73 K10 trouble starting, no fuel? Help!

[deathcharge]

I'm new here. My Dad passed away and I got his old 73 chevy truck.  I have zero knowledge of carburetor engines. For as long as I can remember it has always had trouble starting. We always had to climb up in the motor and pour some gas down the top of the carb to get it to start. I know my dad had the carb rebuilt and that didn't fix it. He took it to another mechanic that just replaced stuff. Fuel Pump , fuel filter, fuel lines I believe; and that didn't fix the problem. The truck will start right up if it only sits for a few days; leave it set for longer than a week, forget it, it won't start.    

I think the last mechanic said fuel pressure was good, he adjusted the choke?. He said you may have to pump the gas pedal 6 or 7 times but it always started for him but he never let it sit very long either and then tried to start it.  

is this a common problem with letting a carb engine set for weeks?
Any ideas anyone?

Thank you ahead of time.

[diyer2]

How many miles?

Good compression?

Runs good after started?

The choke mechanism could be out of adjustment.

What's your procedure for a cold start?

Pump gas pedal all the way to the floor to set choke.

If it's the original carb you may want  replace it.

 

Read  trouble shooting carbs.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/carburetor.htm

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm

 

 

[garagerog]

Not that uncommon for a carbed vehicle sitting weeks between starts. The gasoline in the fuel bowl either evaporates and/or drains back into the fuel line as there is no constant pressure in the fuel system as there is in modern FI engines. I have one carbed vehicle, a 71 Chevelle SS I've had since new and many years ago I replaced the quadrajet on it with an Edelbrock spread bore, it has been more trouble free over all than the quadrajet, but it suffers from the hard starts like you have mentioned if it sits for a week or more. It takes several cranking cycles for it to start, but it always does. You don't want to lay on the starter to long at the risk of overheating it and causing damage.  Once my Chevelle has started after sitting for some time, all you have to do is give the ignition key the hairy eyeball and it fires right up. About the only thing I can suggest that would be easier than pulling the lid off the air cleaner and pouring raw gas straight into the carb would to be trying a short spray of starting fluid into the air cleaner snout, just don't give it to much at once.

[2018GMC]

I removed my mechanical pump. Installed block off plate. Installed a universal low pressure electric fuel pump on my 1979 k10. It’s sat for over 2 weeks and fires right up. Turn key on, pump pedal once or twice and it starts up no prob. You hear electric fuel pump noise change when the pressure builds. 

 

 I used to have a problem where the ignition module inside the distributor would keep blowing every six months or so. One day you will go out to start the truck and it would just crank and crank, not start. Pull the spark plug and no spark. I got sick of replacing the $30 ignition modules every six months and bought a summit distributor for 100 bucks about three years ago.  Haven’t had any other problems since. 

[SarahsGMC]

that's just old truck life haha

[txab]

You need to pump it a time or two under everyday driving many times. After sitting a good bit, I'd pump 4 or 5 times, crank. No start, another few pumps and crank again. You've got an accelerator pump on the carb that shoots raw fuel into the throat when you pump the pedal, so in essence, you're priming it. I've got an '80 model that gets driven once a month maybe and the steps I describe are required to get it to fire off

Edited May 25, 2018 by txab