I could use some brainpower from this forum to help me with an aggravating problem. I bought a 1982 W150 from a guy here in alaska last month. It has a slant six that was supposedly rebuilt 10,000 miles or so ago. The kid took the one barrel off it and installed a 2 barrel from a 1966 vehicle (not sure what kind). It takes quite a while to start in the mornings or if the air has a lot of moisture in it. However when it is WARM it will run all day smooth and start easily with a turn of the key. I had the carbeurator rebuilt, the timing checked, tune up with new plugs and wires, the starter was fairly new, the manual choke fixed, and even tried higher octane chevron gas and also restore fuel cleaner. Any tips on how to get it to where I can go out in the morning and not have to deal with these issues of having to drive down the road and having it quit at the red light or whenever I let off the gas until it gets warm? I really do appreciate any advice.

Thanks, Jay

If the choke is really working correctly and the carburetor is properly installed (it's on a 2bbl intake, right? Or did the kid put one of those dumb "adaptors" in place between the 2bbl carb and the 1bbl intake?), then this problem is often down to the carburetor and fuel line are emptying out overnight. You then have to crank the engine until fuel is lifted from the tank into the lines and fills up the carb. That's a lot of cranking! This can be caused by a number of different problems: leaky fuel pump valves (replace fuel pump), and/or an air leak anywhere in the fuel line are two prime suspects. Either or both problem could be aggravated by heat soak causing the carburetor to boil dry after engine shutdown.

The first thing to do is to check for an empty carb before the next time you try to start it from cold: Have the engine off and the choke open, remove the air cleaner lid, and peer down into the carb while you operate the throttle linkage half a dozen times. You should see a strong, solid shot of fuel each time you operate the throttle. If no shot or only a piddly weak one, the carburetor's empty or nearly so and you need to hunt down the problems as described above.

If you do get a healthy shot of fuel indicating the carb's not empty, then it gets tougher; the problem is then likely ignition-related and will take some more involved troubleshooting.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

i dont know as much about this as dan does but you can get a block heater for a slant 6 just like a tractor

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87 d150 2bbl carb 225
79 f250 300 v8
97 cavalier z24
83 f150 straight 6
89 f450 diseal 4x4 dually 5sp

A block heater's a good fuel-saving device, but the cold-start problem ought to be fixed at its source, not masked with a block heater.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Your mention of humidity brings up a possibility:

Try spraying the distributor cap and coil with WD-40 on a humid morning when the vehicle won't start. Wait 5 minutes. If it then starts right up you have an ignition problem related to moisture.

Another trick is to go out some dark evening and mist the ignition system with a spray bottle filled with water while the car is running. Things that light up blue may very well need replacement!

But my guess is that your problem is fuel or choke related, not ignition.

-Mac

Thanks Dan (and others who posted).....I will try the fuel/carb. ideas first.

Jay

I' use to have the same problem. Didn't work the carb booster and it was very hard to start at morning. But the problem went of magicaly repairing it. Maybe... :shrug:

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You live in this world... you need a Dodge.