cold starting after standing 4 days

[srtames]

my 340, 1.4 with weber has always needed a lot of turning if left standing over 4 days about 6 secs before it fires. New petrol rubber pipes front and back,have made no difference .Is this normal as previous other make cars I owned have had instant starts. I cant see any obvious leaks from the carb but get sticky gunge on the carb to inlet gasket. I am guessing the float chamber empties itself over the 4 days. Interested to hear other owners experiences.

thanks, Steve

[Essex1]

I used to leave our 1.4 on the drive all week before the missus could use it and it always started fine, but i found if you didn't give it 2 or 3 full pumps on the throttle first it would turn over for a while and not start so well. Try stamping on the pedal a couple of times and see if that helps...

[pettaw]

tbh sounds about right. A few seconds turning before she fires is about normal if left for anything over a few days. Shouldn't be more than ten seconds though, otherwise something's drawing air rather than fuel.

[srtames]

thanks for the replies. Looks like I have the normal start charactersticas of a weber32dir. Pumping the throttle does give instant starts though I thought it would cause bore wear pumping liquid fuel.

regards, steve

[pettaw]

yeah, I wouldn't do it tbh, better to crank it over for a few seconds, cos it gives the oil a chance to circulate a bit before it fires.

[MJ]

Pumping some fuel in before turning the key's not good for it?

Darn it, our 1.7 starts a lot better after a couple quick pumps

[foggyjames]

I've yet to find a good answer to the question of whether or not a carb should suffer fuel evaporation. All of my carb cars have suffered from the cranking delay - simply where the mechanical fuel pump only starts to replace evaporated or leaked fuel once the engine is cranking. However it comes and goes, and the 360 (started once a week at present) is being very quick to start (2-3s?), even after 2-3 weeks, since I rebuilt the carbs.

cheers

James

[classicswede]

thanks for the replies. Looks like I have the normal start charactersticas of a weber32dir. Pumping the throttle does give instant starts though I thought it would cause bore wear pumping liquid fuel.

regards, steve

TBH most DD carbs start a lot better after about two pumps of the pedal before cranking. It's just a normal chararistic.

[antiekeradio]

there is a difference between 1 or 2 taps on the pedal, and continuous 10-20 times pumping.

the first is OK, there wil be NO liquid fuel in the cilinders (there is a small bowl in the inlet manifold for this purpose)

the latter will overflow the bowl and lead to liquid fuel in the cilinders. bad.

[Essex1]

Agreed - 1 or 2 pumps, 3 at most, if you do it too much you'll know all about it cos you'll flood it and it won't start. Probably cause more bore wear spinning it over on the starter without a proper oil flow, as well as stressing the battery and starter (and hence charging circuit) unnecessarily. You need the engine running to give you proper oil flow (i.e. at least 700rpm). All you are trying to do is replace the missing fuel in the float chamber and prime the carb, normal procedure for any carb left standing, esp. motorcycles and lawnmowers!!

[Essex1]

P.S Not sure it answers your question but this is interesting...

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/framed.ht ... ouble.html

[jimf671]

On throttle pumping, not a Volvo experience, but I once had an Imp (Solex fixed jet) for four years from new and even though I had it through really bad winters with temp down to -20C I never used the choke once. It got throttle pumps and nothing else (max 8, for -20C). At 80000mls, this thing was stripped and found to be barely more than run-in. In moderation, throttle pumping, even as the norm, definitely does not do any harm.

[pettaw]

fair enough, the only worry would be for me that you got it going with the fuel in the accel pump diaphragm, but there's no fuel in the fuel lines and carb before the pump has pumped through so the engine cuts out again.