Hard Cold Start

Stock 87 351 with points distributer. The engine has been getting harder to start when cold and. was running rough also. Fathersday we reset the dwell to 27 (from 34) and timing to 11 (from 15) degrees at idle. runs like a champ and fires right away warm, but still cranks forever when cold. I see a squirt (arches to the center of the butterfly) in two barrels of the carb with a throttle pump before starting. What do I check next?

Pull the air cleaner, turn the key on and wait a few seconds, at this point you should see the choke flap on top of the carb pull shut, if it doesn't then the choke is not working or needs adjusted. These holly chokes need adjusted to control how far the choke pulls open. I feel confident this is your problem Being that it starts and runs well when at operating temperature.

I have the chokes bypassed (or removed entirely) on all my boats. 2 pumps and they fire right up cold. Below 50 deg is really where the choke helps... Not many people boat in cold weather.

TRBenj wrote: I have the chokes bypassed (or removed entirely) on all my boats. 2 pumps and they fire right up cold. Below 50 deg is really where the choke helps... Not many people boat in cold weather.

What's the bypass rig/procedure out of curiosity? Just crank/adjust the black housing for the choke coil over until it's all the way open and un plug the coil?

If the choke was not opened the engine would not run well when hot. It would load up and run ruff and sputter. You would smell raw fuel. I would suspect that the choke is not closing. I know some people say remove or disconnect but that really isn't necessary if it's not closing. If it's not closing it's not working. No need to disconnect.

his left hand is skinny and weak. his right hand is strangely thick and strong.

Wow, unlike the lakes , the POOL of common sense has dried up. Glad I'm in the rainy area. Lmao.

Wow. I leave for work and look what I miss.

Joe. I was excited to think it might just be the choke, that would likely be an easy fix, but I will not argue with your engine knowledge. I just did the dwell and timing as I mentioned above. I will look at the plugs but they have less than 100 hours on them. . should I suspect anything with the coil?

It sounds like the consensus is that the choke shouldn't matter much in warm weather.

When you say cold start, does it mean, what's the time spam? Like how long from when you ran it? A couple of hours, a couple of days? 10 minutes?

I remember a thread a little while ago, where either the fuel pump or the fuel filter assembly was losing prime somehow, and making the first start of the day difficult. Although, I think you said you see fuel when you pump the throttle...

You would see fuel discharge from the accelerator pump because its diaphragm refills as soon as you pull the throttle back and maybe in your case when the bowl is still full. If the fuel level drops after shut down their will be fuel still in it. You would have to see if it keeps pumping multiple times say the next day,or just get some extra float bowel mounting screw gaskets, remove one of the lower screws and see how much fuel comes out.