356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
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Doug McDonnell
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#31 Post by Doug McDonnell »

And when you finally figure the problem out please post for future problem solvers. Dangling threads are worse than dangling participles.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

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Dave Finburgh
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#32 Post by Dave Finburgh »

Thank you again to all.

John Jenkins has graciously agreed to come and see if he can help solve the problem. Once it is solved, I will be sure to post what the problem was.

'65 C Cab 161176

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John Hearn
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#33 Post by John Hearn »

John Jenkins will fix it.
Please note down what he does, and in what order so we can all learn.
KTF
John

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Dave Finburgh
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#34 Post by Dave Finburgh »

John Hearn wrote:John Jenkins will fix it.
Please note down what he does, and in what order so we can all learn.
KTF
John
Yes, I am very confident that you are correct.

I will certainly try and note what the procedures are and what the fix is. Hopefully, it won't be too involved. 8)


'65 C Cab 161176

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Dave Finburgh
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#35 Post by Dave Finburgh »

Well it turns out that Dave Jones was spot on...the culprits were the accelerator pumps in the carbs. John ( BIG thank you for all of your help) went through a thorough work up of the potential issues. First he determined if there was a good spark..yes, then he looked at the timing with a static test. After that we checked the coil...no problem. So, having ruled out an electrical issue ( John also removed a spark plug and looked at the distributor, wasn't concerned about the condenser) it was on to the carbs. John poured a little gas into each bowl, and sure enough- up she started! John then looked at the timing again with his light, all ok...Looking at the accelerator pumps in the carbs, it was evident that no gas was passing into the bowl! John told me that even though it was possible that the accelerator pumps could be new, they can apparently swell and consequently jam in the cylinder (due to the wonderful ethanol gas, ugh), thereby not passing any fuel into the bowls! John proceeded to remove both carbs and subsequently replaced both accelerator pumps, along with some adjustments of the jets. Returned today and re-installed the carbs, and sure enough, she fires up. Still probably need to have the valves adjusted and a tune up of the linkages to the carbs...as the butterfly valves don't open fully when the pedal is all the way to the floor...BUT, I have to believe the basic problem ( cold starting impossible) is now addressed. BIG thanks to John Jenkins.
Last edited by Dave Finburgh on Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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John Lindstrom
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#36 Post by John Lindstrom »

Once upon a time, some “Hi-tec” mechanic put a fuel filter in my car “made in Israel”, it failed spectacularly by disentegrating little by little, lodging thousands of small micro fine sand sized paper particles which lodged in the float valve cylinders of my carburetors, wreaking havoc on my poor old engine. I found myself using language that I have never heard myself use before. I prefer that all my cars parts be “made in Germany” nowadays.

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Dave Finburgh
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Re: 356 C Cab won't start when cold, what's going on??

#37 Post by Dave Finburgh »

John Lindstrom wrote:Once upon a time, some “Hi-tec” mechanic put a fuel filter in my car “made in Israel”, it failed spectacularly by disentegrating little by little, lodging thousands of small micro fine sand sized paper particles which lodged in the float valve cylinders of my carburetors, wreaking havoc on my poor old engine. I found myself using language that I have never heard myself use before. I prefer that all my cars parts be “made in Germany” nowadays.
Yes, but what is so very annoying is that it seems that these days there are numerous manufacturer's of parts for these cars that simply produce...dreck. Some of these parts even seem to be 'made in Germany'! The leather wraps on the accelerator pumps apparently had swelled, due to the alcohol in the wonderful pump gas swelling them :(

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