[foolish_yeti]

Just recently bought an '83 B250 conversion van and having a few problems with initially starting the van- once I've been driving during the day it'll start up one shot no problem.

It has a manual choke- the manual says the procedure is to pull the choke out all the way, prime it once and then hold the pedal down while cranking. I usually have to fiddle around priming, cranking and pumping while it's cranking a bunch of times to get it started.

There's gotta be an issue or something I'm not doing right here...otherwise it seems to run fine.

I have little experience with vehicles so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[alloro]

A manual choke...how quaint!
You problem is probably the air gap adjustment for the choke butterfly. Meaning that your choke is not closed all the way when you pull the cable out. Remove the top of the air cleaner with the choke pulled and see if there is a gap between either edge of the butterfly and the air horn wall.

 

[van-nut]

If the van is new to you, maybe try a few different techniques to see if it will start easier. I am very suprised that the manual suggests to hold the throttle down with the choke on while you crank it. Maybe cars & trucks are different, but I've owned lots of motorcycles with manual chokes (that's the norm for bikes) and I've always opened the choke and started them with the throttle all the way closed. They seem to start quick and easy using that method. Maybe try that and see if it makes a difference.

Pete

PS - WELCOME TO DT! ! :dtrocks:

 

[foolish_yeti]

Van-nut- the manual said in colder weather to depress the pedal 1/2 or full- it's what I tried when it wasn't starting up first shot...the only thing that seemed to work (After a while)-but yeah, you're right, normally you just prime and go.

Alloro- woo-hoo! That's exactly what's happening. Actually the butterfly is hardly moving at all....the gap is a chasm. So I guess it must be gummed up- the manual says routine maintenance should involve using solvent to de-gum the part, so I guess perhaps that's never been done or something. So now I just gotta go about trying to figure out how to fix this. But I'm so pumped to know what the problem is now. Stumbled across this forum while trying in vain to find a solution and a day later I know the problem- kudos!

 

[alloro]

Try spraying it with carb cleaner, that should clean it up and get it moving freely.

 

[pittwagen]

Question for you:

When the doghouse and air cleaner are off and looking at the choke butterfly you pull the choke cable, does the choke butterfly move to the fully closed position? If the butterfly does not move, the choke cable may be frozen in the housing or the connection at the carb end is loose or as previously noted the butterfly may be frozen. Most of these aftermarket cables do not have a rubber sleeve over them and can rust up over time. You can try to soak it in WD40 but you might just want to get a new one. They are not expensive and only take a few minutes to change. One other thing. There is an L shaped bracket holding the cable somewhere on the manifold. Is that clamp holding the cable to the bracket tight? If it isn't, the cable will move when you pull it but the butterfly won't.

If the butterfly is closing fully and the van is still hard to start, the needle and seat may not be holding the gas in the float bowl and after sitting the fuel pump needs to fill the float bowl before gas is available for the accelerator pump etc. Just had this problem with a 31 year old carb and 151,000 miles and after getting a rebuilt one all is well including the manual choke. Starts right up even after sitting for a few days with nighttime temps getting close to freezing.

These old carbs (you didn't say which engine you have) can have a multitude of problems particularly vacuum leaks around the throttle shaft if its a Carter BBD. Is the carb bolted down good and tight?

My thoughts.