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Any tips on starting EA81 w/Webber in this cold weather?


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My 86 Brat don't like to start in this cold weather! -10 C she will eventually but if she's sitting in any colder weather than that she wont start. I don't have a block heater and can't really do one as I park on the street downtown. The plugs and wires are newer (6 months), 10w30 oil. The battery could be a few years old but I'm getting good 12 volts on it. I did shoot some quick start in the carb and that didn't help, neither when I tried boosting it.. Any thoughts gents?

 

 

 

 

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Basic lead acid battery stuff -

Fully charged, resting for 24+hours, should read 12.6V

Fully discharged, 12.0V

 

Battery end of life is 5 years, under ideal conditions.  Under the hood of a car is not ideal conditions.  EOL is something like 70% of original capacity.

 

A battery at 0 F is about 1/4 of what that same battery is at 70 F.  When new.

 

Especially in cold climates, get the biggest battery that will fit in the space, not the one listed in the cross reference book.

 

Jumper cable note:  typical store bough cables are pretty wimpy.  If you make a set with copper wire the size your finger, you can start a car with no [or totally dead] battery.  Yes, they are big, heavy and expensive.  But I have jump started construction equipment.

Edited by DaveT
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I would check the choke pull off adjustment.

Sounds like it may be opening the choke a little too much as the engine cranks.

 

You might try pumping the throttle a time or two before starting  to enrich the mixture w/the accelerator pump  in extra cold weather.

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Same here. When it gets well below freezing my 87 Brat is hard to start. I think my problem is moisture or condensation somehow forming in the fuel filter or pump. Reason being I have put a drop lamp at the pump/filter and it will start down in the teens relatively easy. Replaced filters multiple times only to have it reappear pretty quick.

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I don't know if others with the EA81 and Weber have the same problems as me. I really don't think mine is a Weber problem at all. I have had this Brat for over 17 years, maybe 14-15 years with the Weber. Some years it was my only four wheel vehicle. Those years were way less problematic. Just guessing but I believe it was because it was driven nearly daily. Some years such as recently I also had a second vehicle so it sat more. Seems the longer it has sat, say a few days or a week, the more trouble it is if say it is mid 25 degrees or less. I have gone through dumping the fuel tank from the drain into a bucket. Saw no water separation in the bucket. Installing new filters front and rear. Going to a different fuel station with above ground tanks. Same results with in a week in frigid cold weather. We also have high humidity here in Eastern NC, don't know if that is a factor but willing to bet it is. Currently get my fuel from a fuel distributor at his huge above ground tanks with no ethanol gas. I thought maybe the ethanol was causing the problem. Still does it if it has sat for more than a few days. It is weird but a drop lamp at the fuel pump/filter solves my problem. It will start in the teens then with just a few pumps of the gas pedal.

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I've had that problem in past winters with 20 degree weather.   The first thing I tried was dumping some Heet into the fuel tank. 

To my surprise, it worked.    The Heet somehow attaches itself to the water molecules and is then able to ignite.

  No problems this year .... we had our warmest winter ever (on record) here in Oregon.   Our daily average temp was like 48 degrees.

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