dionden Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 If the fuel bowls are dry, then the carb is perculating the fuel when engine is shut off. The carb is not tuned right, the idle speed screw is not set up right, or the secondary plates are drawing in the fuel. Before going any further with anything, install a translucent fuel filter just before the carb, Is it draining or fuel leaking from somewhere? My mechanical fuel filter as I just found in cold weather leaks! The fuel filter was dry, but the fuel bowls had enough fuel to start the engine right away. If it doesn't start right away, there may some thing wrong with the choke. Choke adjustment! Typo "My mechanical fuel filter = My mechanical fuel pump" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 Typo "My mechanical fuel filter = My mechanical fuel pump" Interesting, the idea of a translucent filter before the carb, to monitor if the line is full/empty/leaking. I'll give a try, easy to install. And I'll watch the mechanical fuel pump, we never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Using a fuel stabilizer/Fuel Antifreeze also helps with cold starting. Back when our trucks were new, they would add Fuel Antifreeze etc, to the fuel. This is something they do not do any longer. I notice a big difference when I use it, than when I don't. You might Ralph, but adding alcohol to gasoline back then would keep water from freezing in the fuel line or pickup at the bottom of the tank where it sits. Today most fuel sold in America is already 10% ethanol. If you add a pint (1/8 gallon) to a 19 gallon fill up it's 1/152 or 0.657% Think about that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 If the fuel bowls are dry, then the carb is perculating the fuel when engine is shut off. If it doesn't start right away, there may some thing wrong with the choke. Choke adjustment! This isn't about fuel boil or choke settings. The truck starts just fine an hour (or a day) later. The float bowls evaporate completely when left all week. (ask me how I know!) The idea of an inline booster pump with momentary switch intrigues me. I doubt I'll implement it, but it is appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckuske Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 If the fuel bowls are dry, then the carb is perculating the fuel when engine is shut off. If it doesn't start right away, there may some thing wrong with the choke. Choke adjustment! This isn't about fuel boil or choke settings. The truck starts just fine an hour (or a day) later. The float bowls evaporate completely when left all week. (ask me how I know!) The idea of an inline booster pump with momentary switch intrigues me. I doubt I'll implement it, but it is appealing. Jim, I had the same idea, and I implemented it. I tried to choose an electric pump that allowed pull-through from my mechanical pump, I had a push button switch wired, a filter installed between the tank and the electric pump, etc. It turned out that it seemed to help, but it ended up causing my mechanical pump to fail. There could be lots of reasons for this, so I'm not blaming the electric pump, but is something to be aware of if you start on making that change. Since I got a new mechanical pump installed and my carb rebuilt, my truck starts very quickly even after sitting for a week. Just an FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Kerf Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 My 74 F-350 w/300-6 engine gets used a whole bunch at times, then might sit for months. It would NEVER crank long enough to pump the fuel up to the carburetor. I would have to pull the fuel line off at the pump inlet, then blow back through the tank, when I hear it bubble I would stop blowing, and right away the fuel would be there so I would quickly stuff the line back on the pump, crawl out of the engine bay and crank the engine; it always started quickly after that procedure. For some odd reason I could never convince my wife to crawl into the engine bay to start the truck, so I finally installed an inline electric fuel pump, which solved the problem quite nicely. It only has to crank a few seconds now to get running. I wired the pump to only activate during cranking. I contemplated wiring in a momentary button to pre-charge the carburetor, but I feel there is some benefit in having the engine spin the oil pump a few revolutions before the engine fires up after it has been sitting for an extended period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted March 11, 2023 Author Share Posted March 11, 2023 My 74 F-350 w/300-6 engine gets used a whole bunch at times, then might sit for months. It would NEVER crank long enough to pump the fuel up to the carburetor. I would have to pull the fuel line off at the pump inlet, then blow back through the tank, when I hear it bubble I would stop blowing, and right away the fuel would be there so I would quickly stuff the line back on the pump, crawl out of the engine bay and crank the engine; it always started quickly after that procedure. For some odd reason I could never convince my wife to crawl into the engine bay to start the truck, so I finally installed an inline electric fuel pump, which solved the problem quite nicely. It only has to crank a few seconds now to get running. I wired the pump to only activate during cranking. I contemplated wiring in a momentary button to pre-charge the carburetor, but I feel there is some benefit in having the engine spin the oil pump a few revolutions before the engine fires up after it has been sitting for an extended period of time. Gentlemen, TADAAAAM! Big Brother suffers of dry carb bowl syndrome, it's a fact! He was parked since last January 31th. Six long winter weeks, no block heater plugged, only battery maintenance charger. Usually, the engine would have cranked a lot before start. Mechanical fuel pump has to work a bit before the carb bowl fills up. This morning, I tried the "syringe method" to pour some fuel in the carb vent tube. Success! Big Bro started immediately! a YouTube video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Gentlemen, TADAAAAM! Big Brother suffers of dry carb bowl syndrome, it's a fact! He was parked since last January 31th. Six long winter weeks, no block heater plugged, only battery maintenance charger. Usually, the engine would have cranked a lot before start. Mechanical fuel pump has to work a bit before the carb bowl fills up. This morning, I tried the "syringe method" to pour some fuel in the carb vent tube. Success! Big Bro started immediately! a YouTube video. Well done, Jeff! So is that the long-term answer to his DCBS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted March 11, 2023 Author Share Posted March 11, 2023 Well done, Jeff! So is that the long-term answer to his DCBS? Ok Gary, I abdicate. The Peter Principle won, I just hit my English level of respective incompetence... And Google does nothing to help. Please fix my lack of knowledge, what DCBS stands for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Big Brother suffers of dry carb bowl syndrome, it's a fact! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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