when I try to start the car with the trunk key. :yawinkle: Sorry , just a little humor to lighten things up.
 
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