43 LX HP hard starting smokey

"hello,

anyone have any ide

"hello,

anyone have any ideas why my carbureted 4.3L is hard to start and puff white exhaust for 2-3 mins afterwards until warm?
1993 Maxum 4.3L 530 hrs"

"Matt, Check to make sure the

"Matt, Check to make sure the choke closes upon cold start. Also, sometimes the carbs empty back into the fuel tank, so you have to crank the motor until the carb fills back. Pump the throttle, with the spark arrestor off and see if it squirts gas. if not the carb bowl is dry.

Now, these motors put out some steam in the exhaust, when warm. If you have steam upon start up, you may have a leaking manifold, or more likely a leaking riser or riser gasket. If you boat on salt water, and have not replaced risers and manifolds, it is likely time to do so."

thanks for the quick reply...

thanks for the quick reply... i did have the choke looked at and I was told it seemed to be working correctly... would I need to worry about the risers / manifold with FWC system? forgot to mention that... how much shoudl i expect that type of work to cost?

"If it's a full FWC system

"If it's a full FWC system, the only part of the exhaust that should be exposed to raw water are the elbows (risers). They run about $350 or so for a pair. Shop around, prices vary. Its a fairly labor intensive job. Not especially difficult, but if the bolts are rusted, it can be a real SOB.
Not sure how many hours a repair shop would normally charge, but at $70 -$100 per hour, that's going to add up pretty quick!"

so do you think leaky risers w

so do you think leaky risers would cause this smokey problem? what happens if they fail completely?

"Depending on where the risers

"Depending on where the risers are leaking, they could leak raw water down into your exhaust manifolds and back through the exhaust ports into the engine. At that point, your pistons will look like someone took a sledge hammer to them and you'll be buying a new motor. In salt water, it's a good idea to replace the exhaust, or in your case the risers, every couple to three years whether they need it or not. Bad exhaust is one of the leading causes of engine failure.

I would verify that you don't have a fuel delivery problem and then have the risers checked out."

"matt;
You don't say whet

"matt;
You don't say whether your cold start problem is at every start, or only after sitting a few days. It seems that carbureted 4.3's have a problem starting after sitting for a few days, most likely due to fuel leaking back out of the carb bowl into the tank. Since the elec. fuel pump doesn't run until the starter is engaged, it takes forever to refill the bowl, and the starting is tedious and usually flagrant with foul language.
I fixed this persistent problem with my 1996 4.3, as covered in my post of Oct 10, 2006 titled "UPDATE-4.3LX Cold Start Problem; Fixed". You may find it helpful.
Good luck,
Rod"