Hey guys I need some advice on what to do because I've been having problems starting my ke70 wagon recently. It struggles to start and when it does the engine shakes , car dies and the idle is rough as hell for like a min. 

Also the carby has apparently been replaced along with spark plugs by the previous owner so I don't think they could be the issue. 

 

You using the choke? Does it have a manual choke cable in the car? Little doovy on the dash that you pull out. If it does check its operation.

My old 4kc liked a bit of choke for the first ~30secs. 

 

Edited June 1, 20179 yr by ke70dave

Hey Ke70dave thanks for replying .  I found and checked the choke and it seems to be operating fine. I'm really hoping it just needs a bit of a choke in the morning. I am planning on checking for vacuum leaks on the weekend though just incase. 

these engines have a serious mean hard 100 degree turn for air/fuel mixture exiting the carb into the manifold, and it really does cause a lot of fuel condensation and therefore an almost incombustible mixture scenario when very cold.
That along with a slightly weak spark due to old high tensions leads is enough to cause missfires that are complete show stoppers at cold idle.
When the thing is running, and hot, take it out for a gentle spin, and note the colour of the spark plugs insulators.
if they are nice and brown, then id say the idle circuit is supplying enough fuel. if they are white, there is definitely an idle circuit issue. If they are black, and sooty, u have a typical rich k engine setup haha.

Also, there are plenty of places there can be vacuum leaks that are not audible or testable form outside the carb, but i usually find a vacuum leak on these motors just makes them idle faster, possibly because they only run when set up ʞ©$ɟing rich to begin with.
If u find no leaks, check these places:
PCV valve, just replace it now with the OEM replacement and don't ask questions, your engine will thank you for it regardless of weather or not it affects the idle
The hot idle compensator valve, which lets air in during hot idle to counter for hot fuel bowl evaporation enrichment through the bowl vents into the airflow
the power piston valve circuit, including the breather and cylinder walls, which can be so worn out it affects the circuits ability to pull the piston up and causes an overly rich mixture on the primary throat during off idle operation, with this situation u will have poor idle and black plugs with no way to tell, when this happens u put the carby in the bin.
and finally, 
The rubber diaphragm in the brake booster, which almost always shits itself due to brake fluid leaking from the master cylinder into the brake booster drum and melts the rubber, this happens constantly because people dot realise the importance of flushing their brakes hydraulics properly.
 

Check the points gap & timing just in case, a cold engine does give the ignition a hard time.

If it is idling fine when its hot, then is a choke problem.  The cable should open the throttle first, then close the flap over. You might find you only noticed the flap closing, and someone has adjusted the choke idle screw & inadvertently made it useless so it just closes the flap and doesn't raise the idle.

 

Take a look.

Hey guys, I used the choke this morning and it started straight away but I think I should do what you guys said and double check everything.  Thanks for all the advice.