Re: Car won't start without priming carb

Posted by HH56 On 2016/10/10 15:18:21

Since priming seems to solve the problem will go under the assumption lack of fuel is the culprit and not flooding or electrical issues.

A question would be what you use to prime -- gasoline or starting fluid. If gasoline then I would look at loss of fuel or problems in the carb as a potential problem.

Todays gas seems to be quite volatile and is frequently reported as "boiling" away quickly after sitting in a hot carb over a hot manifold or leaking into the intake manifold. That could be part of the problem. You might verify if the bowl is dry after it sits awhile before the restart is tried. If you remove the air cleaner and move the linkage or have someone press the accelerator while looking down the carb throat you should see fuel forcefully squirting into the throat. If you do then the carb at least has some fuel but if nothing comes out then bowl could be empty or the accelerator pump is not working.

It it is empty and there are no signs of any leakage, many have added an auxiliary electric pump near the tank which can be switched on for a few seconds before a start to prime the fuel system and ensure the carb is filled.

If you are using starting fluid, ether is much more easily fired than gasoline so a hot engine could be compounding electrical issues. A hot engine causes some drag and needs more current to turn the starter. Any poor electrical connection or too small a cable or insufficient battery capacity can make what was a marginal system on a cold engine pull so much current on a hot engine the spark is unable to fire the plugs adequately. Gasoline may not fire but ether usually will on a car with a marginal spark.