[Unknown User]

I know the Z's are prone to hard starts in cold weather, but mine seems to have more problem with moist air! It starts reasonably well when it's 40 and dry, but when it's warmer and it was sitting outside in the rain or there's condensation on the windows it's horrible! I need to crank it several times to get it to kick in, and then keep the gas pedal in for a while until it warms up a little. When it first starts it sounds like the timing is WAY off or it's not running on all cylinders.. but once it gets going it's fine and the timing checks out perfectly.

What do you think? Carburetor out of adjustment? Moisture in the distributor? Something else completely?

 

[larry]

I would say your problem is electrical. Make sure the distributor cap is clean and has no cracks. The coil needs to be clean and not have any grease/dirt that holds moisture. Check for a cracked coil. Finally, check the plug wires to make sure they are in good condition and have no cracks.

It sounds like your spark plug high voltage is bleeding off somewhere. That's why it sounds like it is not running on all cylinders, because it's not.

> I know the Z's are prone to hard starts in
> cold weather, but mine seems to have more
> problem with moist air! It starts reasonably
> well when it's 40 and dry, but when it's
> warmer and it was sitting outside in the
> rain or there's condensation on the windows
> it's horrible! I need to crank it several
> times to get it to kick in, and then keep
> the gas pedal in for a while until it warms
> up a little. When it first starts it sounds
> like the timing is WAY off or it's not
> running on all cylinders.. but once it gets
> going it's fine and the timing checks out
> perfectly.

> What do you think? Carburetor out of
> adjustment? Moisture in the distributor?
> Something else completely?

 

[Unknown User]

Re:Brian: change the wires-prob fixed

 

[Brian 72Z]

Re:Brian: change the wires-prob fixed

The coil, plugs, and plug wires are all 3 months old and high quality. The distributor cap looked like new and apart from a little dust was clean. The points looked a little worn (and will be replaced soon) but otherwise all of these checked out.

I did clean out my fuel filter (it somehow developed a hairball!) and found one of my choke cables had come loose (now fixed) and it's starting up better. It hasn't rained yet though.. any other suggestions?