Hello folks, I bought myself a 404 Automatique 1800 in late 2018. It was my first time owning an automatic 404 and I was skeptical about its performance, surprisingly it's not slow as I imagined it would be but it's less responsive taking off compared to manual versions but still has a respectable amount of torque and top end is the same as the manual versions. Overall it's a lovely car with a smooth gearbox and I love fooling around with D2 shifts
. Ever since I got the car I noticed that it has a hard start, the timing is correct. In the mornings it will always start at the turn of a key unless it's very cold but as you drive around the block and say you switch it off for just 5 minutes, you won't be able to start it right away, it will crank for a few seconds before it starts. My mechanic says it's percolating due to the modern fuels we use because in the mornings it always starts first time because the engine had been nice and cool overnight. There's 2 other people with 404s that I know and they don't have my problem and we are all using unleaded 93. Could the reason lie elsewhere? I once had a breakdown (ignition coil failure) and the first thing I removed was the air cleaner just to check if all was well witj the carb only to find fuel the carb boiling as if it were sitting on a hot stove. Does this perhaps prove the percolation? I then got advice from a carb specialist to get a bakelite spacer between the carb and the manifold as well as on the base of the carb, I have yet to do that, I'm struggling to find this bakelite material. At the moment I have used ordinary paper gasket between the head and inlet manifold as I couldn't find a gasket for the 1800, I'm told it uses an o-ring instead unlike the 1600? Could the paper gasket be a poor heat conductor hence the percolation? There's always a stain of petrol at the base of the inlet manifold. One more thing, there's smoke coming out of the breather pipe (I don't know if that matters) in as far as this issue is concerned, it's not a lot of smoke but it's enough for one to notice it but engine has normal power and is not using oil, it's also not smoking at all at the tailpipe. I've also noticed that the automatic radiator supplies cooling to the gearbox too. Is there a possibility that the radiator is strained in a sense that it has a double job of cooling both the engine and gearbox unlike in manual cars making it run a little hotter hence the percolation? When I got the car, it had a blown head gasket, I replaced the entire head with a reconditioned one but my mechanic suggested we keep the water pump as there was nothing wrong with it and it hasn't overheated in the period I've owned it which is almost 2 years now and it's a daily driver. In closing, if my issue is really percolation, what's the best way of approaching it? I can't find this bakelite/phenolic spacer? Thanking you in advance.
. Ever since I got the car I noticed that it has a hard start, the timing is correct. In the mornings it will always start at the turn of a key unless it's very cold but as you drive around the block and say you switch it off for just 5 minutes, you won't be able to start it right away, it will crank for a few seconds before it starts. My mechanic says it's percolating due to the modern fuels we use because in the mornings it always starts first time because the engine had been nice and cool overnight. There's 2 other people with 404s that I know and they don't have my problem and we are all using unleaded 93. Could the reason lie elsewhere? I once had a breakdown (ignition coil failure) and the first thing I removed was the air cleaner just to check if all was well witj the carb only to find fuel the carb boiling as if it were sitting on a hot stove. Does this perhaps prove the percolation? I then got advice from a carb specialist to get a bakelite spacer between the carb and the manifold as well as on the base of the carb, I have yet to do that, I'm struggling to find this bakelite material. At the moment I have used ordinary paper gasket between the head and inlet manifold as I couldn't find a gasket for the 1800, I'm told it uses an o-ring instead unlike the 1600? Could the paper gasket be a poor heat conductor hence the percolation? There's always a stain of petrol at the base of the inlet manifold. One more thing, there's smoke coming out of the breather pipe (I don't know if that matters) in as far as this issue is concerned, it's not a lot of smoke but it's enough for one to notice it but engine has normal power and is not using oil, it's also not smoking at all at the tailpipe. I've also noticed that the automatic radiator supplies cooling to the gearbox too. Is there a possibility that the radiator is strained in a sense that it has a double job of cooling both the engine and gearbox unlike in manual cars making it run a little hotter hence the percolation? When I got the car, it had a blown head gasket, I replaced the entire head with a reconditioned one but my mechanic suggested we keep the water pump as there was nothing wrong with it and it hasn't overheated in the period I've owned it which is almost 2 years now and it's a daily driver. In closing, if my issue is really percolation, what's the best way of approaching it? I can't find this bakelite/phenolic spacer? Thanking you in advance.