[jdub]

Lately I have been having real trouble starting my car. It has always required me to pump the gas a few times to get it started. Then I would need to feather it for about 30 seconds. After that the car would idle and run great.

The first time I had real problems a few weeks ago I pulled the air cleaner off to take a look at the carb (didn't notice anything), I was then able to start it right up with the cleaner off.

This last time taking the air cleaner off didn't change anything and I actually killed the battery trying to get it to start. This pissed me off. I noticed the choke was open. It wasn't an exceptionally cold day or anything but I manually closed the choke and this did nothing. No change.

The battery should be fully charged today but since I have no idea what the problem is, I don't know if I should even bother cranking on it and killing the battery again.

I was thinking of trying a small amount of ether. But I don't want to be dependent on that.

It is the stock 2100 Autolite carb.

 

[jdub]

My choke does not work. Nothing from the throttle seems to interact with anything from the choke. Something may be missing. But I manually closed the choke and nothing happened so while the choke doesn't seem to be working right, it is not the issue here.

Pouring gas down the carb worked. Car fired right up and ran great. What can we conclude from this? Fuel going backwards through the fuel pump? Why would cranking and cranking and cranking not re-pressurize the system and put fuel back in the carb but when the engine is running it has no issues?

I found a Carter 120gph (which seems far more than sufficient) pump on Summit for under $30, might this help prevent fuel from going back down through the pump if that is my problem?

 

[jdub]

The choke is not the issue here.

 

[jdub]

Is the choke supposed to activate regardless of temp? I don't know about the rest of the country but it has been like 80 degrees or hotter in Denver all September.