I have a 1987 LG4 with 4bbl carb. Everything is stock right now (I think). I've had the car for a couple of years and love it. The previous owner beat on it pretty good which became apparent a few times since i had it. When i got it I had to reset the idle on the carb, reset the ignition timing, and variuos other setting that i can't remember right now. I just remember being pissed that someone was screwing with stuff.

Any way, right now i am having trouble starting the car in the morning. I start the engine and rev it for fifteen minutes or so until it warms up. If I don't the engine will die after trying to idle for a while or if put in gear. if i'm in a hurry i'll keep my foot on the gas and put it in gear, this results in jerky acceleration and engine stall at lights.
I did a tune-up last weekend after noticing black spots in the snow under my tailpipes (oil). I assume this means bad valve guides and i'm ordering rebuilt heads (081 with 1.94 int 1.6 exh). I checked compression during the tune-up and found pressure in my cylinders anywhere from 175 psi to 195 psi (obviously too high) and the spark plugs showed signs of carbon buildup.
I was wondering if you thought the strange startup was due to the heads or if i have a carburator problem as well.
Thanks

 

Does your choke plate close when you open the throttle before starting the car?

 

Not quite all of the way, but pretty close. i saw the adjuster screw there by the electric choke round thing. should i adjust it to close all the way or leave it alone?

 

start at the basics, how cold is it outside? cuz i live in az and right now its hitting like the high 40's and i have to warm my car up before i go anywhere for atleast 5 or 6 minutes, it does that bouncing idle thing where it sounds like its trying to die but the coimputer is squirting fuel in to keep it going, but after i let it run it idles perfectly, i'd just chalk it up to older car syndrome IMO

 

Yeah that sounds about right. It's in the teens up here with wind chill, I think. But my car does the bouncing throttle thing in the summer too. While i rev the engine to warm the car i get alot of white gray, sometimes blackish, smoke.

 

White exhaust when it's cold out probably doesn't mean anything. Black is a different story.

There is a sticky in the top section of the Carburetor forum that contains the factory manual information on the E4ME carb. Not everything in it applies to our carbs, but everything you need is there. Look that over, and see if anything jumps out at you.

When dead cold, the choke butterfly should snap closed when you open the throttle a little (which is what you are supposed to do before you try to start the engine). If it doesn't, you need to figure out why.

There is more than one adjustment screw by the choke thermostat. Which one were you talking about? Until the choke works properly, though, you shouldn't be messing with either of those adjustments.

 

I doubt this is it, but if your choke seems funny then clean it up real good. Mine was sticking a few weeks ago and caused my car to run like crap. I attacked it with GUMOUT and my car ran great. But otherwise, it seems everyone else hit the nail on the head. If its not working right, make sure its adjusted correctly. Make sure that your choke light is on inside too when you start your car, the electric plug might have fallen out.

 

It's not a sticky choke, everything moves easily. I looked through the carb sticky and i want to check some stuff but it looks like i'll have to wait until te weather warms up a bit. I think she'll make it through winter.

 

So the voltage between the lead that goes to the electric choke thermostat is 14.5V so that needs to be changed according to the post in the sticky. Where is the oil pressure switch? That's another problem that I've been having, oil pressure guage is stuck at the max. Apparently that is related to the electric choke somehow, so i'm thinking maybe i should fix that before i go fixing the choke.