cold weather starting tips for a noob!

[blackbeaSSt]

well this is my first carb'ed engine but i knew when buying it that winter was going to be a fun time!

is there any harm in not letting the engine fully warm up before driving? if so what are some tips that will help out? or is it just pretty much keep revving when it finally does turn over

[camshaftgsxr]

i give it a few seconds before putting it in drive but thats about it my cam makes it a pain in the ass to move around slowly in my driveway when its cold, but i dont really let it warm all the way up because my driveway is a half mile long down hill so it warms up pretty good by the bottom.

[blackbeaSSt]

thanks cam. i quickly learned to back in the driveway. makes it easier to leave in the mornings and not having to stop in the middle of the road to put it in drive and risk it dying!! just wanted to make sure that i wasn't hurting anything by letting it sit for 1-2 minutes revving and then taking off.

[Eyegore]

Move to Phoenix, it's still 100 today.

[camshaftgsxr]

you think that sucks but you have no idea its already too cold to ride and i have the whole week off

[irishman999]

Revving a cold engine destroys it, I generally don't rev an engine over idle until its near operating temperature.

[camshaftgsxr]

i would idle for at least a minute before touching the gas, then no more than 50 percent throttle till its been up to water temp for 2 or 3 so the oil can get warm.

[Shawn5488]

I pump it 4-5 times and it fires right up, then I will give it just enough throttle to keep it running, most of the time don't even have to touch the throttle to keep it running, after a min. the high idle takes over and I go back inside for 5min. when I come out I kick the high idle off (blip the throttle) and wait for it to idle all the way down and put the truck in gear and take off.

This is how carb'ed motors are supposed to work.

[Adams74Chevy]

Originally Posted by Shawn5488

I pump it 4-5 times and it fires right up, then I will give it just enough throttle to keep it running, most of the time don't even have to touch the throttle to keep it running, after a min. the high idle takes over and I go back inside for 5min. when I come out I kick the high idle off (blip the throttle) and wait for it to idle all the way down and put the truck in gear and take off.

This is how carb'ed motors are supposed to work.

+1 That's how I've always done it, usually use the time to clear the snow off the windshield and hood.

[Adams74Chevy]

I've also wondered about one of these : Engine Block Heater...of course it's not like I'm up in the frigid parts of the US, or Canada.

[blackbeaSSt]

Originally Posted by irishman999

Revving a cold engine destroys it, I generally don't rev an engine over idle until its near operating temperature.

well lemme clarify. not revving, more like sitting there giving it constant gas to keep it going!

Originally Posted by camshaftgsxr

i would idle for at least a minute before touching the gas, then no more than 50 percent throttle till its been up to water temp for 2 or 3 so the oil can get warm.

unless its' been running theres no way my truck will idle by itself once cranked

Originally Posted by Shawn5488

I pump it 4-5 times and it fires right up, then I will give it just enough throttle to keep it running, most of the time don't even have to touch the throttle to keep it running, after a min. the high idle takes over and I go back inside for 5min. when I come out I kick the high idle off (blip the throttle) and wait for it to idle all the way down and put the truck in gear and take off.

This is how carb'ed motors are supposed to work.

i know what you are talking about with the high idle but i've never had mine do it.

i do know that the previous owner jerry rigged the carb to bypass something. its a quadrajet so theres no telling.

ok somebody explain what he did here with the wire ties!

[Cue-Ball]

Originally Posted by blackbeaSSt

unless its' been running theres no way my truck will idle by itself once cranked

That is not normal. People who've only known fuel injected vehicles often have this notion that carbs are finicky, or that they're "supposed" to run crappy. Not true at all. A properly running vehicle with a properly adjusted carb should start right up with no muss, no fuss. Even in cold weather, a properly adjusted carb shouldn't need more than a pump or two of the gas pedal to fire right up. Keep in mind that these cars were all new at one time. People in the 70's were able to daily drive these cars and trucks without problems. They didn't expect to have troubles each morning, and they didn't think that a new car not starting or running in cold weather was "normal".

i know what you are talking about with the high idle but i've never had mine do it.

Probably because it looks like your choke system has been bypassed.

ok somebody explain what he did here with the wire ties!

From just a quick look, I'd say that the choke and the high idle linkage have been wired open. If that's the case, you'll never get that thing to start easily in cold weather, and it will never stay running properly since it won't idle up.

Take off the air cleaner housing and look down into the carb from the top. If you don't see the choke valve closed when the engine is cold then you can be sure the choke is wired open.

If you can get the model number of your carb, you should pretty easily be able to find a parts diagram online. There are several good sites with info on adjusting Quadrajets and making them work properly. But you definitely can't expect your truck to start and run well when the linkage is wire tied!

Edit: I just looked at a few diagrams for Quadrajet carbs and it looks like yours is probably an E4 or M4 series carb (Sorry, I'm not a Q-Jet expert, so I don't know all the details of each model). It also looks like it's not your choke that's been wired open, but the vacuum secondaries top butterfly (though the choke is still obviously affected, since the vacuum pull off diaphragm isn't hooked up).

[blackbeaSSt]

^^ thanks cue. is there another option as far as carbs go that would be better or do i need to have my current one adjusted?

