Car doesn't like to start!
 

Weird problem. Don't know where to start guys and gals. lol Anyway though the tech specs are as follows... 69 Mustang Grande, 351w, 4bbl holley double pump 670 street avenger, new plugs, wires, cap n rotor, ect. Well heres the problem. The car starts great when its cold. Just 2 pumps of the peddle and turn the key and it growls to life. The promblem is the longer I drive the car the more it doesn't want to start after I stop. Really bad in case I need to go to a store or resturant, and kinda embarassing on dates. ; ) lol. If I try to start the car immediately after I turn it off it starts up a little hard but it gets goin. But if it sits for any more than 15 or 20 min after I drive it for a while (20 or more minutes)then the car wont start for about 1-2 hours. : ( Help me out guys, this is the hardest thing I've ever tried tofigure out in a while. Thanks again everyone.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

How does it act when it is hard? Does it crank slow or does it just not fire?

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

As Stepman says above, you need to go beyondsaying it won't start. There can be a multitude of causes, from fuel flooding, to ignition, to neutral safetyswitch, over heating starter. A little more info might help regarding the symptom; hard to crank, turns but won't fire, doesn't turn at all.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

I think your talking about cranking normally but not firing off. Usually that's fuel related and could be floats too high in the carb or it could be a heat related electrical issue (like the distpickup failing due to the coil going open) . If it doesn't crank normally, that's electrical and it can be from too small of battery to starter heating or bad/loose cables. This should give you a couple of ares to go to.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

jlg2002 is right. The car cranks normally, nice and quick (new starter). The only problem is I dont even here an attempt for ignition. As I have encountered this issue many many times I can tell you that trying to start it whether i dont touch the peddle or give it a few pumps or give it a lot of gas makes no difference at all. I dont think it has anything to do with fuel delivery as like ive said it makes no difference how much or lack of pumps or none at all of the peddle i give it. I know the float boals are susposed to be right at the level to where if I unscrew the caps it should be level and not flow out. am i right? The battery seems fine to me, as I can crank the starter for a half an hour if needed and the battery is still strong. The starter to my knowledge is a trooper for it doesn't overheat at all unless I try to crank it for a long long long time. lol never heard of or understand what you say about the dist pickup failing due to the coil going open. but yeah keep giving me more ideas. I have my stang parked at my other house so when i go over to try and solve the problem id like to have a few things and options to trouble shoot. thanks alot guys, youve already been a great help. keep up the ideas going. thanks again.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

Hi, my guess is fuel related.
Since it will restart immediately after turning off, it means that the heat of the engine didn't have enough time to evaporate fuel. If it starts fine after one or two hours, the heat of the engine is gone.
What might happen is that the fuel evaporates in the carb and manifold, en when you restart the mixture is too rich.
Other possibility, check your fuel lines to see if they run close to the engine, and have a loop or turn or bend that goes down, where air, or evaporated fuel can accumulate, and so blocking of the passage.
Try installing a heatshield between the carb and the intake manifold, and or rerouting the fuel lines away from heatsources.
Also, when you start a warm engine, it's usually better to press the gaspedal once, and not relaese it, or only halfway, because this way the mixture will be leaner than when you don't press the pedal. Strange but true, someone tried to explain it to me once, but it didn't stick right away.

Hope this might help,

and don't forget : "Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want."

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

I had a similar situation with my Firebird. Started fine when cold, every time, but once hot, I'd have to hold the key 8-10 seconds and it embarrassed the hell out of me.

I replaced points and plugs, coil, then went to HEI, replaced the carb (800 cfm for 600 cfm), checked the bowl for fuel 200 times, had an electrical guy go through it (all was fine), replaced 9 volt wires for 12 volt, carb spacer, etc. I even went from headers to long branch Ram III manifolds (not for this issue but it should have helped). I added a second battery to test it since I was told it needed more power due to the cam. I put a heat shield around the starter.

Got the car back a few weeks ago (engine painted, work, etc) and still had the issue.

I stupidly went to a cheap gas station (for the first time) and she dieseled like crazy and had a bad hesitation. So, I put in Super. And she didn't have such a starting issue. So I kept filling it with Super ($4.14 a gallon, mind you, at about 8 mpg) and she has not had the issue one single time.

It's due to the volatility of the unleaded fuel in old engines. I can post an article for you about this which has a "test" to see if it's the problem.

Or, maybe it was just my car and not yours :)

But I am SO glad this no longer happens, as it embarrassed me to death. I'd get "that" look. Now, when she fires up and you hear the Flowmasters, I get "the" look!

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

Fuel filter can do this also. Had that get me on a blazer I had same thing when it sat fired right up as soon as the fuel started moving it picked the trash back up and would block the filter and starve out. Check the simple things 1st.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

Well I have quite a few options to use when I trouble shoot. One thing for sure the evapration is a easy possibility. I live in Las Vegas. Its extremely dry and my fuel lines are right obove my intake, if not directly on it. The premium fuel option sounds like a quick fix, hope its that. lol The fuel filter is a possibility, in fact a big one at that. I know its probably about 1 year old and the car sat for 5 months at one point. Started up occasionally so nothing went south on me. Although diffinitely a big possibility on that. I know my car even only after sitting for 1 minute can be a bitch to start. Can sometimes take 10-30 seconds or longer. Sometimes it fires up right away too. So theres a lot of veriables that can come into play here. Keep givin some ideas, ill try to take a look at my stang sunday so definetely want all the possible options i can to help me out. thanks again guys.

RE: Car doesn't like to start!
 

First verify if it is a fuel or spark issue. When it acts up, pull the coil wire from the dist and see if you get spark. What are you using for ignition? I'm thinking you have a connection that once it heats up doesn't supply enough power to provide spark while cranking. Maybe loose connection at coil or even solenoid for bypass wire. Could be worn points too if you are still running with those.