Indy 500 hard start cold

[pat80flh]

Howdy folks, new old guy here, 68 years old with my first sled. I bought this 1995 Indy 500, manual start, about 7000 miles. Pretty well used, and I'm just going to use it to keep the walking trails open on my 33 acres of forested hills. It started easily in his garage and again when we unloaded it. Sat for a few days, and when I was ready to ride, couldn't get it to start. Gas was very low. I put a couple of gallons in it, and finally gave it a whiff of starting fluid. It fired up, i rode it about 15 minutes.

I always turn fuel taps off when I park, I really prefer to run carbs dry before I shut down. I didn't on this day. Two days later, same thing. Full choke, and I can pull on it forever with out a whimper. Little shot of fuel, runs and drives.

I pulled the carbs and dropped the bowls, they looked good, no junk, water rust or dirt. Main jets were clear. Pilot jets were a little cruddy and I bought a set of torch tip drills that worked great, I couldn't get a piece of .035 MIG wire through before. The enrichener tubes and passages are clear.

Still doesn't want to start, in my unheated pole barn. I didn't whiff it tonight. After 15-20 pulls I pulled off a fuel line, a little fuel trickled out, but nothing near enough to run it, in my inexperienced opinion. I guess tomorrow I'll whiff it, run it, and park it undisturbed and see what happens after the fuel lines are full.

How critical is the fuel pump to a cold start? I haven't pulled the plugs yet, but it runs too well for me to think there's anything seriously wrong with the ignition system. Or carb adjustments, for that matter. Any other quirks or critical issues I should know about this machine?

Thank you for your time.

 

[850Switchback]

They can be a miserable PIA to prime if the tank is not full. The line exiting the tank is around 3/4 up to the tank so you have to pull the fuel up through that fitting first.
Whats the condition of the fuel lines? The fuel pump just runs off impulses from the crankcase but is necessary to fill the bowls.
Is the impulse line from the crankcase to the pump in good condition?

 

[pat80flh]

They can be a miserable PIA to prime if the tank is not full. The line exiting the tank is around 3/4 up to the tank so you have to pull the fuel up through that fitting first.
Whats the condition of the fuel lines? The fuel pump just runs off impulses from the crankcase but is necessary to fill the bowls.
Is the impulse line from the crankcase to the pump in good condition?

Thanks for the reply. The impulse lines look ok, I haven't tried blowing through them. There is a check valve in line. Going to look at that today. Fuel lines look original, but intact. Only have about a 1/4 tank in it now, going to fill it, whiff it, ride it and see how it does after a cold soak.
oil line is seeping pretty good.

 

[pat80flh]

The one way vacuum check valve was blocked, not letting vacuum through. I took it out and put a splice in it. Started on the 4th pull, never whiffed, or drove it, so that's a good sign. I need to get and oil line filter, wants to come apart. I bypassed that too, just to hear it run.
Thanks again.

 

[850Switchback]

Those are the vent lines for the carbs, I forgot they had that check valve in the older sleds. If that was plugged you likely weren't filling the bowls properly.
The impulse line is regular black vacuum line that runs from the side of the crankcase to one of the pump ports to provide pulses for the pump.
Make sure you bleed out any air from that oil line once you get the filter replaced.