Hello all,
I recently picked up a new project, and I'm trying to iron out some kinks. I have found a lot of useful information here so I thought this would be a good place to ask for advice.


The toy:
1986 Jeep Cherokee
350 sbc (unknown block, I was told it was a brand new engine less than a year ago)
edelbrock 1406 carb
hei distributor
The idle says it definately has a cam (I LOVE the sound of a cammed v8)
turbo 350 trans
unidentified transfer case (it works, and I just haven't tried to look it up yet)

The symptoms:
When I bought it a couple months ago it would start after cranking for under a second, better than any carb engine I've ever owned. It started taking a little while to start first thing in the morning, taking longer to crank. Lately it has started needing to crank a while even after it has warmed up.

Other information:
Fuel pump is shiny and looks new
glass housing fuel filter looks brand new inside
plugs they were dry/black, I cleaned the connections and reinstalled
cleaned rotor/cap contacts (they were ok to start with)
wires look and feel new
-(note)- I turned the rotor by hand to check the advance springs, and there is no spring at all, turn it to a spot and it stays there

Does anybody have a suggested place to start tracking down my starting issue?

My plans for this weekend:
replace plugs, rotor maybe cap, hei module,
have coil tested
see if I can track down the distributor advance issue (free rotational play REALLY doesn't sound right to me)

FYI, I'm mostly used to working on efi distributorless engines.

Thanks for any input!

 

Also, I was thinking the choke might have something to do with it, but I'm not sure where to start on what I believe is an electronic choke.

 

I'd say choke issue, and the mechanical advance springs have nothing to do with starting. Take the air cleaner off with the engine cold. If there is an electrical connection it is an electric choke. Regardless if it's a hot air or electric the choke plate should be closed (key on if electric). I'd also set the timming around 8-10 deg. Could be the timming is too far advanced, that too will cause starting issues.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll check the choke tomorrow.

The advance on the timing doesn't have any "spring" to it, If you advance it by hand and let go it just stays there. I don't know what kind of rotational resistance there is to keep the timing to bounce back and forth between set and advanced when starting/running. I was almost expecting to hear someone say if you have an electric advance on the timing it will have the same symptoms. I figured this could be a potential cause, although I would have expected this to be an issue from day one.

 

My work day started a 5AM today and Ijust got home, needless to say, I didn't have a chance to check on it. Fortunately it started/ran today. I'll have to try again tomorrow (or just start ordering parts anyway)

 

I replaced the: cap, rotor, timing advance weights/springs, hei module.
When it was bolted back together it fired right up 3 times in a row.

There is another problem now though.

With the engine still not completely warmed up, I took it for a spin around the block and it bogged when the rpms got to 2500-3000 under heavy acceleration, and I also noticed my tach isn't working anymore, I must have tugged on the wrong line when I was swapping stuff over to the new cap.

I would have done more but I have limited time for vehicle maintenance today and I also had to replace some suspension parts.