Hello,

This is the first time I post on this forum and I hope my problem will find an answer (other than dumping my car ).
After many years of looking at pictures I finally bought a corvette (L82 1979 and matching numbers). I bought it in California (thru a website) and had it shipped to France (Normandy) and received it for Christmas. When I received the car I found a few problems that were not mentioned by the person who went to see the car to check it out:
- doors not well aligned,
- windows not closing all the way up,
- T-top panels not closing tight with the windshield frame,
- and a few other little bugs for which I am sure I will call on you in the future for your help.

For the problems listed above, I gave my vette to a local garage (first corvette and V8 for him). After a couple of weeks I got the car back with most problems fixed (the windows close all the way up if the door is open, from this inside they don't close very well yet but he'll take care of it considering how much it cost me the first time).

My coming to this forum however concerns a problem that I (or the garage) can't find an answer to.

The problem is that my super looking car only starts when it wants to.
I explain: in the morning, engine cold, when I turn the key (clutch all the way down, its a four speed manual) the
engine cranks but it takes many tries before it does start (limit charge of the battery). I take the car outside
and let it warm up for a few minutes then I take it for a ride around the block and then stop the engine. When I try to start it again a few minutes later
the engine cranks but will never start. When I went to the garage to get my car back after the work they did on it (doors and windows)
we never got it started. We removed one of the wires from a spark plug and put another one on ouside the engine and turned the contact on, the engine cranked but no spark could be seen on the plug. The garage kept the car for a couple of days and cleaned up the fuse box (some oxidation). The car started every time after that (cold or hot).
Last friday I took my car to go to my work (wanted to show off) and I went from glory to shame in the space of 3 hours. I arrived at work with people coming out of every office to take pictures but when I wanted to leave (about 3 hours later), the car never wanted to start. It took about 20 minutes and some pushing before it got started again . The Saturday I took the car for a long ride and never had a problem getting it started.
Please can someone tell me what could be the cause of this starting problem. For information the battery is fully charged when the engine starts or not. And by the way no coil can be seen connected to the distributor (electronic ?)
I thank you all for taking the time to read this post.
And please don't tell me the car doesn't like the Normandy weather (even if I don't like it myself).

 

Can you post a picture of your engine with the air cleaner assembly removed?

Your distributor (if original) should be a HEI unit, which means there isn't a separate coil. The coil is built into the distributor.

Your carburetor should have a choke on it as well. If it isn't functioning correctly, it can also cause starting problems.

Or there can be a dozen other variables that may be causing your problems as well. One step at a time.

 

Thank you for your help.
I joined to this post a picture of the engine (well I hope it got thru).
As for the distributor I confirm it doesn't have a coil. Carburetor is probably (I'm pretty sure) not an original, but fuel does go thru (and a lot of it )

Thank you for helping a French man (well almost, lived 15 years in Bethesda MD and miss it very much).

 

Hello and thank you for your reply
I tried to join a picture but it doesn't seem to have worked.
So here I go again, a picture of the engine should be joined to this post ()
I confirm that there is no coil connected to the distributor and also that there is fuel going thru the carburetor (and a lot of it ).
If you need more pictures please let me know.
Again thank you for helping me.

 

The Orange arrow is the choke. Does it work?
When you go to start the car, with the engine cold, push the accelerator pedal to the floor and release. Look at the choke, does the choke close or stay open?
It should close when the engine is cold and open as the engine heats up. Yours is fully open, if it stays open all of the time it CAN cause problems with starting your engine.

The Blue arrow looks to be a vacuum pull off for the secondaries (or the four barrel). You have it capped off, I'm guessing that your secondaries (or four barrel) never open up.

 

Thanks again for helping a desperate French man. I will check the opening (or closing) of the chock (but I think it is always open). As for the secondaries (your blue arrow) I will check it also. But because of time difference (here it is 9: 30 pm for me) I will check it all tomorrow (I don't want to wake my neighbors if I get the car started ).
But one question, why don't I get a spark from the plug ? can the carburetor be a cause ?
Thank you

 

Hello, by the way the picture (taken on the car in California) shows the engine as it arrived here. I didn't cap off the secondary (your blue arrow). As it is I don't know where it should be connected to.

