Once again, just trying to learn the ins and outs of my new 2CV.

Like all my carbureted cars, this car is no exception to hard starting in the summer. So it's no surprise this car has the same issue. The problem occurs generally at temperatures above 27C with all my carbureted cars. It's as if the anti-pollution additives added to our fuel raise the boiling point.

I used to think running 100% gasoline instead of E10 and premium (93 RON+MON/2) or 97.4 EURO RON helped hot starts but it doesn't:

http://www.pencilgeek.org/2009/05/octan ... sions.html

If any of my cars (Yugo, Trabant, 68 Ford) sits for more than a 5 to 10 minutes, I have to crank and crank to get it started. Here lately it's been around 34C. With my 2CV I will crank it over a few times, stop then crank some more then slowly hold the accelerator to the floor and eventually it starts after 5 to 10 seconds. I know this has to be hard on the starter motor!

My suspicions is that when the engine is shut off, the fuel in the fuel bowel boils and the fuel bowl is empty. Which explains why I need to crank and crank. However my Trabant has a gravity feed fuel system and my Yugo has an electric fuel pump.

I added this cooling fan from an old air conditioning system (from the same car) on my Yugo which pulls outside air and blows it directly at the carburetor which seems to help.







It's controlled by an 82 C radiator fan switch I mounted in the intake manifold where the EGR valve was. It seems to help:



I noticed on the 2CV it appears that the exhaust pipes feed back into the intake manifold. Kind of like an EGR system. Is this correct? Am I looking at this correctly?

Just curious. Are these beneficial or counter productive?

Reason I ask is on my 68 Ford's 5.0 liter V8, in 1968 was the first year they put anti-pollution control devices on cars outside of California. This car has no EGR valve but supposedly exhaust ports drilled into the cylinder head that sucks exhaust gases back into the engine. And this can cause hot starts on American made V8s from that era. Allot of people plug these off with either freeze plugs or pipe plugs.

I was wondering if there is any advantage to blocking these ports off on the 2CV?

Or would this cause carb icing in the winter?

Correct starting technique for a hot 2CV engine...

1. Do not use choke.
2. Fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it depressed.
3. Operate the starter and as soon as the engine starts, release the accelerator pedal.
( At all costs, do not 'pump' the pedal. Every shot of neat fuel delivered by the accelerator pump decreases the chances of the engine firing up.)

Quote 'I noticed on the 2CV it appears that the exhaust pipes feed back into the intake manifold. Kind of like an EGR system. Is this correct? Am I looking at this correctly?'

The exhaust gases do not directly connect to the inlet manifold. They are just used to heat up the chamber below the carburettor. No major changes are needed on a 2cv. They are known to work in pretty well all environments.

1. Do not use choke.
2. Fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it depressed.
3. Operate the starter and as soon as the engine starts, release the accelerator pedal.
( At all costs, do not 'pump' the pedal. Every shot of neat fuel delivered by the accelerator pump decreases the chances of the engine firing up.)

Thanks for the advice.

I'll just go ahead and depress the accelerator before hitting the starter. Apparently giving the engine a chance to start on it's own by using just the starter is not working.

By the way. On the flip side. I was watching this video on YouTube and the girl explains on a cold start to turn the ignition switch on for a few seconds before starting the engine and pulling out the choke. The same procedure used to warm up the glow plugs on a diesel engine. I read this same procedure elsewhere so there must be something to it.

How does using this procedure benefit a cold start on a petrol engine? I've never heard of doing this. Well not at least on a petrol engine..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGgES2dP2mg

Part of the problem is trying to compare a 2cv to other marques

Well yeah

Each car has their own little personalities.

Just to add confusion - I have always stayed clear of touching the accelerator when warm and just cranked it.....each to their own I guess.....

Whereas cold start - never needed choke - just dab the accelerator a few times, a bit of gas and then crank.....

Always tried starting the 2CV with blipping the throttle when hot and having 'hot starting difficulties', until Ken mentioned Citroen recommended pushing the throttle to the floor and keeping it there until the engine has started. That did greatly improve things but then a 3 ton pick-up truck twatted the old girl in early Oct. last year and I didn't get the car back on the road until almost March, so had forgotten the correct way of starting a hot engine, and I've certainly been experiencing difficult hot starting this week. Probably doesn't help I'm down in hot Kent at the moment, and not at home in the frozen wastes of the Shetland Islands. I must try to remember to start it the right way tomorrow.

Also poor hot start is knackered coil.....just to add further confusion!