Need Advice. Engine won't start

minimember · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:00 am Post subject: Need Advice. Engine won't start

Hello guys, I just finished rebuilding my 1st type 1 engine and threw it back in my bay window, but she won't fire.

I pressurized the oil passages, she cranks but just won't catch. Battery is charged, I tested the coils primary and secondary resistances. Statically timed my svda distributer to 7.5btdc. I tried changing the plug wires and statically set my air fuel and idle screws both 2.5 rotations backed out.

The fuel filter shows a few bubbles when the engines cranking.
I didn't try spraying starter fluid in the carb to see if it's a fuel issue.

Does anyone have any suggestion on other things that I can check? I feel like I may be missing something simple.

Vest Failure · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:27 am Post subject:

Hi
Have you actually checked you have a spark? Problem has to be spark or fuel.

Brian · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:01 am Post subject:

"if its not an electrical problem it can be solved with a hammer"
Definitely check the distributor first and see if there is a spark.
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Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

If you have spark and fuel and it still will not even try to start, it is likely you have the dizzy out of time by180*, try rotating you wires around the cap by 180* and see what happens.

wcfvw69 · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:45 am Post subject:

Pull the air cleaner off if it's mounted. Look down the carb with a flash light. Pull the throttle arm. Is it spraying gas down the throat? If not, trouble shoot why.

If it's getting gas, verify you have spark. Do you have power to your coil with the key on? Are your spark plug wires in the right holes?
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minimember · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:37 pm Post subject:

Thanks everyone for the fast responses,

I'm at work all day, so won't be able to trouble shoot until tonight/tomorrow. I did pull the coil off the distributor cap and held it up to the frame and it did spark, I also double checked the order the plugs are in and both the #1 valves are closed when the distributer rotor is facing the #1 plug. #2's exhaust is open and intake is closed (which seems correct in my head assuming the distributer rotates counter clockwise) Could something as small as a bad condenser be the problem? is there a way to check that? I'll also try pulling the throttle and seeing if I can see the fuel squirt…I'll keep you posted, any other suggestions are more then welcome!

Tcash · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:48 pm Post subject:

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?s=91e...amp;page=2

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

minimember · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:32 pm Post subject:

I meant to say clockwise. When I rotate the pulley to TDC, and the rotor is pointing at the number #1 spark plug, the #1's valves are both closed with a .008" gap set for initial break-in... with the pulley in the same spot, the #2 cylinder's open and intakes closed, which makes me think that it is on exhaust...Can you confirm that this is correct?

Just to be on the safe side I tried rotating the plugs 180 degrees and still no fire Sad

udidwht · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:41 pm Post subject:

Leave the valves at .006. Not likely related to the no start issue but your not doing the engine any good by setting them at .008.
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Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

minimember · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:24 pm Post subject:

So the coil is getting spark and the condenser is showing resistance when it should, but the it appears that my pict-3 carb is not getting any fuel when I open the throttle (I am assuming that I would see fuel come out of one of the three tubes that sit above the throttle bode.

The fuel filter has filled with gasoline, which makes me think that pump is working but I really dont have much experience with trouble shooting carburetors.

Can anyone give me advise on how to go about trouble shooting my lack of fuel issue. Possible causes, things to check, etc...

Thanks in advance,
-Craig

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

With the engine off get your head above the carb (or use a mirror) and see if any gas squirts down into the venturi when you stroke the throttle open. If it squirts then you must have at least a bit of gas in your carb.

If no squirt, get a 10cc syringe and fill it with gas and squirt the gas down the bowl vent (the upward angling tube above the venturi. Repeat a couple of times and then try to start it. Always reinstall the air cleaner when messing with the carb as you don't want flames filling the engine compartment if you get a back fire.

If you do get a squirt, then pump the throttle a few times to see if that will give you a start.

Once you do get it running add some quality Carb/FI cleaner to the tank to try and get things clean in the tank, pump, and carb.

minimember · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:36 pm Post subject:

So it does squirt when when I pull the throttle...but does not fire.

So now my thinking is back to spark. When I held the coil wire to ground and cranked the engine, I saw a pretty significant spark, but not so much when I tried the same thing with one of the spark plugs...Could that be a clue? would a bad condenser affect that?

I should also mention that when I initially wired the coil up and tried to turn it over, I accidentally had the green condenser wire connected to the positive side of the coil and the coil got super hot. Thought that I could have fried one or both the condenser and coil, but when I tested the resistance of the coil, I got 4ohms primary and 8k ohms secondary, which seemed around what it should be, and the condenser would switch from showing open to resistance as the points came in contact with one another. Trying to get to the bottom of this issue, any other suggestions/ advice would be more then helpful!!!!!

Tcash · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:47 pm Post subject:

I accidentally had the green condenser wire connected to the positive side of the coil and the coil got super hot.
Ha, when I do that the green wire starts smoking and burns in half.
Time to replace the condenser.
Good Luck

minimember · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:10 pm Post subject:

I hope your right. Wire doesn't show visual signs, though I did smell it, but When I resistance test the condenser wire and rotate the rotor, the meter reads open until the points close and then it reads resistance (the ohms escape me off of the top of my head). Thoughts? replace it anyways??

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

Hooking the condenser/points wire to the wrong side of the coil should not hurt the coil at all, don't know why it got hot doing this as it should have zero current flow. The damage to the condenser would be restricted to the wire and would not have hurt the condenser itself. It would heat the points up pretty bad and likely make them unusable.

If you have good spark on the coil wire and a poor spark at the plugs the plugs wires and the cap and rotor would all be suspect.

minimember · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:09 am Post subject:

Here's where I'm at today. Carbs definitely getting fuel, I checked with a mirror, and pulled the throttle.
Issue is with spark. The spark coming out of the plugs and the coil wires is Not Blue, rather a thin yellow spark. Though all my resistance tests showed that everything was falling within spec. I had a bunch of extra parts so I decided to change the plugs, points, condenser, and all of the wiring to the coil, set the gap to spec on the plugs and points...and still yellow.

So here's what I'm thinking. Battery had been sitting for 8 months and was the same one that came with my car when I got it 2 years ago...I had a trickle charger but neglected to keep it on there until the day before it was ready to fire it up...I also may have left it connected to the bus and just noticed I had an interior light that's switch was broken and didn't want to turn off. I checked and the water levels are a bit low and there might even be sign of acid on the outside. So perhaps it had a bad cell, and just isn't kicking out the amps needed to get the blue spark.

My biggest question is: would a bad battery cell prevent my car from getting enough amps to turn over when I tried to jump it using another car? I've read online that bad cells can do that, but wasn't sure. I also tried disconnecting the old battery and starting it just from the jumper cables and it was even a weaker crank.


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