Cold Issues

[Mattman2010]

As everyone already knows it has been cold and snowy in a lot of places. I am having issues with my truck in the cold. Ill tell a little background before I get to the issues.

I have a 1980 K10 I bought this truck in July of 2010 (first truck) it had a 250 in it that bad been all torn up and I swapped in a 350 from a 1980 k20. The motor wasnt running great when I got the engine and I went through it replacing the gaskets, oil pump, water put, ect. I rebuilt the qjet (first time) and just put the new stuff in it and put it back the way it came apart. I didnt read anything about rebuilding one. I replaced the spark plugs and wires but did not change out the rotor or cap.

Alright so here are the issues, when it gets below 20 degrees the truck will not turn over, it acts as if the battery is dead, but if it gets warmer than 20 degrees the truck will fire right up. Its like when it is cold it its pulling a lot more amps and cant turn over, it starts to crank and then just quits.

If I boost the battery and get it started I have trouble keeping the truck running. I have a manual choke on it and I can choke it for about the first 5 mins and then it starts to drop down in rpm and I have to turn the choke off or it will die. I cant put a small amount of choke on it either or it will die. Once it starts to die it has a hard time to keep idleing at around 500 rpm, It keeps dropping below 500 and you have to give it throttle. As long as you are driving it and giving it throttle it will run. I know adding choke should fix this but just any choke seems to flood it a little to much and it starts to drop in rpm and will die if you don't turn it off and give it some throttle.

So does my battery sound like it is not a good one? (It is one from walmart, just wanted to get something cheap and it worked till it started getting cold) or is something pulling to many amps when it is getting cold outside?

What about getting my truck to run when its cold? Did I mess something up when I rebuilt it, or do you just think it needs properly tuned? (I dont know how to tune a Qjet)

Thanks, Matt

[psuedopimp]

sounds like your cold cranking amps are a little low. maybe try getting a little bigger battery

after the truck is warm, does it idle fine?
maybe you need to adjust your fast idle on the carb. i'm not sure how.

[75ChevyGuy]

I havr the same problem with the carb on my truck. Do you have a heat riser going to the qjet? If not it will take a little bit to warm the carb up. As far as the battery, it sounds like it's time to get a new one.

[Mattman2010]

I have not drove the truck long enough to get it to warm up all the way. I have not drove it because when you stop it doesnt want to stay running so I havent drove it far.

I do not have a heat riser on the qjet.

As for the battery I just got it in September, so the battery is good, I just don't think its good for the cold.

[blackbeaSSt]

sounds like a problem i was having but i think mine was 2 fold. the battery i had was too small so i went with an 800 cca battery. also the dude i bought it from had the high idle wired tied shut. that was fine and dandy when i bought it during the summer and 90 degrees! the carb didn't like it as much come colder weather. i nipped that problem in the bud and it cranks first time even around 15 degrees!

[Mattman2010]

Well I wanted to see if it would start to run better if it was warmed up and it did. But I think I broke my rear axle getting through some of the deep drifts in my field. I have a "clank" coming from the rear end. I guess Ill have to upgrade to 3/4 ton axles sooner than I wanted!

[psuedopimp]

may just be a u-joint. or a good excuse to up grade!

[Mattman2010]

Yeah, I am going to look at it tonight. I dont really want to spend the money on this truck right now.

[psuedopimp]

then i would pray for the 12$ u-joint