Hard to start

[spitzerscott]

Just looking for suggestions on what would make a N/A Mechanical Fuel Injected, Alcohol engine hard to start?  I know there will be lots of questions, I installed an on board primer system and still need to prime it.  Looking for your help.

[Curly1]

They can be a pain in the tail even with a primer system. It took me a while to get my primer set right and the timing on it right to make it start. Now I have to hit primer for about 3 seconds and then hit starter switch and it will fire but will not stay running with out primer until pump kicks in about 5 to 10 seconds. I tried gasoline and E-85 but plain old alcohol seems to work best in my primer system.
It just takes a little time to get it set up right.

[dreracecar]

When was the last time the pump was serviced???  Will it light on gas???, has it started before and this is a new issue??? Does it light and then just quit or does nothing??? Is there fuel in the tank???

[ricardo1967]

I had a hard start case once that was caused by a debris keeping the bypass from seating. Of course I screwed up part of my tune until I found the root cause...

[Paul New]

I had a hard start case once that was caused by a debris keeping the bypass from seating. Of course I screwed up part of my tune until I found the root cause...

I had the same issue come up on my idle bypass in my early days of injection. Pressure check all your check valves make sure they are pointed in the correct direction also

[wideopen231]

Type of ignition? How fast is mjotor turning with starter. If its mag they don't like slow spinning motor much.

If cooler out a 50/50 mix of gas and alky in squirt bottle works.

My routine(non primer system) squirt of fuel ,hit starter and once spinning hit mag.
with primer I get pressure in system,shut primer off,hit starter,hit fuel and them mag.May seem it takes to long but if done right its only cpl seconds to fire up.

[JrFuel Hayden]

With our Jrfueler, we use a 24 volt [ two 12 volts in series] remote battery pack, because we can have our crew guys start the motor, and then not have to carry the battery weight in the car. We just use a spray bottle to prime the motor, I perfer just alky so I don't color my plugs with gasoline. You may have a problem with not spinning the engine over fast enough. Also check with FIE or Hilborn about idle  by-pass pressure.  Also if your fuel tank/ line is too low, your FI  pump may have a hard time pulling the fuel into the pump.
 Hayden sells a 24 volt 10 lb battery pack, so even if you want/ need to keep the battery in the car, it's super light.
We need the 24 volt system because of the mag and the 16;1 high compression, and we just use a high performance 12 volt starter, with no problems for 8 years.

Jon, 800-624-3803, 805-444-4489, cell

[George]

We prime our first start of the day with gas then change a couple plugs. The MSD 12LT needed a little extra speed so we added a Powermaster 9450  153T High speed mini starter .Still 12 volt system. All good.

[wideopen231]

Another thing that might effect cranking if spinning slow is cable's.Size of both positive and ground cable .How its grounded will also effect it. Chassis is not best conductor if posible ground to block or as close as can. Just a thought. Again if cranking speed is not issue then this is just wasting space post.LOL

[dreracecar]

still waiting for the OP to respond

[spitzerscott]

Engine starts decent when I can prime it by hand.  With my scoop on I need the primer,  I have a MSD 7al/plus, pro-billet dist., and a pro-power coil. Starter is a Jegs pro-starter, and it cranks over fine, I don't think I have a fire problem or slow cranking.   Pump flowed by Spud.  I just think that what I was using from the bottle was a lot more than this primer puts out, am I just not giving it a large enough shot? I am trying not to wash the cylinders down.  Or am I just being a pussy?

[Paul New]

Disconnect the on/board primer and squirt it into a container, next use the amount of fluid and see if it will start. I imagine your not giving it enough fuel

[dreracecar]

I vote PUSSY!!!
Did not mention if this was a tunnel ram or stack injector?
You need a volume of gas to create enough vapor to get thing to lite

[spitzerscott]

You may be right.  I checked the spring pressures, main=2psi, secondary=20psi.   Single butterfly injection on a Hurricane single 4-barrel intake. Runs great once it is started.   I will do a test with my bottle and check that out.   Thanks

[spitzerscott]

Also barrel valve is set at 25% leakdown. I will try my test to fill my primer bottle this weekend and let you know how it turns out.