Hot wc52 engine hard to start

[mt_wc52]

Hi,

I have a wc52 engine which starts fine when cold, idles nice with good road performance. However, when the engine is hot, running for an hour in a slow parade, it is hard to start without letting cool down completely. Perhaps it just floods easily and I am not careful enough. Opening the hood to cool it down faster did not help nor did a little starting fluid. Naturally when it did start, it had a little gas in the system since I eventually flooded it.

I would assume carburetor tuning could help unless I am getting a vapor lock with my hot engine. Someone mentioned to me that my coil was going bad, allowing a hotter spark to be generated which would inhibit starting a hot engine.

Your thoughts? Thanks.

Al

[DavidGB]

Vapor lock

Although it certainly could be something else, that does sound very much like a vapor lock condition. Is your heat shield missing?
DavidGB

[carter davidson]

Years ago I had the same problem with my WC52 and made a new longer pump to carb line which was bent to lay further away from the exhaust manifold and that cured the problem.

[Gordon Maney]

Years ago I had the same problem with my WC52 and made a new longer pump to carb line which was bent to lay further away from the exhaust manifold and that cured the problem.

Good idea.

As a simple diagnostic, cool the line and pump with a wet rag and spray bottle. It will likely start then, confirming the cause. Engine overheating or marginal overheating symptoms can be relieved with a spray bottle on the radiator core, or garden hose mist if you have it available.

[mt_wc52]

Hot wc52 engine hard to start

Hi,

Thanks for the guidance. Come next summer, I will try it out on a hot day. I do have a heat shield so maybe extending the line away from the manifolds may help if cooling the line down first solves the problem.

So I assume the comment about a bad coil starting a hot engine is all wet then?

Al

[Gordon Maney]

Hi,

Thanks for the guidance. Come next summer, I will try it out on a hot day. I do have a heat shield so maybe extending the line away from the manifolds may help if cooling the line down first solves the problem.

So I assume the comment about a bad coil starting a hot engine is all wet then?

Al

Someone mentioned to me that my coil was going bad, allowing a hotter spark to be generated which would inhibit starting a hot engine.

Your coil could be going bad, yes, but the second part about hotter sparks causing difficulty starting is not correct. I would not immediately suspect the coil.