Hi, I have a 1985 Toyota Corolla LE with a 1.6L, 4-cylinder carbureted engine with 186,000 miles on it. This is my secondary car, meaning it basically sits on the street for a few weeks before it gets driven around the block. Then it sits for another two weeks. This has been going on for the past 9 months. I can't really drive for more than a block at this time, since it needs a new exhaust head pipe and is really noisy, and I haven't bought oxygen and acetylene to fix it yet.
In the past, in order to start it, all I had to do was pump the pedal 4 or 5 times, and then turn the ignition. But in the past two months, it has been very difficult to start. For example:
I pumped the pedal 4X, then it wouldn't turn over. It cranked, but did not start. Then I waited a minute, and held the pedal to the floor while cranking. Still nothing. Waited another minute. Then I tried to turn the ignition without pumping the pedal. Still nothing. then I pumped it 2X, nothing. Finally, after doing this for a few more times, alternating between pumping the pedal 2-4 times, and not pumping it at all while cranking, it started, without me having to pump the pedal at all. This happened for the last three times I started the car. And just after I drive it, and turn the engine off, and try to restart it, it starts fine. I only have trouble when it has been sitting for a while.
Well, the last time I tried to start it, I could not start it at all! I struggled for about 15 minutes, and gave up! It cranked, but did not turn over. I pulled the battery, and the charge was fine, but I am recharging it with my Schumacher 225/125/50/10/2 charger anyway, since the starter was turning very slowly after a number of attempts to start it..
Gas tank is full with fresh gas. Spark plugs are 2 years old (Autolite), but have only 10,000 miles on them.
What am I doing wrong? Am I flooding the engine, or not pumping the pedal enough? I can't imagine that I am flooding it, since I always had to pump it
4X before starting, and it always started. Now, 4x is not enough. If have flooded it, how do I "unflood" it? I held the pedal to the floor for 4 seconds while cranking, and this did not help. I don't want to kill my starter. Is there some kind of trick to how many times I need to pump the pedal to start it?Thanks for any help!