Hello all, I know this has been covered before, but I can't find it in the archives. I have great difficulty starting my 60 when it's cold. The choke is operating correctly. My starting procedure now is pedal to the floor to set the choke, no gas, and crank. I find that if you crank continuously nothing happens. However, if you crank it for five seconds and then stop and repeat the procedure with short attempts to start it will eventually fire. If you let it sit for 20 your 30 seconds it's more likely to try and fire. Once it's running the choke works properly. Sometimes I think it's not getting any fuel and other times it seems not to be getting any spark. Dale had written above isolating the cranking signal valve, but I don't remember the procedure. Is it possible that the ballast resistor is working intermittently? As far as I can tell there are no obvious problems such as air leaks. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Regards Larry
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Re: Injector cold start problems
Larry, I will respond only because no one else has. I'm a fuelie neophyte. My 62 will not cold start without cranking for several seconds. I believe you have to crank a little to build pressure in the pump. On hot starts, I frequently have to make two or three attempts, and it will act sort of like a ballast resistor, ie. starts and dies when you release the switch. I am given to understand that this has to do with fuel quality and the need to get some cold fuel in the system. I doubt your ballast resistor is intermittently faulty. You can test it simply enough by attaching a jumper wire between the terminals. This effectively by-passes the ballast resistor. Most believe that running it this way more than a few minuets will damage the points, though others say that it can be run nearly indefinately in this manner. I don't recommend a long trial. That will eliminate the resistor as a potential problem. I don't have a lot of fuelie experience, but I believe that it is somewhat normal for them to be a little hard starting. How hard is a little hard? I don't know, perhaps a more experienced fuelie user will answer. -
Re: Injector cold start problems
On a weekday morning, between 9:00 & 10:30 AM, call 1-480-9701605 - this will be AFTER you have written down your SYMPTOMS and PROBLEMS so that you can recite them quickly and coherently - be prepared to answer other questions as they arise. If Mr. F is willing, the answer will be given.Comment
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Re: Injector cold start problems
As part of your preparation, detail what the temperature is when you are cold starting, unit model number, how long sitting between starts, anything else you can think of like is this new or has it been going on for a while, gas used, condition/specs of engine, anything else you can think of and write it down.Comment
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Cold cranking problems
Larry -
The stock electric choke on a '60 FI should do three things when fully engaged. It will send some of the engine manifold vacuum to the main diaphragm to richen the mixture. It will also prevent a vacuum signal from going to the enrichment diaphragm and pulling the lever to the lean stop. Lastly, it will position the fast idle cam to hold the throttle butterfly more open at idle.
The cranking signal valve is a separate system. It always sends engine manifold vacuum to the main diaphragm during cranking regardless of the position of the choke.
If you want to repair this problem yourself, you should first do some investigation to ensure your choke is stock and that it is really working properly. I've never been fortunate enough to buy a fuel injection unit with an original, unmodified, working choke. So I guess I'm saying that I'm suspicious that your choke is really okay. I mean no offense to you by this assumption.
In my experience, a cranking signal valve has a shelf life of less than ten years. By this I mean that yours could be bad even if it is an NOS part that was installed last week. The only CSV's that I trust are modern manufacture less than five years old.
If you are certain that that your choke is really okay and that you have a good CRV, then I would double check the ignition spark with a timing light. A good inductive light will work just fine at cranking speeds. Have someone else turn the key while you hold the light on the balancer to see if each plug is really sparking.
Hot start problems with an FI unit are another issue. Most cars really don't need an extra rich mixture to start when hot. The CSV doesn't know when your engine is warm, it richens the cranking mixture regardless. To avoid flooding the engine, I always hold the accelerator pedal half way to the floor when cranking a warm injected engine. When it gets really hot in the middle of the summer, you may also experience heat soak problems. This causes a very rough idle until the gas in the fuel meter stops boiling.Comment
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Re: Injector cold start problems
Dear Larry, First of take all the previous replies into consideration. Then you might want to work on the "choke" setting. In the ST-12 manual read the theory again and again. I still read theory and usually pick up something new. Remove the cold enrichment cover that is held on with three screws. Next remove the housing and clean out the passage ways with Gumout Carb. cleaner in the spray can. Follow it up with a strong brake clean such as CRC. I actually remove the lead shot in all the passage ways and strip the housing 100% to insure that it is spotless. Assembly leaving the felt filter out. Make sure you install the cover so that the lever on the bottom of the can is between the two pins. Then turn the cover assembly clockwise (rich) so that the power boost pin is depressed about 1/3 shut. Then carefully tighten the 3 screws. Now you should have a strong signal for starting. This method works on the '58 to '61's and also the '57's. Test the operation of the 'choke" with 12Volts to see that it rotates fully. Let it cool, install the filter and give it a try. Also get some hot spark plugs such as AC 46's if you can find them. Make sure the CSV is good. Good Luck, JohnComment
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