You have a Chevy caprice 87 you can drive it all day but if you let it sit for a hour the only way its going to start is if you put starter fluid in th carb why is that you had the carb rebuilt?

Answer 1

there are several possible causes for this. Possibly need a new fuel pump, when the vehicle sits the fuel pressure drops because it drains back to the tank through the pump causing the carburetor to be empty. Check at home when it doesn't start by removing the fuel line - there should be pressure there with the engine OFF. BE CAREFUL OF FUEL SPILLING ON A HOT SPOT ON THE ENGINE AND CAUSING A FIRE!! use a rag to catch the fuel and have someone nearby with a DRY chemical extinguisher if you don't have much experience with this kind of thing. If this doesn't happen when the vehicle has been sitting overnight, then it is possibly fuel leaking from the carburetor that vaporizes in the intake manifold (vapor lock), causing the engine to actually be flooded. Also in rare cases the carb gets too hot and vaporizes all the fuel in the carb bowl. (Starter fluid will ignite just from compressing it in the cylinder causing the engine to clear the block) Even if the carb has been rebuilt, was it done correctly & adjusted correctly?, were the jets replaced? was the float valve replaced?