karista

My 63 SB has a Carter WCFB 4 barrel carb. After the car sits idle for week w/o starting it, she requires many cranks before it starts. Once warmed up and running it will start right away and will do so for about 2 days, after that time and the longer she is not started I need to spray a little starting fluid into the carb to get her started. Any ideas what I can do to get this starting issue corrected?

tuxnharley

Sounds like the gasoline is either evaporating or leaking out of the fuel bowl in your carburetor. Do you see any signs of leakage/staining on your intake manifold? If so, your carb probably needs to be rebuilt with new gaskets. If not, it’s likely just evaporating - which is pretty common on these old cars, especially now with the damn ethanol in the fuel. Cranking to fill the fuel bowl back up works but is hard on your starter and battery.

Try removing the air cleaner lid, open the throttle plates, and give it maybe three shots of starting fluid down past the throttle plates into the intake manifold. Let it sit for maybe 30 seconds and then fire it up after replacing the air cleaner lid in case of backfire. Sometimes it takes a try or two before the fuel bowl fills back up.

Bluestripe67

The quality of gas overall, along with ethanol is not the best, allowing it to evaporate to some extent, sometimes actually emptying the fuel bowls. This is probably your issue. It not uncommon. Sometimes (rarely) if my car sits for two weeks, I need to give it a shot of gas. That eliminates hard cranking and overheating/stressing your starter system. Fires right up! Dennis

karista

Thanks for the information. Yes, I have already done what you suggested and have been using starter fluid after she sits for a week or longer and with using the starter fluid she starts right up! Maybe the gas is just evaporating as I see no leaks, maybe there is no fix for these old cars. I thought maybe trying one of the electronic chokes as a possible fix.

Nowhere Man

Stop using starter fluid. Pump the gas a few times. Then crank Do that a few times. Then when it sounds like it’s going to start hold the gas pedal down. There is a trick to owning a car with a carb. Don’t be spoiled by modern cars

MikeM

And save your starter fluid for your diesel engines. It can be lethal to your piston rings.

tuxnharley

If the fuel bowl is empty pumping the gas isn't gonna do a darn thing except maybe stress the accelerator pump diaphragm.

Nowhere Man

that should set the choke. The point is your going to need to crank the engine until fuel is pumped into the carb

tuxnharley

Both my diesels start right cup after sitting for a month or more, no starting fluid (spray/vapor actually) needed. It’s my carbureted cars that need some help when they sit

I could see how an excess of fluid might hurt the rings if it creates too much explosive force/detonation, but I’ve never had a problem when used judiciously.

DansYellow66

I think we need a big sticky in capital, bold letters at the top of the Forum page on this subject since we seem to get this exact same topic at least once a week. Not making light of the posters question but there should be some better way to get this information for the dry fuel bowl/modern gas evaporation syndrome out there to the old Corvette community. .

tuxnharley

I think that’s obvious to everyone. The point is to not have to crank it for long periods so as to not over stress the starter and battery.

Vette5311

.........for those with a Holley, keep a squirt bottle of gas and fill the float bowls through the vent tubes. Will start right and run giving the pump time to get going.

Nowhere Man

Dan beside the old folks that continuously owned carbed cars all their life people have forgotten how it was to own one. Modern FI cars for the last 40 years have spoiled everyone and for good too while these cars are fun on their own merit there is a lot of draw backs to them. It’s been a while since I looked but I think the owners manual covers how to start A cold engine and one that has sat for a while. If not a sticky covering this would help the new crowd

Nowhere Man

yes I do this too but you better only put in a few oz of gas.

CorvetteMikeB

Hard starting after sitting idle.....Easy Fix......Holley Sniper EFI Fuel Injection System.

karkrafter

Couple thing you can do, After you park the car for the evening....go out the next day , remove air cleaner, and look into the venturi of the carb, It should be dry dry dry. If not you have an issue, after you do that, with the choke open,, observe as you very slowly open the throttle, You SHOULD get a squirt from the accelerator pump, If not, you have a problem. Lastly after that last test, [only open throttle once and hold it open,] With a light look thru the open carb plate and inspect the inside of the intake manifold, It should only be wet in regards to how much of a shot you get from the acc pump. If it's soaking wet, you have a problem.

I have actually hooked the throttle spring up backwards as to hold throttle open [as opposed to closed] and leave it over night to look at the dryness of the intake. It should be very dry.

Any wetness shows the carb is leaking overnight. But even without doing any tests...you carb is leaking down overnight.

MikeM

The point is...................

The fuel bowls are empty from evaporation.

Nothing is going to happen until the engine gets fuel. Just because you haven't broken any rings in a gasoline engine using starting fluid is no sign you won't. Many have. If you want to use a safe starting fluid, use non-chorlinated brake cleaner.

My three diesels start fine without the stuff as well. Run them out of fuel and in some cases, you'll be scratching for some starting fluid.

I always crank the engine maybe ten revs and then pump the gas. If it doesn't hit, about ten more revs, pump the gas and it usually takes off. But if it doesn't, I repeat. I don't have any problem with "stressing" starter motors or wearing them out. No battery problems. I don't have any problem with breaking hood release cables either from yanking on the hood release and "stressing the cable" every time I want to start the engine after extended out of service so I can prime the carb or squirt starting juice in the engine..

tuxnharley

PS - my understanding is that the days of ether (read as explosive) starting fluid are long gone.

Captain Bud

I have the WCFB on my '60. Mine has the same problem. I just our in a little gas in the carb and it fires right up and the mechanical pump fills the carb in a few seconds. Not a problem at all.

mrg

Likely all carb engines, after sitting a spell, do this to some extent. The AFB on my engine evaporates out after a few days of sit time. Back in the day this wasn’t a problem.......considering gas formulation and carb cars being driven daily or nearly so.

In place of using starting fluid, a tapered tip ketchup squirt bottle filled with gas works good to manually fill the carb bowls through the vent openings. Having to remove the air cleaner each time in order to do this makes it somewhat of a hassle.

Earlier this year, as part of other work being done under the car the starter was removed for an inspection/commutator cleaning, along with checking starter brush wear. The brushes had been replaced in the past and looked good, showing minimal wear.

Sans using the gas squirt bottle, no worries about ‘stressing’ this 50+ year old starter. I think it safe to say the starter will outlast me!

John