Tony looks at these posts later in the evening EST. He can advise in the short term. If I remember one hose ties into the top of the bellows and the other into the oil breather connection. I would not use either of these.

Cold start..........
 

Adam,

Have the engine in neutral, handbrake on or use a wheel chuck to keep the car from rolling. Don't get into the car. Just reach in for the ignition switch and start it. A car that has not been driven for weeks or months might take a second crank. It should start with no assistance from the accelerator. This is not a carburated engine!!!! It is a fuel injected engine that has high fuel pressure in the system.

You have too many unknown variables. Ask yourself why it takes so many attempts to get it started? Is the CSV working? The TTS (thermotime switch) working? Is the control pressure too high? Do I have a significant vacuum leave that prevents ignition? How good is my ignition sparks? And I could add more. The point I'm trying to stress is that you are doing your best but a lot of guess-work is involved. You are doing great!!!!!

You need to know your fuel pressures. And I have not seen anything about your fuel pressures. Second, no significant vacuum/air leak that could affect the mixture. Good ignition spark and correct timing should start the engine at first click.

You have to confirm that you don't have an air leak that could compromise the fuel mixture setting. Not being able to locate or find an obvious air leak/s in your engine does not mean you don't have one. It takes a couple of minutes to do the test. The test is very simple and does not cost you a dime. Air is FREE!!!!! But you need metered air.

Tony

Thanks Tony and Bob,

Im just a bit puzzled, as there was no issues with the car before it was left to get a sun tan for the last year. Clutch issues are the reason it was parked.
I will check for the vacuum leaks and see where it takes me.

EDIT: Does the air filter cover and filter being off have any thing to do with the vacuum system?

Adam

I have spent the past month cleaning up and diagnosing my freshly installed '83sc motor that sat in my garage for over 14 years!

It now runs like a champ!

Air leaks will make you pull your hair out!! They are the number one thing to focus on and you would be surprised where you can find leaks! Spray some carb cleaner anywhere there is a hose or connection between the AIR and the heads and see if your idle jumps! If it does you have a leak!

The next is the fuel system and ign system. If you have not cleaned your fuel system and taken appart and cleaned your AIR, Throttle body and replaced all of your vacume lines you will be fighting an up hill battle.

After doing all of the stuff listed I still had a problem with hot start after running for 45 or more minutes it would just turn over and not start. Turned out to be the Fuel Acumulator! How do I know because some smart person here on the board told me to activate the AIR with the key on by pushing up on the plate for a second and then see if it started...and it did! So I replaced the Acumulator and all is good.

The point is start with the biggest and most obvious (air leaks) and work back to the detail issues.

PS: It starts cold by reaching in the window and turning the key as stated above!!

Youtube Video of the motor running

Good luck!SmileWavy

Thanks for the post Jeff. Your engine sound makes me feel jealous and my 81 is running great.

Adam, I am reading over the thread and you are getting a lot of data. Maybe too much for right now. You know the issue with the fan belt - it is clearly loose from the video. Fix that.

You engine is shaking and making a lot of noises but it is running. Shaking can be caused by misfire and the plugs smoothed that up a bit, right? Bear down on that. The correct test for plug wires is to pull them off and check the ohm resistance - I don't like that test stand alone as the wire can be ok but the shielding poor, allowing spark bleed out before the plug. They arc between wires or where they touch the engine. Back to the dark fireworks test. See with dark adjusted eyes if spark is bleeding out. Your plugs are set to factory gap? If opened up larger (say 45-60 thousandths vs the 30 thousandths factory gap) as can be used with an aftermarket CDI box, that makes it easier for spark to escape.

So far:

Fix the belt and look at the wires in the dark.

Air leaks:

Quick test - If you can get it to idle take the oil fill cap of and see if the RPM's drop. If you can see a 100-200 drop that is good and you are only dealing with small leaks. The oil tank is hooked into the CIS intake vacuum and you lessen the vacuum when the cap is removed and the air sensor drops.

Tony has the most thorough method but I like the carb cleaner as it is the lazy man's way to finding most of the big leaks.

While running spray the carb cleaner on:

- Fuel injectors where they enter the intake runners - rubber o rings in there that get old
- Base of intake runners where they meet the heads - usually just tighten the nuts
- Space ship looking things on the passenger side of the engine where the hoses connect
- Airbox connections for the intake runners - big fat rubber sleeves.
- Airbox connections in back and where it meets the throttle body.
- Pop off valve - some of the carb cleaner will enter the air sensor and impact the idle so try it from different angles.

Try different distances and angles. When you hit a leak you will know.

Obviously, you can have a flash mini explosion if the carb cleaner ignites. Some people use water in a spray bottle and listen for the RPM's to drop - safer. I have never read where someone had the carb cleaner blow up on them (cause they are dead?) so just use your head and don't hog it on. A little spritz in the right place is all it will take.

Air pressure test. Tony says a few minutes but it takes a little longer for me.

My original test in the way back was to duct tape over the entire air cleaner rectangular hole and hose ports on the air box, seal off the oil tank hose from the bellows and seal the exhaust pipe tip (duct tape) . Peirce the duct tape with your air hose tube through the rectangular air filter duct tape cover and give it 5 pounds o' pressure. The duct tape will balloon up a bit. Wet your hands and feel around for leaks. With your hands wet you can feel temp change from the escaping air.

In short:
Fix fan belt
Check for spark leakage
False air (air leaks)

Next chapter - fuel pressure.

You were lucky........
 

Jeff,

You were quite lucky that you guessed correctly. Fuel accumulator is one of the few components that affect residual pressure. FP check valve, WUR, and FD check valve could also contribute to your hot start problem. So replacing a suspected component without verifying or testing it is an expensive way of troubleshooting. It is good to be lucky but you can not depend on luck all the time.

Tony

wow

this guys car sounds A LOT like my car.

Had the fan belt break on me...order the parts from pelican and got the instructions from here as well.

My car has the same issue when starting. Hot weather, it does fine. Recently, I have to give it gas when turning the key. Also noticed oil pressure reads very high for the first 15min.

I'm sure I have a vacuum problems, need to check it out.

replaced my coil, need to try to do spark plugs.

Good luck to the OP, I'll be following.

Sounds so good, didnt want to shut it down
 

Well today was a good day, I brought home the compressor and performed the vacuum leak test and found no leaks! I then drained 2 quarts of oil from the tank, to reduce the large amount of white smoke, and adjusted the screw on the throttle body to help the idle. I now starts on the first crank and idles, and the smoking has been largely reduced. Revs well, and settles back to idle. Once it was at idle i took the cap off oil tank and the revs dropped further proving there is no major vacuum leaks.

I ordered a new fuel filter, no one knows the last time it was changed, the PO had the car for a year and didn't do it. Ordered a new belt and clutch cable as well.

Just want to say thanks for the help you all have given me so far. here is a vid of the start and short run. video 2012 01 30 14 54 28 - YouTube

Adam

Cool. I can hear the alternator making noise. Maybe the belt will help. Keep us posted.

Now go and drive it HARD for about 20-40 minutes and then check the oil level...:=)

If it could drive i would be long gone, but with blown clutch not getting and power transfer. Supposedly the rubber insert blows up and makes the car go now where?

Bummer