Hi everyone,
I have an issue with my 79 20r engine, it will not start without starting fluid. If you attempt to start it without starting fluid, it will just crank over but will not fire up. As soon as you shoot a little bit of starting fluid down the carb throat it fires right up. Any ideas as to what may be causing this issue?

Zack

 

Fires up and stays running?

When did this start happening? Is it just a thing that happened once yesterday morning and that's it so far, or it's been doing it a lot? What's the weather like where you are?

How much do you usually pump the gas before trying to start it? Have you noticed it take longer to fire in general, when it hasn't been driven for hours?

 

Yes, once it started, it stayed running just fine. The truck is not really driven, more like started and run for a while. It sits for long periods of time, without starting it.

Thanks,
Zack

 

Maybe just stale fuel/carb beginning to varnish.

Modern gas does'nt like to lay, even more so when exposed to air, like when sitting in a carb bowl.

Get out and run that truck. Lack of use is worse than abuse.

 

Yeah, not driving a truck will absolutely cause problems.

A truck which just sits, and is started and let sit there running till it's warm, then shut off, every now and then, is absolutely going to have trouble staying running.

 

Could be a problem with your accelerator pump if pumping the throttle does not squirt raw fuel into the venturis. Fuel pump might be getting weak or losing prime requiring more cranking...

 

+1 to all of the above.

I've never owned a carbureted vehicle that didn't require two solid pumps of the skinny pedal before cranking. Does doing that make a difference on yours? If that doesn't help when starting, how is the truck when you're driving and suddenly step on the gas?

 

+2 on old gas...

doctor says..
goose it in 3rd/4low up a muddy hill, yea?

 

I would clean that carburetor. I had a similar set of fuel system problems with mine. A lot of it was related to how the fuel cut solenoid wasn't getting turned on by the emissions computer due to cold solder joints therein. It took me all of the time I've owned the truck, a carburetor rebuild, a second remanufactured carburetor, adjusting the fast idle screw that was bent on the reman carb and was very hard to turn up, messing with the EGR system and bypassing it which eliminated it as a suspect, and a lot of other thinfgs.

But it sounds like your fuel cut (which turns on or off the idle circuit within the carb, electrically) is doing fine when it starts.

Others suggested the accellerator pump. Also, I wanted to make sure you at least floor the gas once before you turn the key to start it. When cold, that one gas pedal press engages the choke.

Also make sure your fast idle screw is turned up enough. That assists the idle to be higher while it's warming up, and shuts back off once you rev the engine with one blip of the gas, once it has warmed up. Mine's still not quite as turned up as high as it needs to be, which makes it prone to stalling when cold.

Also, make sure your idle is set high enough. If the choke hasn't turned on yet and it's too low, it might not start on it's own until extra fuel is added somehow.

Believe me, I've been in your shoes and worse. I discovered that all the ether I had to spray in my early months of owning the truck have made the cold air intake plastic deteriorate prematurely!

Let's problem solve and get this worked out!