Hard cold start question.

[tyr_shadowblade]

Allow me to express my profound ignorance of all things mechanical once again.

Recently acquired a motorcycle that used to be a 1982 Toronado. Well over 100K on the 307, and the Rochester Quadrajet has been tampered with so it only runs on 2 barrels. Choke has been disabled as well. It runs fairly well, though.

Problem arises when attempting a cold start after the bike has been sitting overnight. Sometimes pumping the gas helps, sometimes not. But a shot or two of starting fluid will start it right up . . . and after running a little rough for a minute or two it'll run perfectly for the rest of the day.

Do you think a tune-up with new plugs & wires would make a difference? Lack the tools & aptitude to pull the plugs and test them myself, and it's about $200 for a tuneup at the mechanic. Suggestions?

 

[fishbulb]

Recently acquired a motorcycle that used to be a 1982 Toronado.

Neat.

A hard cold start like you describe is probably due to your lack of choke, particularly as it starts right up on ether.

Changing the plugs might help, but I doubt it's the root cause. FWIW, as long as you have access to the plugs changing them is about the easiest car-type job there is. You just need a properly sized socket and a ratchet, you should be able to get both for under ten bucks at a parts store.

Here's a link to how to inspect spark plugs, it's easy as pie: http://www.aa1car.com/library/reading_spark_plugs.jpg

If you don't know when they were last replaced, just put new ones in regardless of what they look like. They're cheap, you don't need fancy ones.

Can you block off a portion of the intake with a piece of sheet metal or something like that? If so, see if this quasi-choke helps with your cold start.

 

[beau5278]

It's probably due to not having the choke,pumping it should work but you have to be careful because your loading the engine with raw fuel.If you try it a couple different ways,pump it twice,then crank it for 10 seconds then pump it again or try pumping it 3 times,you should be able to come up with a sequence that works and use that every day.I have a 1977 Powerwagon with no choke,I can pump that continuously until it fires but I've had other vehicles that you only had to pump a couple of times,it depends on how well the accelerator pump is working.

 

[BlackHills]

+2 on the lack of choke being the problem.

+1 on changing plugs being about the easiest thing you can do.

I have no idea what plug wires cost but you should be able to buy 8 sparkplugs for that motor for $20-25.

 

[SIFU1A]

#3, sounds to me like the choke isnt working right, and of course a tune up always helps.

i would get the carb functioning right too, it isnt getting much gas on just the primaries of a Q-jet and if some nit wit was jakking with it that could be the problem right there, heck he might have disconnected the choke or like i say jakked with it to where its not engaging enough or not at all.

in austin TX, where i live, most of the time no choke is neccesary, on my old '72 Z/28 i disconnected it (so the carb would flow better, supposedly) and never missed it, i just pumped it a couple of times on cold mornings, never a problem, did the same on my '70 nova SS, both had holleys FWIW, but in colorado it gets a little cooler i suppose lol.

one question, your bike has a 307 V8? i bet thats fun to ride, i have seen a boss hoss w/a 350 before and it was something else, they also make one w/a 454.

worst case scenario carry a can of starting fluid with ya lol.

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

i would get the carb functioning right too, it isnt getting much gas on just the primaries of a Q-jet and if some nit wit was jakking with it that could be the problem right there, heck he might have disconnected the choke or like i say jakked with it to where its not engaging enough or not at all.

Choke is, indeed, disconnected. The fellow who built this builds hot rods based on antique cars with modern engines, and he doesn't like chokes for some reason. He told me that when he needs choke he'd just lean back and hold the butterfly closed while cranking it and giving it some gas, but he's over 6' and has a longer reach than me. Starts fine with ether, though.

Now, you say that just the primaries won't feed enough gas? As far as jakking with it he just removed the linkage for the second set of barrels to engage. Seems to run okay -- a little rough, but it's never stalled or smoked or backfired. However, with a passenger on the back I can barely get it to reach 100, which is kinda pathetic for a V8.

So, aside from making it go faster, you think that running all 4 barrels will make the engine run smoother as well?

Was unaware that changing plugs was so easy. Was under the impression that you needed a special wrench for plugs, and another tool to measure the gap, and you had to test each plug for spark individually and make certain the firing sequence was absolutely correct, and then there's the distributor and rotor to replace, and I have no clue WTF I'm doing. Also heard that there was a problem with the 307s that necessitated epoxying the plugs in place. Figured if the plugs weren't installed correctly or if the wiring sequence got messed up at the very least I'd have a couple of dead cylinders or an engine that wouldn't start at all.

Thanks to all who responded. Additional advice would be appreciated as well.

 

[BlackHills]

Was unaware that changing plugs was so easy. Was under the impression that you needed a special wrench for plugs, and another tool to measure the gap, and you had to test each plug for spark individually and make certain the firing sequence was absolutely correct, and then there's the distributor and rotor to replace, and I have no clue WTF I'm doing. Also heard that there was a problem with the 307s that necessitated epoxying the plugs in place. Figured if the plugs weren't installed correctly or if the wiring sequence got messed up at the very least I'd have a couple of dead cylinders or an engine that wouldn't start at all.

Thanks to all who responded. Additional advice would be appreciated as well.

All you need to change the plugs is spark plug socket, a ratchet, a feeler gauge and probably an extension. The tools you don't already have won't cost much money. You can mess up the firing order if you take all the wires off at once. As long as you take one wire off of one plug, change that one then move to the next there's no problem. Changing the distributor and rotor are pretty easy as well. The rotor is a simple remove/replace, the cap is a little harder. You have to transfer wires from the old cap to the new. The cap will only go on the distributer one way so make sure they're oriented to each other first, sit the new one next to the old and move one wire at a time.

As for epoxying plugs in, I've never heard of that and that would be a very bad idea. They'd be nearly impossible to change once you did that. Maybe what you heard was to put some anti-seize on the plug threads, that's always a good idea.

If it was mine, the first thing I'd do is connect or put a choke on the carb. That should cure about 90% of your problem. I would also spend the money on a Chilton's or Haynes manual for an '82 Toronado. Most of the manual would be worthless but the sections on the engine would apply.