85 GT I have to CRANK forever on cold start - NEw CARB!

First: Welcome to Stangnet!
Second: FOUR EYES RULE!

Do you fully pump the gas pedal 2-4 times before trying to start the car? Any more than 4, and you can start to flood the car.

Most gas stations may not have a clue on how to properly check/set-up a carb.

The gas is fine. The Carb has a bowl that hold the gas.

There are a few reasons why a car would be hard to cold start overnight.
1) Make sure the choke is being set.
2) Check the choke pull-off linkage and vacuum.
3) Make sure the choke is being set enough for the temperature.
4) Make sure the high idle speed and cam are set correctly.

IMHO, your best bet is to use this as a reason/why to learn about Carbs. Get some Holley Carb books.

Amazon.com: Holley Carburetor Manual (Haynes Techbook) (0038345102257): John Haynes: Books
Amazon.com: Holley Carburetors (High Performance) (9781884089282): Dave Emanuel: Books
Amazon.com: Holly Carburetor Handbook 4150 & 4160 Hp473 (0075478007509): Mike Urich: Books
Amazon.com: Holley Carburetor Manual (Haynes Techbook) (0038345102257): John Haynes: Books


Also, be very careful. IMHO, LESS THAN 50% of the info in forums (Stangnet, corral, ALL OF THEM) comes even close to being correct or accurate!

dj00140 said:

No i dont pump the gas at all before I start it?? When i hold down the pedal when turning the key, isnt that clear flood mode? Or only on fuel injection?

Thanks for the tip, Is there a link on installing a holley carb on a mustang? So I will check the site cap and fuel level in the carb... should it have fuel in it at all times?

Anyway quick way you recommend to check the choke? I will start researching those things!

Click to expand...

For a carb, you must pump the gas pedal at least once to set the mechanical choke. Also, even with a warm/hot engine, it's a good idea to push the gas pedal down ~1/2 before starting the engine.

For a carb, when you push down on the pedal, there's a "pump shot" that mechanically injects gas into the intake. The "pump shot" is the same thing as a plastic bottle spray pump with liquid.


For a carb, you should (pretty much) NEVER floor the pedal (and keep it there) while starting the car. Depending on the carb model, it MAY open the choke a LITTLE. But, regardless, once the engine starts, you have a FEW SECONDS to let up on the gas before engine damage happens!

An unloaded engine will rev Very quickly!

So, IF a carb engine is flooded, put on the radio and listen to two songs and let the gas dissipate.

Besides, with a 5.0, you'd likely need to pump the gas pedal ~10 times before you came close to flooding it. Even then, after cranking for ~4 seconds, a gas sucking 5.0 will clear out the intake.

IMHO, your best bet is the Holley books. As I said before, getting information from the web is often a joke. Also consider that the vast majority of people that have carbs on their car have their car like that because they couldn't do a simple fix of an EFI system. Chances are they didn't even do a code readout on the EFI system. So, do you really want to trust advice from those "Einsteins"?

Also, carbs are involved. You're better off reading a book (spend the ~$20!) written by someone that at least likely has some clue on the topic, verses the pure cr*p on web sites written by people that often don't have a clue of what their talking about, and have the writing skills of a 3rd grader.


Although, it may just be a simple case of learning the correct way to start a car with a carb on it. Also, if the engine is worn, or has issues, that will make cold starting much harder.