hard cold engine start

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Thread: hard cold engine start

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627

    hard cold engine start

    in these really cold temps lately , it takes quite a bit of cranking to get the briggs vanguard to fire up . maybe everyone else in cold weather finds the same . i was just wondering if a primer squeeze bulb in the gas line would help . otherwise it may be just a squirt of carb cleaner in the carb to help get it going . thanks , johnboy va.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627
    also choke is on to start . jboy

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    northern Wisconsin
    Posts
    889
    Give it half throttle while cranking at full choke.
    What it lacks in ground clearance it makes up for with traction.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Location
    Southwestern Ont Can about 5 miles from Lake Huron just north of the town of Goderich.
    Posts
    201
    I have a squeeze bulb plus as mentioned, full choke, half throttle and it fires up after 3 or 4 revolutions. That's at around the minus 10 Celsius or 14 F . Any colder than that and I don't need to go anywhere so if is colder than that it may not start. I think it would but I really don't care because it isn't going anywhere anyway. Are you using high octane fuel? There also is a difference apparently in winter and summer gas. Maybe where you are located the gas is the same all year round. I know up here the diesel fuel has a summer and winter rating. Tbone9 will know. I'm in the bananna belt compared to his location.
    .

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627
    thanks guys .... as i crank with full choke i've been pumping the throttle ...so i'm going out now and do half throttle . lets see . does high octane fire up better and is it much better anyway for the briggs ? usually use regular . jboy

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Atlantic Canada
    Posts
    54
    Just my own experience with the fuel bulb/primer: it helps me a lot. It seems that my fuel like to drain out pretty quickly, and if I don't prime it until I can hear it squirting into the carb bowl then I'm in for a very long crank time (just to get the fuel into the Carb). If your carb and lines are staying full though, then a primer bulb may not help you.
    As for the high octane fuel, there are a few benefits. Depending on where you live, it may contain a smaller percent (or just zero) ethanol in it, which is nice for our small engine fuel lines, gaskets, and pumps which sometimes don't play nicely with ethanol. It also stores a bit better than the ethanol stuff does (ethanol attracts water). I run it in all my small engines, but it's mostly just for the storage benefits.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627
    thanks bennett ...i also will check the vacuum line from motor to the fuel pump . if it has a small leak , i may not be getting good pumping until the engine fires up running . does the primer bulb go on the fuel any place before the fuel pump thats easy to get to ? . i usually add some sta bil 360 ethanol treatment additive to the tank . j.b.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    NJ 08533
    Posts
    5,049
    John you want to put an inline shut off near the tank, any tank vacuum would draw the fuel back in.
    Curious though, does your oil smell like gas?


    My new beer holder spilled some on the trails - in it's hair and down it's throat.
    Joe Camel never does that.

    Advice is free, it's the application that costs.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627
    jim ...i do have a shutoff maybe halfway between the tank and fuel pump . i'll check the oil tomorrow for gas smell . so to stop vacuum from drawing fuel back should i shut the valve after running ? seems like it's just in this cold weather it takes more cranking to fire up , otherwise there's been no problem. thanks , j.b.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    107
    How cold has it been where you live and do you keep your machine indoors when you're not using it? Where I live it's been(relatively speaking) really cold. We had below zero temps for over a week recently, as low as -16?F. Several weeks prior and since of only single digits above zero and a few days with highs in the teens or 20's. My machine is kept in my garage but it's not heated. If I haven't ran it in a week or two it'll need choke to start but it fires in 2-3 seconds usually. If ran more frequently I dont even need choke. I used it to go ice fishing and it sat for probably 45 minutes in below zero temps and it fired right up. Should I consider myself extremely lucky?
    Just wanted to share so you had something to compare to....Cup

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