QuestionMy son recently bought a 1988 Chrysler 5th Ave for $100. (a bargain?) However, the car will turn over but won't start. The carburetor has been rebuilt and he has replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter. It still won't start.
It is most difficult to start in the mornings. Once in a while when it does start and after it warms up there are no other problems till the next day. It acts like it is not getting any gas. Sometimes he can get the car to start by spraying starting fluid in the carburetor.
Please help. My son cannot afford to put the car in the shop as he and his wife just had their second child (1/19/06).
AnswerHi Dyanne,
That is a true bargain. It is a vehicle that represents the end of an era, what with the carburetor and spark control computer on the air cleaner housing. I personally haven't worked on that set up so am somewhat at a loss as to what to suggest.
I would have your son take a look at the choke butterfly plate on the very top of the carb after he has stepped on the gas pedal once and it fails to start, in the morning, to observe whether the choke has closed, as it should when the engine is cold. If not, then try to close it manually and see if the car will then start. If it will then examine the choke linkages for binding up.
It is always going to help if the spark plugs are new and properly gapped, so see when that was last done or pull out a plug and examine it for crud and for gap. I believe he has a 6 cyl car there with 225 cubic inch displacement, in which case the plugs are tapered thread and should not be torqued to tighter than 10 foot pounds, and use no gasket. The gap should be 0.035 inches. So it would be safer to borrow a torque wrench if he doesn't own one.
Another item that makes starting in the cold a problem is the spark plug wires, and if those seem pretty old a new set of wires may help; you can assess the condition of the wires at night when it is damp by looking at them with the engine idling in a darkened area to see if you see any arcing along the wires the sign of which would support replacing them. Also check the posts on the inside of the distributor cap and replace that if they appear to be worn, and also the distibutor rotor could be ready for replacement. Those are tasks he can do himself if he has had any do-it-yourself experience in the past. He might want to get a Haynes manual for the rear wheel drive Chryseler/Dodge cars thru '89 (#30050) which he might find inexpensively, used, on eBay.
Those are some things to do to try and improve the cold starting situation. I hope this helps to solve the problem economically.
Roland
