Gah ! - did I flood it ?
Discussion
The previous owner said "let it prime, give it 3 pumps, then fire it up and feather it". That worked that morning. Since then the 4 or 5 times I've driven it, it's been a challenge to start. After 3 accelerator pumps, it spins for less than a second and catches. But then as I try to feather it it dies - maybe I need to get back on the throttle harder or maybe I'm so used to modern cars I'm switching the starter motor off straight away... Any way after this happened this morning it just cranked and cranked with no engine firing up noises. I gave up and had a cup of tea. Two hours later tried again and no engine noises at all. I took a plug out and although the thread was a little oily round the base, the top was dry and the right colours. The only other thing I noticed was the fuel filter was half fuel and half air. I could see fuel squirt when I peered into the carb and pulled on the accelerator cable. Any clues amongst that lot ? Am confused now as to whether not giving enough or too much fuel to begin with. Probably too much. Cheers.
Do you have choke on your carbs (electric, manual)?
When I changed to the choke-less HP carb I used to pump 1-2 times and would then start with gas and had to keep the rpm between 2.000 and 2.500, which is a torture for the engine. Problem was that once you let the rpm drop only a bit and the engine is not yet warm enough it would die immediately and then it could be very tough to start again.
Then I found out that my starting procedure was not good. Better to pump 3 times but start with little gas and try to keep rpm at min. speed = around idle speed (approx. 1000 rpm) and keep the motor alive by "feathering". Needs a bit of training but much better than to run the cold engine at high speed immediately.
Of course every motor might react differently, just my experience.
Peter
When I changed to the choke-less HP carb I used to pump 1-2 times and would then start with gas and had to keep the rpm between 2.000 and 2.500, which is a torture for the engine. Problem was that once you let the rpm drop only a bit and the engine is not yet warm enough it would die immediately and then it could be very tough to start again.
Then I found out that my starting procedure was not good. Better to pump 3 times but start with little gas and try to keep rpm at min. speed = around idle speed (approx. 1000 rpm) and keep the motor alive by "feathering". Needs a bit of training but much better than to run the cold engine at high speed immediately.
Of course every motor might react differently, just my experience.
Peter
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