VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 starting my 1936from then on. Any id chevy pick-up

I leave for 3 months every summer. When I return the truck will not start. I clean the points, regape the the plugs, spray gas into carb with no success. I pull it for thirty feet, pop the clutch and she fires right up, and runs well

Even though it seems there is no logical reason, there is. The problem is a weak spark. How come? Well the starter motor takes so much current from the battery that the voltage that is multiplied by the coil is not high enough to get a hot enough spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture. So why does it start when pulled or pushed? Because there is no voltage drop from the power to the starter and therefore a much stronger spark.

The next question is "Okay let's assume that I believe that so why does it start the next time I try to start it?" Well when the engine is stopped the fuel/air mixture in the cylinders and manifold is much closer to the correct 14:1 ideal ratio, so even with a weak spark it will ignite.

The hardest engine to get started is the one that has not run for an extended time. That is because it can quickly go from a very lean air/fuel ratio to a very rich ratio. Both lean and rich take a much hotter spark to ignite compared to the optimum. A little lean is much harder to ignite compared to only a little rich. That is why a choke is used.

Thanks for your help. It was greatly appreciatee

When I first got my '36 truck I did not know how to start it. I did not know that you had to pull out the choke. But more important is to set the throtle....don't for get to do that! see instructions in the owners manual. Throtle about one inch out. As engine starts to race shove in....and the choke also goes in as firing becomes more stable...on mine it is a combination type thing. Getting the hang of it takes time.