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Hello all, it’s been a little while since I posted.  Hope all are doing well!

All has been great with the car, except that in the last 6 months or so it has become very hard to start. It used to take 4-5 cranks to start when cold and 2-3 when warm, now it takes 8-12 cranks!! Nothing has been changed on the engine, and once she’s on, she runs awesome! Lots of torque and power, same as always and idles fine. She’s still running the Edelbrock 650 carb with distributor and points. New wires and plugs approx. 2500 miles ago. I just changed oil and all filters just in case, but no help.

I’ve had her for over 16 years and has been very consistent. Put about 800 miles a year. Not a clue why this is happening.🙁

ANY help, advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 🙏

William

Last edited by duz185
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Hard starting on an otherwise healthy engine can be as simple as cleaning your ground wire contacts.

Pull the ground wire off the front trunk stud and make sure everything is bright and shiny. Make sure the flat woven ground strap from the chassis to the ZF is likewise mounted to bright and shiny metal. If you have a chassis to engine block ground, never a bad thing, check those connections, also.

check your large gauge starter wire connections at the starter motor and on the firewall-mounted starter relay.

if nothing improves after performing those tasks at least you will know your connections are solid and then you can proceed on to other troubleshooting steps.

Larry

...From My Experience, also check:

1. Choke! Check closing and opening. When COLD, the Choke should Never be COMPLETLY Closed, it should be Open ONLY a 1/8" Minimum.

2. Lean, open Idle MIXTURE screw(s) 1/4 turn. BEFORE attempting this, do a Test by Pumping the Accelerator 2-3 Times, then Start the Engine. Fuel Pressure?

3. Weak Spark!...Inspect, Cap and Rotor. Check and re-gap Spark Plugs. AND, 'If' just one Spark Plug WIRE is NOT making a good connection (as in NOT Snapped onto it's Plug, completely) This will cause Hard Starting, and possibly, a back-fire 'Pop'. Take the Time to Inspect ALL 8 Wire Plugs, at the Spark Plugs and at the Dist. Cap!

4. Test for weak Coil.

...since the Engine ran well until recently, indicates a problem increasing over time. I go with Spark Plugs!! I run Autolites #25 gapped a .045".

As Larry advised, a Bad Ground WILL cause a 'Weak Spark'. Last, it's been a known fact that a Starter Motor that Draws 'Excessive Current', WILL ROB Voltage From the Coil...again, Weak Spark, but Only upon Starting! Check this with a Volt Meter AT THE COIL, as You run the Starter!! There should be a 12v 'Bypass' Wire from the Solenoid to the + side of the Coil. This bypasses the Ballast Resister, Only when Starting. Check for it...there should be a Minimum of 10.0 Volts on that Coil.

"...How can You have a Good 'Positive', when You do NOT have a Good 'Negative'!?"

Good Luck with it!

MJ

Last edited by marlinjack

.
Hi William

The bi-metal "element" (looks like a spring) inside the round black choke cover is a fairly common service item. It is supposed to wind & unwind as it warms-up or cools down. With age & heat cycles it tends to wind & unwind less.

Pull the air cleaner lid so you can see the position of the choke butterfly. At room temperature, after you stomp the throttle pedal once, the butterfly should close. If the bi-metal element is "bad" the butterfly won't close enough.

edelbrock

-G

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Last edited by George P

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