My 68 I6 starts easy when warm, very hard when cold. Is this normal? Anything I can do to improve cold starting?

 

when you say it starts hard do you mean the motor seems like it is hard to turn or that it just doesnt like to start when its cold?

i dont know of many carburated engines that arent somewhat cold natured, the best thing to do would be to give the car a good tune up

 

Engine cranks fine, just doesn't want to fire for a while.

 

Do you pump it before you try to crank?

 

choke is not set properly or not at all and or accelerator pump is not working properly.

1) with engine cold take air cleaner off and examine choke plate ( Im guessing automatic choke) it should be fully open. Move the throttle to wide open and release. the choke plate should close quite a bit. If not thats the problem

2) when accelerator is moved to wide open throttle you should see two jets of fuel squirt into the ventures.. If you have a 4v carb it will be the same ventures that are covered by the choke plate so you might have to hold the choke open by hand to see or do it when the engine is warm so the choke stays open on its own..
If your not seeing a good stream into both barrels thats an issue right there.

if both 1 and 2 check out...press the throttle to the floor 2 or 3 times BEFORE attemting to crank the engine.

-Gun

 

Do you mean real cold...like parked outside overnight in the winter? That would be normal for a older non EFI car.

 

a properly set and good carb will start car no problem (in my case 20 degrees Fahrenheit).
just as Gun said: prush throttle fully twice and start without the throttle pressed. the choke should do the rest

 

An older Battery might turn it over slower when it's cold also...

 

I'm not sure if its my imagination, but after I upgraded to Pertronix my starts (both warm and cold) seemed to be easier. I know the aftermarket ignition boxes send multiple sparks at startup/idle to assist too. Speaking of which, are your points in good condition?

But in short, yes, it generally takes longer to start in colder weather. Weren't you in Hawaii before???

Good luck.

 

a pertronix better be helpful starting. you paid a lot of money for it. rotten points replaced and who knows what your finger and cap and humps for the points as well as ponts looked like before the swap ;-)

in any case there's something you could check if you have a stock setup.
Check out my wiring diagram. There's a lead goign from selonoid to coil feeding 12V during start. it might be possible that you're missing that one and still use your resistor). But then you should have generally a hard time starting. But you never know, cold/hot could be tons of differences.

I'd say if your ignmition is otherwise ok check on the carb (Choke) first


Kalli