The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop hard starting hot(warm) 235

please help. 49,235 still 6volt 3800 dumper. starts great cold. after warm up really hard to start. starter drags some, but even with "boost" and faster starter rpm still won't fire. has spark. but won't always fire on ether.
noticed that fuel filter empties after truck sits for awhile, may not be related but should fuel run back into tank from line? has gm model "b" rochester carb. this is a real pain in the but when you just finished loading the bed full of dirt\rocks and need to go dump it. not to mention "killing it" on an incline with a load you can't dump. help thanks

It almost sounds like you've got a weak fuel pump.

The only other thing I can think of would be to check the thickness of your battery cables and make adjustments as necessary. (AT LEAST two gauge, ought or double ought would be better).

However, I don't think that you've got a electrical (cranking) issue because it seems to have a pretty good starting RPM and doesn't act like it's getting fuel.

BRENDAN, thanks. cables are new. when i restart the fuel filter fills instantly, so it appears to get fuel right away. do you think float adjustment is wrong and carb is flooding?

zebcotia,

It sounds like this is a "working bolt" so it might be more productive to just do a few things first before spending hours on troubleshooting.

If it hasn't been done in quite awhile, a full tune-up, with a valve adjust and timing check would be a start.

The sluggish starter motor on a warm engine is usually a classic for a starter motor rebuild. A current draw test would indicate whether it was the starter or the battery/connections.

The fact that you can boost it and get it spinning like heck and it still won't fire tells you there is more involved than just the starter.

I am not sure on this, but the fuel could be leaking into the engine through the carburetor when warm, instead of back to the tank. This could cause a flooded condition. I have found the fuel level in the little sight glass to be misleading sometimes.

You can pull plugs and read them when this happens...you can do more sleuthing, but you could also just do the tune-up and valve adjust THEN see what happens. Your field of problems would be greatly narrowed by doing this.

Stuart

Hello:

Goto http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=011641
I had the same thing happen to me afew days ago. With the help of others members I was able to have her running again. In my case, I had a bad coil. Just a simple replacement did the job.
If not like some one said: It is eather spark, fuel or timing.....
Have fun!

Okay, fuel is good.

Stuart raises a pretty good point. Have you done a tune up recently? For $15 worth of parts, you may just fix the problem.

It wouldn't hurt to rebuild the carb, either. Rattle Carbking\'s Cage . His company sells rebuild kits for just about all of the common carburetors from the teens on.

Thanks folks. lot's of good info. FYI tune up done already, including points,rotor,cap,etc. plugs were clean and the right color so it didn't look like fuel leaking into engine. the fuel filter is of the clear plastic inline variety and is completely empty when the truck is off. this doesn't seem ok. fuel pump is updated vacuum|mechanical combo. fuel returns instantly with first crank wether it is hot or cold so pump is working fine. next on list was carb rebuild and then starter rebuild. just hoping to avoid the "down time".

Consider carbking's cage rattled (thanks Brendan); but before ordering a kit and rebuilding the carb, try the following link to our troubleshooting page:

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm#Hardstarthot

At worst, it will cost you a few minutes to read; and it MAY solve your problem!

Jon.

Jon.
thanks. just got back from your link. i will certainly give it a try. there is a lot of great info there.
i will continue to post as i progress and hopefully fix this.

If the opposite of pro is con. what is the opposite of progress? anybody? anybody?

One other thing to check would be your fuel tank vent.You mentioned that it drains right away.

Glenn,