Reply To: Hard cold starting

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When I bought my 1931 Pierce model 42 in 1984,I had a terrible time starting cold. The fellow I bought it from said that’s the way it is, leave it alone. I really was afraid I was going to ruin the starter. I mean quite often I had to grind for two minutes. One day I took the air cleaner (silencer) whatever, off. With a mirror I noticed the little relief hole in the choke circle was left open! The spring had broken, such that the carburetor was taking in way too much air, defeating the choking action. A repair of this component resulted in a car that starts properly when cold.