OK... got near everything on my '55 plymouth sorted... It's been my daily driver for a little bit, runs strong, been reliable... But it takes forever to start. Cold, hot, whatever... not really "forever"... but has to turnover for like 10 seconds before it starts. really annoying. it's a '70 383, good compression, no leak down (low miles on motor), 9.5:1 CR. carter AVS, stock manifold, mallory dual point, new wires/plugs and everything else. The idle mixture is set so it gets the highest vacuum at idle (like 21"). no vacuum leaks... the choke is operating properly. for the life of me, i cant figure it out. It can sit for 10 seconds, or all day... takes a good 10 seconds of turning over before it fires. Any ideas??? The starter seems really slow to me, but have been told that's normal of mopar's gear reduction starters. The starter has also been tested, the batt is new, all new wiring... thanks!
1. clean the battery terminals. i don't care if you cleaned em last week, or if they look clean, they are dirty 2. buy the new jap starter. go to napa and tell them you want a starter for a '94 318 dakota. it'll bolt right on. it's lighter, better built, uses less power, and will spin the motor faster. 3. you live in california. pull the intake and plug the exhuast heat crossover in the intake. when the car sits for a few minutes, the heat from the crossover rises, and boils all the gas out of your carb. 4. give the throttle a few part throttle pumps and wait a few seconds before you hit the key. 5. richen up the jetting on your AVS. depending on which AVS you have, AFB jets will fit, otherwise you gotta solder them up and drill them to the right size. the earlier AVSs had the jetting right on for power and economy, but as it got later, they got a bit lean. step the jets up one or two sizes, or the metering rods down a step. i bet it starts better, runs better and has more power. four-thirteen
I've been daily driving big block Mopars for 30 years. In the last 10 years or so mine have been doing just like yours, it's because of the*****ty gas we have now. The problem is the heat in the intake manifold boils the gas out of the carb after you kill the motor. I have helped the problem a bunch though by cutting a 3"x3" piece of thin metal (I use an old valley pan intake gasket), loosen all the intake manifold bolts, slip the piece of metal in between the intake and head on the drivers side head right in the middle where the paint burns off the top of the intake from the exhaust heat.(Use the drivers side because the passenger side has the choke stove, and it needs engine heat to work), now retorque the intake, start it up and see if idles good, (if it won't idle, you have a vacume leak, and need to retighten the bolts). This all can be done in less than 30 min. and really helps. Also if you don't have electronic ign, get it!
Just a thought-if your running a point type distributor with a ballast resistor the ballast should be bypassed during starting only and a full 12V fed to the coil. Don't know how the wiring is set-up on your Mopar,but this always helped on my Chevies.
one tip when using the Dakota starter. Take off the battery hookup adapter. This little piece hits the side of the block and will not let you start one of the bolts. I put one on my 69 383 and it turns it over no problem. I've had it on for 3-4 years and the headers haven't burned it out. I hope this helps. later plmczy
[ QUOTE ] I've been daily driving big block Mopars for 30 years. In the last 10 years or so mine have been doing just like yours, it's because of the*****ty gas we have now. The problem is the heat in the intake manifold boils the gas out of the carb after you kill the motor. I have helped the problem a bunch though by cutting a 3"x3" piece of thin metal (I use an old valley pan intake gasket), loosen all the intake manifold bolts, slip the piece of metal in between the intake and head on the drivers side head right in the middle where the paint burns off the top of the intake from the exhaust heat.(Use the drivers side because the passenger side has the choke stove, and it needs engine heat to work), now retorque the intake, start it up and see if idles good, (if it won't idle, you have a vacume leak, and need to retighten the bolts). This all can be done in less than 30 min. and really helps. Also if you don't have electronic ign, get it! [/ QUOTE ] Maud hit it on the head! One of the main reasons the manufacturer's went to fuel injection,was because the petrol companies LOWERED the Reed Vapor Pressure on all the gasolines. They are also using more propanes and butanes in the fuel mix.They are stretching as many gallons of gas,out of a barrel of oil,as they can. Makes the gasoline, boil and evaporate that much easier,BUT at a LOWER temperature .Fuel injected cars run the fuel under pressure,(which effectivly raises the boiling point)so it doesn't really matter to those,but a carburater is very sensative to atmospheric pressure,temperature and HEAT from an engine........SPECIALLY with "light weight" gasoline! Try blocking off the crossover passages in the intake,adding an electric fuel pump back at the tank,and like said before,add electronic ignition if you haven't already. Just my $.02 worth
wow... lots of answers! Thanks! I already killed the driver's side heat crossover a while back... that cured a LOT of problems. The Dakota starter is on the list. I know the ballast resistor is NOT bypassed during starting right now... but am going to give that a try today. Have really been thinkin of getting rid of the dual-point mallory... and probably going to a stock electronic mopar unit. Seems like it would help. Thanks again!
The wayfarer has a built 440 with an edelbrock intake and the mopar performance electronic ignition conversion. Had to use a high torque mini starter because of header and steering clearance, but it starts right up in all weather. Even started it when it was single digits here a couple weeks ago.
ok... put a relay in the ignition circuit, so the coil gets 12v while starting... helped a LOT. Still planning on the electronic ignition, and a dakota starter in the near future. Should i get the mopar electronic, or something else? Was gonna put a pertronix in this distributor, but they cost about the same as the mopar... so...
Dan, I've used the Mopar electronic ignition on small blocks and it was awesome. Made a huge difference in the performance of the engine. And you're gonna have a hard time beating the price and ease of installation.
ok, ran all over the place in the car today... put about 80 miles on it, with a lot of starts... everything from the city to the beach. its starting MUCH better. Ordered a mopar performance electronic ignition... and looking at getting the nipondenso starter from the dakotas... An electric fule pump sure would help, too... thanks for all the help! This thing's getting closer to being an honestly reliable daily driver...
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