wcourt3010

I recently had valve covers on my car with no breather and no pcv valve running to the carb. subsequently all of the crankcase pressure and oil mist was coming out the oil filler tube and the car wasn't running quite as nice as it should and the oil mist was fouling the air cleaner etc. i had those big tall cast steel valve covers (chevrolet performance from summit) with oldsmobile on them.

so i've switched back to standard valve covers and a breather on the driver side and a pcv valve going to the rochester 4bbl on the passenger side. the car runs much better and is a joy to drive. but i've noticed that when cold it will not start unless i pump the gas a couple of times after i've set the fast idle. not sure what to adjust. once i get it running it warms up nice and won't die. any ideas?

btw, fuel pressure is fine and before i put those no-breather valve covers on i did not have this problem. i think its some adjustment to the choke or fast idle cam but can't figure it out and have to wait for the engine to completely cool before i can tell if any adjustment i made worked.

hookem horns

Definitely need crankcase ventilation and there is no downside to the simple and effective PCV system.

The proper choke adjustment procedure is in the tune up section of the service manual. It's available online on the Wildaboutcars site if you do a search. Generic short answer is to loosen the hold down screws on the plastic choke spring cover and rotate until the butterfly just closes when cold. It says rich/lean on the cover - turning towards rich adds tension and delays the choke opening, lean does the opposite.