 

There should be a diagram on the underside of the hood showing the routing of all vacuum hoses. The carb won't be causing a lack of spark. That can only be the leads or the distributor. Assuming you have checked the plugs and they are good. You have an HEI distributor there. There is a coil which is in the distributor cap.

 

Not meaning to sound negative, but from your comments & questions, it sounds like you should leave ALL work on this car to someone who knows a bit about what you obviously don't know....I don't have a clue as to why your "mechanic/shop" couldn't find why it isn't starting right.....

 

Lets work one problem at a time. When you figure out if the choke is working correctly, we'll move on to the distributor and wires.

(You indicate the car can/does run, so there must be some spark working.)

 

Hello, and thank you for your reply to my problem.
I agree with you when you say I should leave ALL work to a professional but the reason is not the lack of knowledge but the lack of access to parts. I lived in the states (Bethesda Md) for 15 years and had the opportunity to work (rebuilt) V8 engine more than once, but at the time if I needed a tool or a part I only had to drive a couple of miles to a shop, now I have to order the part on internet and wait at least a couple of weeks for it to arrive (it might even take longer). The corvette I bought was always a dream car for me that I couldn't afford when living in the states and now that I have one in my garage I want to take care of it and not do stupid things because I would think that I am a better mechanic than I really am. So yes you are right when you say I should leave ALL work to a professional. As for my garage/mechanic not able to find the cause of the problem, to his defense when the problem of the car not starting in is shop, he did think he had fixed the problem by cleaning all the wiring in the fuse box. After his job the car would start every time with no problem. The starting problem is very random (it starts when it wants to ). When I went to my work to show off the car I had no problem starting it, but 3 hours later it let me down and never wanted to start (well it did after 20 minutes of people laughing and trying to push the car). Please if you have any suggestion as to what the problem is would be appreciated.
Thanks for your reply.

 

Hello, I started the car this evening (and it started quickly ) and yes the choke does close when I started the car. I didn't see any drawing of the vacuum system under the hood (or maybe I should remove the heat protection (not sure how it is called).
Again thank you.

 

Thank you for your reply.
I couldn't find a diagram on the underside of the hood. I didn't check all the spark plugs but when we checked it out at the garage (we pulled one of the wire and connected it to another plug outside the engine) we didn't get a spark.
Thanks for your help.

 

This should be the correct diagram.
It doesn't show every hose but has most of the main ones. Looking at the photo of your engine again there seems to be a few hoses capped.
I Don't think there should be a rear choke pull off at all, what is the number on your carb? (located drivers side rear)

 

Thanks for the diagram.
I just went over the car to check the number but I think I'll have to remove a few things before I can read it. On the side it says ROCHESTER QUADRAJET the number is something like .... S (or 5) 201 and below CAZ. I'll wait for daylight to remove the air filter and get all the number.
Again thank you for your help.

 

I would pull all eight spark plugs out and mark them so you know which cylinder they came from.
I just take an empty box and poke 8 holes in the lid (two rows of 4) and place the spark plugs upside down in the holes. Mark the holes 1,3,5,7 & 2,4,6,8 as appropriate for the cylinders.

Post a pic of your plugs so we can see how they are firing. Looking at all of the plugs at one time, it will be obvious if you have a bad cylinder or two.



In addition, I would buy these manuals to help yourself with the car. Either paper or a C/D version.





Here's a .pdf download from the GM Heritage Center that has some information on 79's.
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/doc...t-Corvette.pdf

 

Ok, thanks again.
I'll try to take as good a picture as you. For now I can't even see the spark plugs from the top of the engine. I'll probably will have to crawl under the car to remove them. I'll send you the picture once done (if I can get myself under the car )

 

Hello,
I removed the air filter assembly and took this picture (hope this is the number you are asking for).

 

Another cause could be evaporation of fuel in the carb due to ethanol. Fuel pump has to pump fuel to replace the evaporated fuel before it will fire.

 

A truck carb, but you can see where the vacuum to the secondaries connect.
http://www.carburetion.com/CarbNumbe...umber=17059201

If you haven't pulled the spark plugs yet, you can check the timing and see if it's set correctly. Do you know how to check timing? Own a timing light?