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Cold Starts

4K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  ebxr8240 
#1 ·
Hey guys, how you all doing?

Got a couple of questions for all you smart lads/lass' out there:

What would be the cause of an older car, 87 XF 4.1 Carb 5Spd Man, to be such a hairy **** to start on a nice crispy cold morning?

I always have to pump the accelarator at least 5-10 times and then start the car and just as it starts keep the accelerator in enough to keep the revs up around 750-1000 rpm. Failure to do this the engine will stall and it will literally take 5 mins just to get it started. However after a short drive round the block its all fine.

When I first bought the car you could start it on a -5 degree day by two pumps and turn the key. No need to worry about holding the revs up.

Is this cause the motors now clagged or just the carb is starting to turn over to the dark side. It does still hammer, beating VL's off the line and even VN commodores. Its even been known to urinate all over a VS commodore. hehehe you should have seen the look on the guys face. It was a 'P' plater so im putting it down to that.

It also has a flat spot in the acceleration, only when you flaw it but. I do like it however cause it kinda feels like it gets a kick up its arse :)

A new motor rebuild is not an option at the moment.

Any suggestions will be HUGELY appreciated

Thanks
Matt
 
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#4 ·
xf_xr6 said:
Hey guys, how you all doing?

Got a couple of questions for all you smart lads/lass' out there:

What would be the cause of an older car, 87 XF 4.1 Carb 5Spd Man, to be such a hairy **** to start on a nice crispy cold morning?

I always have to pump the accelarator at least 5-10 times and then start the car and just as it starts keep the accelerator in enough to keep the revs up around 750-1000 rpm. Failure to do this the engine will stall and it will literally take 5 mins just to get it started. However after a short drive round the block its all fine.

When I first bought the car you could start it on a -5 degree day by two pumps and turn the key. No need to worry about holding the revs up.

Is this cause the motors now clagged or just the carb is starting to turn over to the dark side. It does still hammer, beating VL's off the line and even VN commodores. Its even been known to urinate all over a VS commodore. hehehe you should have seen the look on the guys face. It was a 'P' plater so im putting it down to that.

It also has a flat spot in the acceleration, only when you flaw it but. I do like it however cause it kinda feels like it gets a kick up its arse :)

A new motor rebuild is not an option at the moment.

Any suggestions will be HUGELY appreciated

Thanks
Matt
cold starts?

you shouldnt be having that problem at the moment, its was bloody hot in perth today...
 
#5 ·
It might be worth checking out prices on an exchange carby or having yours overhauled - in short the problem sounds like it's carby - certainly the place to start. The ideal thing would be to borrow one from someone. Have a real good look at all the emission crap too - a vac line pulled off or cracked or not seated properly and leaking in amongst that stuff could do strange things.
 
#6 ·
Re: Re: Cold Starts

Fairlane Boy said:


cold starts?

you shouldnt be having that problem at the moment, its was bloody hot in perth today...
Nah nah, its not happening right now but when i was down south where its cooler and you gotta get up at 4am its still pretty chilli, thus the hard starting.

Cheers
 
#8 ·
When I had my XF I got a Gregorys manual and worked out what all the emission crap did - so I could then block off the stuff that would have no impact on the actual running of the engine. Along the way I found one of the vac switching valves was buggered - which would have been affecting the vacuum advance.

I then also sorted out a problem with the carby where the engine got noticeably sluggish on hot days - it was something to do with an emission idle valve or jet (the details are very dim in memory now) - the result was fantastic. I also made sure the EGR valve was seated closed properly and then blocked the vac line to it. After that came the big exhaust and HS20 cam and she was a real nice cruiser - in fact I've only recently got my ED going better than that XF did.
 
#9 ·
I would say you'r excelerator pump is dyeing,Check inlet leaks.
An overhaul kit is the way to go.Try opening the throttle and holding your hand over it so the engine sucks the sh!t out of the carb internally.You may have a bloked [idle] jet???They are webber carbs arn't they??
 
#10 ·
ebxr8240 said:
I would say you'r excelerator pump is dyeing,Check inlet leaks.
An overhaul kit is the way to go.Try opening the throttle and holding your hand over it so the engine sucks the sh!t out of the carb internally.You may have a bloked [idle] jet???They are webber carbs arn't they??
Yeh its a weber carb. If i do what you say, hold my hand over the carb and open it up, wouldn't it try to suck my hand in and thus hurt? Or is the sucktion not that hard?
 
#11 ·
xf-xr6 Nah there is vertually no vacuum,it's an old mechanics trick to clear up carbs runing like your's.
Remember it's the atmospheric presure[14'7Lp @sea level] that actually push's air into the motor..
 
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