[Cue-Ball]

I personally am a big fan of Edelbrock carbs for street driven vehicles and pickups. They're a lot easier to adjust than Holly and Quadrajet carbs (my opinion, of course). It would almost certainly be easier to dump your current carb and get a new Edelbrock 1406 or something similar. But, that's gonna cost you a few hundred bucks. You might be able to fix your current carb for a lot less money, but the trade-off is that it's going to take a lot of work on your part.

Figure out what model carb you've got and see if you can find a diagram of how your linkage is supposed to be hooked up. At least then you can make sure everything is hooked up and working correctly. Even if it's out of adjustment, it'll probably be an improvement on what you've got now. Your carb actually looks like it's in decent shape, if it were just setup and adjusted correctly. If you fix the previous owner's wire tie job and things still won't work correctly, then you can decide if you want to mess with the current carb or make life easier on yourself and get something new.

[donut]

Looks like someone locked open the high-idle and choke blade, so they wouldn't work. Looks like you are set up for a thermostatic choke, iirc that vacuum pull-off will have to be reconnected.

I'll let mine warm up for a few minutes, up to 1/2 hour when I was up north. Even in the summer I'll let it warm up a little.

[Matt Man]

i let mine sit for about a minute as long as you got good oil pressure it wont hurt to rev it a little bit.

[nbpro]

5 minutes to a 1/2 hour when I was up north as well

[tucsonjwt]

I come from the great white north but have been in AZ for the past 28 years. In both climates, I installed a manual choke. In my experience, both electric and hot air chokes are not reliable. In the cold climate the choke stayed on too long, and the high idle caused the rear wheels to spin on ice. In the warm climate, the choke stayed on too long and just wasted gas.
It is better that you control the choke, not a inaccurate thermostat coil.
I depress the accelerator all the way to the floor once, hold the pedal down and pull out the choke, release the pedal all the way, turn the key. If it does not start right away, I pump the accelerator a few times then try again - always starts on the second attempt. I push the choke in all the way and take off slowly - on cold days (like below freezing - it does freeze in AZ) I leave the choke in half way for a block or two, then push it in all the way.
A manual choke is the best mod you can make to a carbureted vehicle.

[blackbeaSSt]

tucson, my mechanic was talking to me about trying to add a manual choke some how that i could control in the cab. haven't pursued it anymore but. me thinks i need to before really cold weather gets here

[nikwho]

the best thing that I ever did was pull my q-jet and replace it with an edelbrock. Now, if I were able to effectivly tune the quadrajet myself, im sure that it would have worked just fine. My truck has never started and run so well as it does now. I have an electric choke edelbrock carb and it starts beautifully every morning(about 40 degrees lately in the morning). Still starting quicker and easier than it ever did with the factory carb.

[thumper80]

I still have the factory q-jet on my 80 454 and have the choke wired open and the high idle turned down . I have no issues starting it when cold and below freezing also . I only give it a half a pump and feather the pedal lightly for the first few mins . When it gets colder than -15c up here in Canada I plug her in and just tap the key and she fires up .
I really need to get off my butt and set the choke but it's riveted in place and I have been to lazy pull it off and set it .

[tucsonjwt]

I can't tell from your picture, and don't know the year of your truck, but most carbs have a black plastic adjustable cap over the choke housing. To install a manual choke, you just remove that black plastic cap, replace it with the supplied cap with an external pin which connects to a cable. At the other end of the cable inside your cab is a knob to pull and set/release the choke. Usually, you make one or two big sweeps with the cable in the engine compartment then terminate it under your dash, near the ignition somewhere. If you like, I can post pics my set up. I think the kit is like $12-$15 at any parts store - try to get a better quality one.
I have had all types of carbs on my squares - Carter, Edelbrock, Qjet, parts store rebuilds, etc., - they all work fine for a while but unless you drive your truck a lot, and run at high speed with some frequency, and keep the carbs clean -they gum up and crap out. I drive my old trucks infrequently and at low speed, which is hard on a carb.

[69subaru360]

Just get your choke reconnected and working correctly and it will run fine.

My truck came with a similar hack job. Choke was held open with a zip tie. The real problem was a cracked vacuum line to the pulloff. Cut the zip tie, replaced the hose. Adjusted the pull off, high idle screw and choke thermostat. This took me all of 15 mins and now it starts on the first try and idles on its own.

Like was posted above, in the 70's people drove these every day and didn't deal with hard starting or holding the gas until it warmed up. One pump to set the choke and start it was all they did. High idled until warm and kicked down.

[donut]

Originally Posted by blackbeaSSt

tucson, my mechanic was talking to me about trying to add a manual choke some how that i could control in the cab. haven't pursued it anymore but. me thinks i need to before really cold weather gets here

You could do a manual choke, but most kits are for electric to manual. thermostatic to manual on my truck is monkey-rigged at best, but it works.

IIRC, you can get the thermostatic spring and rod for an Edelbrock and it works for the Q-jet. Spring mounts on the intake and the rod goes to the carb. (20.00 ?)

I'm also going from memory, I switched to a manual choke when I changed the intake and heads, the Vortec intake didn't have the mount for the thermostatic coil.

[BigBlocksRule]

Originally Posted by 69subaru360

Just get your choke reconnected and working correctly and it will run fine.

Agreed. Fix what you have rather than adding another bandaid.