hard to start?

[UFO8MyCow]

I am wanting to sell my 85 maxim but I want to get the starting problem fixed before I do. I have rebuilt the carbs and I was hopeing that that would help but it didnt help at all. I have cleaned and gaped the plugs and I cant think of anything else it might be. After it finally starts it runs great. It has been this way since I bought it three years ago and i just put up with it, but now that it is time to sell it I want to fix it.

any ideas?

[wittymonkey]

Well , I was told that to start it you need :

Gas , air and sparks.

Are all of them there ?

George

[letsride]

yea check electrical

[The CyberPoet]

What's it sound like when you get on the starter?
Chug-chug-chug?
Whirrrr-thunk-chug?
Chug-pow-pow?

Check the choke to make sure the cable isn't sticking or frozen, and try connecting a car battery with jumper leads, then try the start operation again. If it fires right up, you can pretty much figure the battery needs to be replaced with one that has the right CCA-rating or higher (the battery may be weaker than the OEM one, downsized or just old).

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[UFO8MyCow]

Well the battery is good and is the right cca. It sopounds like it should when it is cranking and it does try to crank over but still doesnt want to start.

Hopefully lou will chime in soon to help exp0laine it to you he has riden it quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you need new spark plugs

[UFO8MyCow]

the plugs are clean and look in good shape but maby I will give it a shot.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I should have elaborated...

Maybe this is just me and a I'm totally off...but when my plugs were fouled, they were hard to get started, but once they did, it did run... and I couldn't find anything else wrong in starting..

[The CyberPoet]

If you're not in the habit of running it regularly, it might be something as simple as the fuel in the carbs evaporating off their aeromatic compounds and being harder to start as a result. Does it act the same way if you get it to start and then shut it down 2 minutes later and try to repeat? If not, turn the petcock to PRIME for 60 seconds then back to ON before starting when she hasn't run in more than a day.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[zleviticus]

well i know from experience that unfouled plugs doe snto mean they are good. i had a terrible time getting my camaro timed. THe #1 cylinder would not spark unless at high rpm. This was with NEW spark plugs. I changed the sprark plug again with another in the same package and same issue. I ended up changin the wire with a known good cylinder. The dist cap. The dis rotor. and nothing. Finally i changed the plug again with a new pack and it wokred perfectly. So i have TWO bad spark plugs that were new in package.

[UFO8MyCow]

If you're not in the habit of running it regularly, it might be something as simple as the fuel in the carbs evaporating off their aeromatic compounds and being harder to start as a result. Does it act the same way if you get it to start and then shut it down 2 minutes later and try to repeat? If not, turn the petcock to PRIME for 60 seconds then back to ON before starting when she hasn't run in more than a day.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

After it starts the first time and it warms up for a few minuets then it is good to go but after it cools down for an hour or more it is the same thing all over again