Hey Guys,
I've been out of town for about a month and summer has definitely hit here in DC. It's about 90 degrees out and I finally had a chance to take my 76 Warlock out for a drive. It started fine when I diary fired her up this morning. However, after I drove it to the autoparts store to pick up a few things it had a hard time starting back up when I wa done shopping. I got her home and let it sit for 4 hours. Came back out and she started up with no problem, took her for a spin and wouldn't you know it, when I got back home and turned the truck off she wouldn't start back up.

I am at a loss considering that I had the coolant system flushed out, new thermostat put in and it's run great for months. Could it be the starter?

How does it turn over when hot? Are you saying it turns over fine but won't start? Spinning over and starting are two different things.

My 80 stepside is doing the same thing (it's a 440). I think it's timing. I am going to put a high torque starter on it next week anyway so I will see if that helps at all. If not I'll play with the timing.

get a phenolic spacer under the carb, and try to find some "real" gas.

Slow turn over is either starter or the timing is too far advanced.

could be the battery cables, or the battery connection. I would take them off, scuff them up and the battery posts until they are all nice and bright. if that doesn't fix it, check the lug on the starter or the starter relay. simple things first

It's most likely the crap gas we have now boiling off.

After your next drive, take the aircleaner off and look down the throat of the carb. See if you can see any seepage anywhere.

In my truck when it's warm, I can't touch the throttle at all, and just crank it until it starts.

Otherwise find a phenolic spacer like mentioned above. It should keep the carb cooler to help prevent the fuel from boiling off.

since it starts up fine when the engine is cold, that tells me it's not the weather. are you running stock exhaust or headers? headers can cook starters, and make it hard to turn the engine over fast. We've had several days of 90 degree weather lately, and my '88 318 stock exhaust turns over and starts fine.

All good avdvice. I went thru a spell of hard starting the first summer I had my 76 True Spirit (factory 440)done. I'm in AZ where 100+ temps are common and normally drive in an area that is at 4500 feet above sea level.

The 2 main poblems were:

The crap E10 Gas which is the only thing we can get around here. E10 tends to expand/boil at a lower temp than non belnd gas. When you stop and shut off the engine the carb soaks up heat and the gas expands and boils over into the intake, flooding the engine. The cure for that was a 1" phenolic spacer and setting the floats (Carter AFB) down just a bit.

The other problem was having the timing just a bit advanced, setting it back a couple of degrees was the cure.

As far as turning over slowly I would check the battery cables (it doesn't cost anything to check and only takes a couple minuets. If you end up changing them get the biggest ones you can find (the hotter the cables get the more resistance they have...bigger cables, less resistance).

On really hot days I after I've driven the truck for a while when I restart it I stil need to open the throttle about 1/4 and it will crank several revelutions but it always starts and runs great.

Check the weight springs on your distributor, one(probably not both) may have broken or came off it's peg. Had the same problem with my 340(factory 1" spacer) when it was new, did the same thing as your truck. Spacer would help too as I've seen gas boil out of the carb, E10 boils at a lower temperature.

Your problem is the truck is vapor locking. Most likely at the carb but it could also be in the lines. A good electric fuel pump would give you the best results.

Thanks for the advice guys. I certainly appreciate it. One thing that happened this morning that was a little eye opening was the fact that when I stopped to get as the truck wouldn't start back up. There happened to be a mechanic nearby and he suggested we try and jump the truck. He hooked a jump pack up and the engine fired right away. I'm going to replace the battery cables and possibly te battery to see if that helps.

Something is definitely off, why would a jump pack all of a sudden make the engine fire even when it's still hot?

Here's another thing you might look at. Not sure if a truck has the same emission stuff as a car but our 76 Coronet 318 had the exact same thing happen to it. Took a long time to figure out but a friend found it. Just pull the sensor off the front of the radiator, I think it has 2 vac hoses attached to it. No fluid will leak because it's sealed but that piece went in the garbage on the spot. Fixed!

Final update: Issue Solved.

It took a while to track down what was going on with the truck. Turns out it was two things. First, the timing on the engine was off, re-timing the 318 after giving it a full tune up solved the long winded crank start issue. Second, the hot start issues was solved by putting in a new Die Hard Gold battery and putting new battery cables on. The Warlock starts up right away and I can run her all day turning her off and on at will again.

I took her out today and used her to pick a refrigerator that my parents didn't want anymore. My BBQ shed now has cold storage all thanks to you guys helping me work through the ignition system on the Warlock.

Thanks,

MP