84 Sprintfire- starter fluid only

[Ramanonos]

Just got a Sprintfire running with my 12yr old son. We cleaned tank, carb, new plugs New wires. Runs smooth and rips. But can only start by spraying starter fluid in carb. I can see that the fuel is not reaching carb until she kicks over for at least 2 secs. Would prefer a permanent fix. Starter fluid never good for an engine. Plus the airbox rubber boot is a monster pain to get on/off carb. Ideas? Fuel pump seems fine once running. Hopefully the starter fluid spray is not how it goes. The rubber airbox boot going on/off to get carb access is killing me. Thanks!

[raiderfan]

Is the choke plunger working correctly? Adjusted correctly?

[Clint]

I have a similar problem with my 79 Jag. I'd appreciate anybody who had a step by step (nice and slow) or a youtube link on how to properly adjust a choke plunger. Although I'm sure a lot of us here know how already, I bet there are a lot of us here who don't and would like to learn how to do that right. Thanks,

Clint

[Norton]

Is fuel bleeding back into the tank when not running? If so, did you put new pickup screen "with checkball" in the tank suction hose? Then I hate starting a two stroke on raw gas or spray. I use mixed gas (even on injected models) for startup when needed. Wish I had a sled like that for the grandchildren when they are here! Good Luck,

keith

[Clint]

Hey Andrew,

basically pull the carb off so you can hold it in your hand(-but is still all hooked up). There should be a little tube when you look into the air intake that you can see the gold choke plunger. It should be all the way down when the choke is off. when you open up the choke you should see it move up and have an opening. There is the short version.

Clint

[nick80lf]

Also don't forget that the 30+ year old rubber insert in the tip of the plunger might have taken a set.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[JDT]

Leaky crank seals could be your problem.

If not now, soon.

[sledhead16]

It could be a multitude of things, but for now the easiest is to put an Oz of 50:1 premix down each plug hole and start it that way. A permanent solution would require more trouble shooting and trial testing on your part. Remember a brand new clean fuel system and clean carb set to specs eliminates lots of guessing, see vintagesnow.com

[rjb]

There should be enough gas in the bowl of the carburator to get the engine started. I would start by checking the compression and making sure the enrichment valve is working. It would probably pay to pull the tank and clean the entire fuel system. I just learned this lesson on a 440 trailfire.