230 sl runs rich when cold

[gagsmerc]

hello,  I have a 230 sl 1966 fuel injected engine.  My concern is that when the vehicle is started cold, there is a lot of black smoke emitted from tail pipe(when revved) and the vehicle runs rough.  As the motor runs and warms up this improves and dies down but is still quite rich (noted by eyes watering badly at tail pipe) but black smoke has died down (when revving).  I have tried to understand the relationship between cold start valve and the air intake, it seems to be injecting more fuel but no noticable increase in rpm to compensate.  I have a merc oem manual but this jumps all over the place and is very difficult to understand. 

Please help.

[ctaylor738]

This is a common problem, and there is a large amount of information about the starting aids and how they work.  You can do a Search on "starting aids" or "cold start".

A good place to begin is this thread: http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=5486.0.

You should also look at the Linkage Tour post "stuck" at the top of this board.  It may be that your cold start/warmup is OK, but your linkage is out of adjustment.

[ja17]

Hello,

One additional bit of information.........  check to make sure that the small air filter on the injection pump is not clogged.  If it is clogged, the engine will run very rich  when warming up.