Satsuma cant hold idle

[Pantsless_Goose]

Finally got the satsuma running and all was good. saved and exited, next day i come back, load in and now the satsuma cant idle. I've already replaced the spark plugs twice and no change. at my wits end right now

To add: The distributor and valves are timed right i think. Carb is tuned with the afr gauge to around 14.7.

EDIT: Ended up replacing the crankshaft and all 4 pistons. car runs great now, just gotta re tune the distributor and valves

[Blackjack]

Might be the fuelpump

[[CZ]PatVas]

could be also the crankshaft

[Kennedy]

If my car engine is cold, it also can't idle in a stable way and I pull out the choke a bit until the engine warmed up. I don't know, if that's how it's supposed to work, I don't know much about cars, but it worked so far. My parts are all >40%. And I read, the AFR reading is right only in the 3. or 4. gear. It's not off by much when the car is idling, but the reading is a bit higher. ~15,5 works for me and it's around 14,5 in 4. gear at 100km/h.

[[CZ]PatVas]

Originally posted by Kennedy:

If my car engine is cold, it also can't idle in a stable way and I pull out the choke a bit until the engine warmed up. I don't know, if that's how it's supposed to work, I don't know much about cars, but it worked so far. My parts are all >40%. And I read, the AFR reading is right only in the 3. or 4. gear. It's not off by much when the car is idling, but the reading is a bit higher. ~15,5 works for me and it's around 14,5 in 4. gear at 100km/h.

yea thats not suppose to happen, car should be able to idle even when cold, in my personal experience it often resulted being the crankshaft that caused this issue

[Brittimus]

Originally posted by CZPatVas:

Originally posted by Kennedy:

If my car engine is cold, it also can't idle in a stable way and I pull out the choke a bit until the engine warmed up. I don't know, if that's how it's supposed to work, I don't know much about cars, but it worked so far. My parts are all >40%. And I read, the AFR reading is right only in the 3. or 4. gear. It's not off by much when the car is idling, but the reading is a bit higher. ~15,5 works for me and it's around 14,5 in 4. gear at 100km/h.

yea thats not suppose to happen, car should be able to idle even when cold, in my personal experience it often resulted being the crankshaft that caused this issue

I think he’s saying it can idle with the choke out, but can’t with the choke in when it’s cold. That is normal.

The choke changes the air fuel mixture by increasing the vacuum in the carburetor which causes more fuel to be sucked into the engine. When the engine is cold, the air it is ingesting is also relatively cold. Cold air is denser and therefore needs more fuel to maintain a proper AFR. Otherwise the mixture will be way too lean. However once the engine gets warm, the air is now also relatively warm and it is much less dense. Less air also means you need less fuel, so you push the choke in and use the carburetor exactly as you tuned it. If you leave the choke out you’ll run really really rich, wasting a bunch of fuel and possibly flooding your engine and shutting it down.

All that said, fuel pump and crankshaft are good starting places. Could also be the alternator but you didn’t mention the battery being dead so I’ll assume that’s not an issue.

[[CZ]PatVas]

Originally posted by bratliff121:

Originally posted by CZPatVas:

yea thats not suppose to happen, car should be able to idle even when cold, in my personal experience it often resulted being the crankshaft that caused this issue

I think he’s saying it can idle with the choke out, but can’t with the choke in when it’s cold. That is normal.

well then if my car can idle without choke does that mean its not normal?

[Brittimus]

Originally posted by CZPatVas:

Originally posted by bratliff121:

I think he’s saying it can idle with the choke out, but can’t with the choke in when it’s cold. That is normal.

well then if my car can idle without choke does that mean its not normal?

No, it just means you’ve tuned your carb to run rich enough that it doesn’t need the choke. Mine is the same way, but if you tune it to 14.7 or so it won’t start and idle without the choke, or at least it won’t idle well and will backfire a lot.

[Pantsless_Goose]

Originally posted by bratliff121:

Originally posted by CZPatVas:

yea thats not suppose to happen, car should be able to idle even when cold, in my personal experience it often resulted being the crankshaft that caused this issue

I think he’s saying it can idle with the choke out, but can’t with the choke in when it’s cold. That is normal.

The choke changes the air fuel mixture by increasing the vacuum in the carburetor which causes more fuel to be sucked into the engine. When the engine is cold, the air it is ingesting is also relatively cold. Cold air is denser and therefore needs more fuel to maintain a proper AFR. Otherwise the mixture will be way too lean. However once the engine gets warm, the air is now also relatively warm and it is much less dense. Less air also means you need less fuel, so you push the choke in and use the carburetor exactly as you tuned it. If you leave the choke out you’ll run really really rich, wasting a bunch of fuel and possibly flooding your engine and shutting it down.

All that said, fuel pump and crankshaft are good starting places. Could also be the alternator but you didn’t mention the battery being dead so I’ll assume that’s not an issue.

I wish it could idle at all lmao. choke out or not i can start it and it will immediately lose rpms and die, i can only keep it running by applying throttle

[Brittimus]

Originally posted by Skweezy Jibs:

I wish it could idle at all lmao. choke out or not i can start it and it will immediately lose rpms and die, i can only keep it running by applying throttle

Alright then there’s a few things I’d check. It’s possible that your carburetor is just adjusted too rich and you’re flooding the engine, but you did say it was running before so that’s probably not it.

I’d swap the fuel pump (quick easy and cheap even if you’re wrong) and see if that helps. If it doesn’t then your issue is probably unfortunately the crankshaft. If you do have to tear down the engine I’d recommend replacing all four pistons too while you’re in there. Unless you just really enjoy pulling the motor and taking it all to bits over and over again.

[Pantsless_Goose]

Originally posted by bratliff121:

Originally posted by Skweezy Jibs:

I wish it could idle at all lmao. choke out or not i can start it and it will immediately lose rpms and die, i can only keep it running by applying throttle

Alright then there’s a few things I’d check. It’s possible that your carburetor is just adjusted too rich and you’re flooding the engine, but you did say it was running before so that’s probably not it.

I’d swap the fuel pump (quick easy and cheap even if you’re wrong) and see if that helps. If it doesn’t then your issue is probably unfortunately the crankshaft. If you do have to tear down the engine I’d recommend replacing all four pistons too while you’re in there. Unless you just really enjoy pulling the motor and taking it all to bits over and over again.

I ended up replacing the fuel pump with no improvement. However i have noticed that the whole car is shaking violently. gonna replace the crank and pistons and see how that does

[VisualKitten]

Same here, car is not idling at all, dies immediately unless throttle is applied and then it shakes violently.

[Brittimus]

Originally posted by VisualKitten:

Same here, car is not idling at all, dies immediately unless throttle is applied and then it shakes violently.

Have you replaced your crankshaft?