HARD start when warm

-

dartcuda

Mopar Or No Car
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
1,885
Reaction score
3
Location
Springfield, Oregon
It is a 318 with electronic ignition. It starts great when cold, but after I drive it a bit, it is very hard to start. Did a tun up last summer, and that seemed to help. The car sit all winter into early spring. Brought it home last Monday, and everything seemed fine. But it atarted doing it again, thought maybe the $20 carb i put on it was the problem, went out and bought a new one. Fired right up once gas got into the carb, ran it for a bit, shut it off. let it sit for a few minutes, it started right up with out hitting the gas, took it for a drive, got home. shut it off and let it sit for a few minutes, tried to start it, again it didnt start. let it sit for a couple of hrs, started right up.
 
Did you set the reluctor gap in the distributor to .007"-.008", that could do it if not adjusted properly.
 
Next time its fully warmed up, pop the air cleaner off. Grab a chair, a flashlight, and a beer. Shut it off, sit back and relax for 10 minutes. Keep one eye on the airhorn.If you see wisps of smoke coming out of there, you will have to figure out how to stop that. So first thing is to run over there, and shine the light down into the airhorn, and find out how the gas is getting into the manifold.
But if no smoke appears at all, then you probably dont have a fuel issue.
 
In addition to above, buy yourself a spark tester, and see if you have spark when starting. You need to do this WITH THE KEY so you'll have to figure how to "rig" it so you can see it like, through the hood gap.

Before I "went" EFI I went with a rear mount electric pump, a nice big isolator under the carb, and built myself a vapor return system using a Wix 33040 (5/16) filter which has a built in return orifice. This helped immensely

"Modern gas" is largely to blame.

Also, what does it run for temperature?

Pay attention to fuel line routing
 
Where is the initial timing set?
 
I had a similar problem w my 340. Added a 1/2 inch insulated spacer. Also, replaced the coil which seemed to be getting ridiculously hot. Not sure which thing cured the issue. But no problem with hot starts anymore.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get it sorted out.
Pat
 
Thanks for the replies. Will try to look at it today depending on the weather as I don't have a garage. Temp is around 185-190.
 
I was able to work on it today, no smoke from the carb, set the gap to .008 in the dist. and set the timing and it seems to be starting like it should.
 
I used the advice I got on here, glad to say i think with your help I got it worked out.
It seemed to start like it should today, will give it a couple of more days to see how it acts, don't really drive it much as with good weather I ride my bike.
 
good, I was going to suggest looking at the distributor advance plate. Mine was really gummed up and would stick in spots, and my cam lobes were gummed too. Sprayed about 20 seconds of WD-40 in there and manipulated the plate and that really helped.
 
First thing I did was to make sure the weights were free, twisted the roter and it snapped back. Thanks for the feed back.
 
-
Back
Top