Club 80-90 Forums

I have a 1.9 DG which always takes ages to start from cold. I have no manual or handbook but I believe the proper handbook gives a starting procedure. Can anyone fill me in or send me a copy scanned in please?

I personally depress the accelerator twice then crank it without touching the pedal until it fires.
The auto choke engages the fast idle, once started, a blip on the throttle settles the idle down.

I would certainly check that your choke is operating properly though.
And that your timing is ok.

Thanks itchyfeet. I have the 57kw DG engine. I was unaware that I needed to depress the throttle fully before starting to engage the choke. This explains a lot! I will have a go tomorrow and see if my starting improves.
Thanks again. Fantastic help.

Theres a less than helpful saying that a v-dub will start on the smell of an oily rag. Theres some merit in that since mine will start even if I leave the pedal well alone but Kev is spot on with starting technique. You need good leads, plugs etc, a good battery and a supply of fuel. If it doesn't go then, you'll need to investigate a bit more.

Could someone please expand on why you...

1:Depress the clutch when starting ?
2:And don't run it stationary when cold?

I don't do the first one
Definitely do the second

Simple. Pressing throttle sets the autochoke in correct position. Like most v-dubs, if you leave it sitting there running from cold, the autochoke comes off before the engine is actually warm enough so it'll more likely cut out.

Depressing the clutch separates the gearbox from the engine.
Therefore you're not turning that with its cold thick gear oil on start up, which allows a little more force from the starter to just turn the engine over.

shrig1969 wrote:Could someone please expand on why you...

1:Depress the clutch when starting ?

coz it will lurch forward, cos you should be leaving it parked in gear.......

I like the bit about noisy tappets being normal from new

CovKid wrote:Simple. Pressing throttle sets the autochoke in correct position. Like most v-dubs, if you leave it sitting there running from cold, the autochoke comes off before the engine is actually warm enough so it'll more likely cut out.

kevtherev wrote:Depressing the clutch separates the gearbox from the engine.
Therefore you're not turning that with its cold thick gear oil on start up, which allows a little more force from the starter to just turn the engine over.

Tried pressing the throttle before starting my engine today and it made no difference. I will have to have a proper look to find out why my van's choke doesn't seem to work!

keynsham1 wrote:Tried pressing the throttle before starting my engine today and it made no difference. I will have to have a proper look to find out why my van's choke doesn't seem to work!

There are two parts to the choke operation. One is the fast idle that is set by pressing the throttle pedal before starting the engine. The other is the choke flap which restricts the amount of air in the mixture till the engine is warm.

To check the fast idle, start by checking whether the fast idle screw gets correctly set onto the very top step of the cam when you press the pedal on a cold engine. If not then the mechanism may be broken or gummed up.


To check the choke flap operation, take the pancake off the top of the carb and check that the choke flap (the part with the number 4 stamped in it in my photo) spindle seems to be connected via a spring - if not you will be able to turn it to any position freely and it will stay there. If it doesn't seem to be connected via a spring, you may have a broken part - we can help with that


My photo shows the flap completely closed, but on a cold engine there should be small gap of a couple of mm to let a bit of air past.

I am still looking at my starting problem. If I just touch the throttle, the choke is set on the third cam. However, if I push it fully down then the cam moves back until the fast idle screw is back on the second step. This is not supposed to happen before the engine is started, but is when you first pull away. Any ideas?