Won't start... newbie needing advice

[cwat1982]

Hello all,

Buggy ran last year with no issues, minus when cooler out a little slower to start.

Installed new dash this winter, along with a push start button and a new Bosch blue coil... besides that, same setup as last year. Now it won't start.

Pulled a plug and confirmed I am getting spark. Looked in carbs and getting good fuel flow. Just had the valve covers off and adjusted the rockers to a slightly tight 0.006. Did a compression test this morning and got:
- Cylinder 1 - 110
- Cylinder 2 - 103
- Cylinder 3 - 80
- Cylinder 4 - 75

Now I know this can't be good, but what is the next step? Pull 3/4 cylinder head and service, or do both cylinder heads need a service? Anything else I should be looking at?

Felling like , want to be feeling like

Cheers,
CWAT
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1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc

[67rustavenger]

[cwat1982]

Hello 67rustavenger,

I did not have the throttle wide open, didn't touch it the whole time... just held the starter.

I didn't squirt any oil in either. On that though, I have tried to start it many times over the last couple weeks, when I pulled the plugs for the test I could see they were a little "wet"... probably from being flooded after all the attempts without firing up. Would that have the same effect as adding a little oil?

Cheers,
CWAT
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1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc

[67rustavenger]

Regrading the wet plugs. The answer is no. Gas is not viscous enough to help the rings seal.
Run the test again as I described above and you will see different results.
Throttle wide open no oil. Then add a squirt of oil and run it again. Remember, 6 revolutions with the throttle wide open.
Post the results here.'
One other thing. Pull your dipstick and give it a sniff. If you smell gas. Make sure to change your oil soon. It will be washing all the lube off the cylinder walls.
Good Luck.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[Cusser]

[67rustavenger]

A safety note. Make sure to disconnect the point wire from the coil #1 post. Then you wont get any sparks from the ignition circuit. Plus if you have a petronics ignition, you wont destroy the module. It happens all the time.
Good Luck.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[cwat1982]

Hello again,

New compression test completed with the throttle wide open, and holding for 6 revolutions:
- Cylinder 1 - 142
- Cylinder 2 - 150
- Cylinder 3 - 150
- Cylinder 4 - 148

Looks much better!!! I did not do the oil squirt then recheck as I figured these numbers didn't justify it... let me know if I'm wrong and I will do it.

I pulled the dipstick and didn't get an definite gas smell, but it was off from the new oil so I have it draining now. Works out as I have to install a new oil temp. sender in the block off plate anyway.

Cusser, I pulled the plugs this morning and cleaned them like you said, will leave everything to air out till tomorrow.

As well, drained out all old gas, and filled with fresh.

Cheers,
CWAT
_________________
1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc

[cwat1982]

Not sure if this matters, but here is my distributer rotor positions when lined up to TDC and BDC.

It is a Pertronix Flame-Thrower Part # D1866. Is this a good distributer, or should I be looking to upgrade? I want easy to setup, with as little maintenance as possible.

Cheers,
CWAT
_________________
1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc

[Dale M.]

The Pertronix distributor is probably ok.... There is not a lot of choices out there, most new distributor seem to have their own set of problems....

If you did not move distributor during your work in engine compartment, distributor/timing is probably not a problem...

If you still have wont start issues it may be as mentioned above as the possibility of flooding or wiring to new coil...

Dale
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[cwat1982]

I will try it again, just waiting on a couple gaskets to be delivered before filling it back up with oil. If it doesn't work I will try the old coil.

On the flooding note. I know the engine is running rich, when I pulled the spark plugs last year they were black with carbon deposits. Should I be looking to adjust the carbs to fix this? The engine has EMPI HPMX 44 carbs.

Also I bought Bosch iridum spark plugs, I was going to throw them in after I had the running rich issue sorted out, should I just throw them in now?

Cheers,
CWAT
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1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc

[Thing_Man73]

This may sound like a dumb question but I don't see it mentioned above. Did you visually see the Spark Plugs 'Sparking' when you cranked it over with a plug grounded against the tin? That is one of the first things that I check is for coil spark and plug spark.

[cwat1982]

Hello Thing_Man73,

You bet, I pulled a plug and confirmed I was getting spark.

Cheers,
CWAT
_________________
1970 Joe Poty Sand Rover T Bug Pickup, 2095cc