So I guess this week has proved to challenge my excitement with finally getting an oldie. For the past 3 days, the first time of the day that I try to start my comet I go through a fight. First the car will not turn on, after 3 tries it turns off shakes and slowly turns off, after 3 tries of that and reving up the engine some it finally stays on but is realllly shakey for the first couple of minutes. Not so fun. I contact the guy I bought it from figuring he may know a little more about it, and he says that older cars can be hard to start first time of day, to me thats bs, then he asks if I am pumping the gas 4 to 5 times before I start it, which I am, then he says if it does not start spray starter fluid in the air filter. He also said sometimes it may be the cold mixed with the fuel system. Now to me this sounds like very temporary solutions that will eventually not work. Could it be possible that I need a new starter. I so wish I had some sort of experience with cars, but I have to take it slow and these problems are way too big for me to work on.
it sounds like a choke thing to me...check the choke while the engine is cold....is it a man. or elect. choke? take the breather top off...mash the gas feed once and see if the choke closes. if not it needs to be ...adjusted, repaired or replaced... ...Frank...:Handshake
...And yes, "old" (read: carbed) cars usually are harder to start on a cold morning or after sitting for a while than EFI cars. But if you can't start it after 4-5 pumps of the gas pedal and a couple of bumps with the starter, something could use attention. I agree with Frank, check the choke first. Also, shine a light down the carb if you need to, and with the choke plate open push the throttle a few times and watch. You should see a stream of fuel squirt into the carb. If you don't see a stream, or it's more like a drip, then your accelerator pump is dirty or worn out. I think if you want some car repair experience and better understanding of how they work, a very good project for a novice is to rebuild a carb. It's challenging enough that you will learn a lot, but it's easy enough that you're very unlikely to mess it up. (It's also nice because you can do it indoors as long as you have a patient spouse) Just clean and lube everything, follow the directions in the rebuild kit, and it should run much, much better.
Ok that does not sound too bad. I am going to be working on all of these little things on sunday, and let you know what happens and of course throw some questions your way.
