• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

quicker cold starts

Share this page

zimmy

zimmy

Jedi Knight
Offline
when my car is cold, it wont hit a lick till the oil pressure gets to around 60 lbs....right now i have a weak battery which could possibly b dead in the 15-20ish seconds it takes to get going.....
the car starts immediately with a shot of starter fluid, and starts fine once its been started. im just wandering if there is something i can do to get that initial morning start goin a lil quicker....is everybodys motor like that? zimmmy
 
Zimmy,
That batteries condition could be why you’re having the starting issues. I’d look to see how your chokes are set per a shop manual but your battery might be the simple fix. How far out do you pull the choke knob out from the dash now?
Dug
 
Do you pull the choke all the way and mash your accelerator foot fully to the floor and hold it there until it starts?

I owned a classic Mini with a fully polished head, single 1 1/2" SU and no vacuum advance back in the early 70s and exactly this technique worked. These days, doing it this way, my 1974 Midget engine (in a Bugeye) starts second pull in the Winter months, first pull all other months.

If I do it the normal way it takes an age.
 
Depending on what's in your crank case, lower weight engine oil (eg. 5-30 or 5-40 rather than 10-30/10-40)makes quite a difference. Some folks think holding the clutch in allows the engine to spin more freely; this may hold true for yours but I always found it better to leave the clutch alone.

doug
 
i dont think its the battery.........
i only pull the choke out a tad....maybe ill try pulling it out farther...
i have 20-50 oil i believe, or whatever its supposed to have in it. z
 
pulled the choke out all the way and put the pedal to the floor and it started a little quicker, although i think pumping the pedal slowly might b better....z
 
Back
Top