hard start and mileage

I recently had the exhaust system replaced on the mav and that solved a lot of the problems. It eliminated the popping noise and also increased my gas mileage some.
:bananaman
I'm still having a problem when I start the car. It's a 4door with a 302, 3speed Auto. When the engine is cold it won't stay running unless I hold the gas pedal down immediately after the engine cranks. I recently replaced the points with an Ignitor I. I also replaced the distributor cap, rotor and wires. The timing is set at 6BTDC. When I place the transmission in Drive or Reverse, the engine dies unless I press down the accelerator.

After the engine warms up, the car runs great.

I'm also wondering what the typical gas mileage on a 73 stock 302 4door is.
I'm still getting pretty poor gas mileage.

Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Jonathan

 

Two things to check first, timing and condition of the carb.

 

Sounds like a fast idle needs set.

 

fast idle and possibly the choke too. Gas mileage??? somewhere in between 10 mpg and 18 mpg.
Dan

 

Choke needs to be closed (loosen screws and turn it to the left) and raise your fast idle.

 

Turns out the automatic choke was set way too lean. I'm talking 45degrees lean. I turned it back to 3 rich and that fixed the problem. I also richened the fuel mixture to compensate. That fixed the starting problem, but now I'm having another problem. The pulldown on the other side of the carb. How am I supposed to set this? The lever doesn't even get high enough to touch the butterfly lever.

The high idle seems too high now. How do I turn this down.

Also, do I need to adjust the timing?

I'm taking a 400 mile trip this week in the Mav and would appreciate any suggestions on how to prepare the Mav, and also take care of it on the trip.

Thanks,
Jonathan

 

You can adjust the idle by turning a screw with spring on the carburetor. Counterclockwise will decrease your idle, clockwise will increase it. Remember that these cars are supposed to have a faster than normal idle when they first start up. Once the car starts to warm up, the choke opens and all you have to do is tap the gas to kick it down to normal idle. There should also be another screw with a spring on it to set the fast idle, usually it's a smaller screw. Checking the timing couldn't hurt, you can get a timing light at any auto parts store for a few bucks and it's pretty easy to check and adjust.

 

The high idle at cold start with the choke engaged is a screw on the fast idle cam (other side of carb) and not you main idle stop screw although you may have to touch the main idle up a bit for final result.
Remember, before cold starting, pressing the throttle about 1/4 allows the linkege to fall into position for choking and high idle before cranking.
This high idle will stay that way even after the choke has opened until you touch the throttle again allowing the fast idle cam to fall back onto it's stop, then the idle reverts to the main hot engine idle setting.