The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Cold- No start

Hi Everyone,
I have a 1965 Chevy c10 with a GM Goodwrench 350 with a Rochester 4 barrell carb. During the day in normal temperatures of 70 degrees or more the truck starts fine and runs great. Now that it is getting colder out it will not start at all. I have tried numerous things, I have tried lots of starting fluid as well. It just wont start. I have noticed when I try to start it it end up spitting smoke up through the carb. I wonder if anyone knows of anything on the cheaper side that I could do so it would start up easier. Thanks.

If the carb has some miles on it, the welch plugs in the bottom of it are leaking and dumping the fuel from the bowl into the intake. In colder weather, it won't evaporate and floods the engine when cranking. Pull the dipstick and smell it, looking for a heavy fuel odor. If it's gassed up, rebuild the carb and epoxy the plugs over,
Scott

Hey, Thank you for the response. I will definitely check that tomorrow morning!

I wonder if something is wrong with the ign. system. It seems like with starter fluid it would pop right off. What kind of ign. & what model carb are you running?

Nathan,

Could the plug wires be old and leaking. Usually with cold weather comes moisture which can short circuit oil leaky coil and plug wires.

As was mentioned above, if it won't even ignite starting fluid, it sounds like a ignition problem.

Stuart

Cold, no start? What about the choke? Pull the air cleaner off some cold a.m., pump the gas once to reset the auto choke, look into the top of the carb, is the choke plate closed? If not, I'd bet that's your problem. It could be sticking open, or just may need to be adjusted.

Thanks for the replies! I have tried on a cold morning to pump the gas once, a neighbor of mine has the same type of truck and suggested that, it still did not work. It is a Rochester 4 Barrel Carb with automatic choke. I recently bought the truck but for what i can tell it looks like it has brand new wires, i replaced the spark plugs a month ago. It does start up nice and easy when it is 70 or above degree's out. When it is a decent temperature out it has no problems starting so I am not sure that it would be a ignition problem. Unfortunately I am not sure what type of ignition it has currently. If anyone knows how to check that I will definitely take a look.

A neighbor said something about a month ago that my rochester carb was looking really old and I should rebuild it, it may just be that. I will definitely go try everything I was suggested. I will let you all know when I find out more info.

Thank you again!

It,s possible the ignition resister bypass is not working. There should be a wire running from the R term on the starter selenoid to the pos. on the coil. You can check it with a voltmeter. With the ign on & the points closed you will have about 6-9 volts at the pos term of the coil. Have someone turn the key to start & the voltage should go up a little. You probably have the original ign. system with the window in the cap & points. Have you check the condition of the points?

No, I have not checked that yet. Thank you for the suggestion. I am sure you are right that it is original, it seems like besides the actual engine swap itself, that everything else is original.

Start simple. With changing temperatures, condensation could build up under the distributer cap. Try using compressed air and blowing the cap and distributer dry on the inside. Then spray the cap inside, as well as the inside of the distributer with WD-40, and blow it dry again. This will help remove any moisture. Assemble and try starting it again.

or a hair dryer works very well.

Is the automatic choke functioning?

Jon.

So I took a look at the truck today and it did the same thing as usual with not starting right up. I did take a look at the carb more and the automatic choke. It does seem as if the automatic choke is not working correctly, once it was a little warmer out I got the truck to start and I watched the auto choke, it looks as if it is not moving once it starts, it just stays closed. I was able to push it open and it seemed to run a little better.

I also noticed that the main wire going to the ignition near the battery was partially burned and coroded. It was holding on barely, I think that may have partially contributed to some of the issues. I redid the wire and it seemed to help a little.

Looks as if I will need to do a carb rebuild and check some more wires/replace. I really appreciate everyone's advice, it has helped a lot. It has given me things to look for. I think it is definitely a contribution of a few different things.

If it were me, I would want to get a handle on the problem before tearing down the carburetor. If you rebuild it and end up with more problems you won't be able to tell what caused the original problem. The choke should be closed when you go to start it and if it is an automatic choke, it should imediately be pulled open a few degrees as soon as it starts. The choke is very critical to the starting process. If is backfires because of being too lean, it can send "white smoke" out of the top of the carb.

Agree with Truckernix.

Look, you have already nearly eliminated two problems by getting it running. If it's running when it is warm and not when cold (I will assume that you dried the distributor) already eliminating the lack of spark telling us that the ignition system is not the problem. Also, by the vehicle running a "little better" when you pushed the choke open, tells us that most likely the carb jets and fuel circuitry are probably working OK and that the auto choke is not opening when it needs to. Assuming that you know how to set the auto choke for startup, you know that if your choke has been closed for too long, your plugs are probably fouled and need to be cleaned or replaced. How long do you warm the engine up before you drive it? If you let it sit at a fast idle to warm it up too long before you drive it, you could be fouling the plugs.

Don't go jumping in full bore and guessing that the carb needs an overhaul without knowing how things work. At this point, I'd tend to believe that the carb in itself is not a problem. Start simple.
1. Check the plugs, clean or replace them.
2. Make sure the distributor is dry.
3. Make sure that the auto choke is functioning properly. If it isn't, that doesn't mean that the carb needs to be overhauled. It means that the automatic choke needs attention.

Start with the simple things, and 8 out of 10 times you will find the problem isn't as deep as you think. Change those wires you seem to think are the problem to eliminate any doubt about them being the problem.

Anyone can take stuff apart and put it together. You need to "know how components work, and how they work together" to really be successful at diagnosis.

Thank you guys a lot. When I do get it to start, before driving it, I would say I give it about 5-7 minutes to warm up. I have a aftermarked temperature gage which works well and I watch it to see when it gets to a good temperature (usually between 175-190)I will check the plugs today, it has been about a month since replaced but I never know until I check.

With the automatic choke is there a part I could replace (once we know for sure that is it), like some type of sensor? It is cold out right now, I will go out and see how it starts today, to really see if replacing the wire helped at all.

Well guys, it seems to be one problem after another with my truck. I went this morning and tried to get it to start. It tried to start twice, then it would no click over at all. My battery is new and was even charged up yesterday. It seems that the starter has gone out. That would explain a lot about the starting issues as well. I got this truck not knowing much about it and all the parts on it besides the 350 seem very old. I am guessing at this point that the starter was weak and ready to go out and then with how many times I have tried to start it in the cold it must have finished it off. I even tried the knocking on it with a hammer and nothing happened at all.