Hello all long time no read. I would like to pick the brains of the very knowledgeable here. (Didn't seem to find the answer in the archives) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Well I am in the process of helping "Lemeholdatraider" perform a weber conversion at my shop. We got everything installed and the engine started and ran great. After we turned it off we found a 12volt source and wired it up to the electric choke. Then we started to connect the tranny kickdown. When we tried to start it again nothing. We were still getting spark but for some reason it was not trying at all to start. We even gave it a small shot of fuel directly though the top of the carb...still nothing. Any thoughts?

On a side note does anyone have any pics of their rigging of the kickdown cable.

~Dave

The we were doing the weber conversion because the car wouldn't start after you turned it off unless it sat for a few hours. I guess it was vapor locked. Could this be the same problem and if not what could be the root source of a problem of this nature? After it sat overnight it started this morning. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Easy way to check if it's vapor lock is to pour cold water onto the mechanical fuel pump to cool it down, then retry. If it starts right back up when ordinarily it wouldn't start up, then it's vapor lock.

An easy way to bypass further problems with vapor lock on these trucks is to install an in-line electric fuel pump down low by the tank. Some folks remove the mechanical pump altogether and use electric only. My truck has both electric and mechanical (perhaps one of these days I'll get around to removing the mechanical pump). I haven't had vapor lock since I installed the electric pump a few years ago. Prior to installing the electric, vapor locks at high altitude were common. Now I can go to over 14,000 feet (I live near Pike's Peak) and it won't vapor lock.

Thank you for the sugestion i didn't even consider the inline fuel pump I will go to the parts store on my way to the shop tonight and pick up an inline.


Is there any other issue not carb related that could cause this starting issue?

Work with your Fire Triangle: check ignition, check fuel, check air. Are you getting a good spark at the plugs? Are you getting fuel? Are your air pathways (intake and exhaust) unobstructed?

If your Fire Triangle is good, here's another thing to look at, if you haven't already done so: check your cylinders and see if there is any coolant in them. If there is, one of two things could be the issue.

1) The head gasket's blown. When my HG blew several years ago, it behaved exactly like that...I had good spark/fuel/air, but when I checked the cylinders, there was coolant in a couple of them. The 4-cylinder Montero/Raider engines are notorious for blowing head gaskets if overheated. Was this engine overheated recently?

2) When you swapped the Weber carb onto the intake manifold, what did you do with respect to the coolant ports that feed through the stock Mikuni carb? The Mikuni carb has coolant running through it. It's my understanding the Weber carb (I've never worked with one on these trucks) does not have coolant running through it. If the coolant ports aren't properly sealed, you could have coolant running into your intake, and this could cause a no-start.

Well all seems to be good now we have not had a recurance of the problem. Now the only prob is the up shift/ down shift we can't seem to get the adjustment right for the a/t kickdown cable. But she has a new head (clearwater) and it is running better then ever.