On Tue, 24 Jan 1995, Thomas Story wrote:
> Thanks so much to everyone who replied about my Spit starting troubles.
> I've set the distributorto fire on No 1. cylinder...still not starting. I
> tried switching the plug wires around, nothing. The engine turns over very
> fast, it's not sluggish at all, but it's not even making an attempt to
> start. Question...Could there be something so completely out of whack with
> the carb (Stromberg 150CD4) as to not start? I've pulled the fuel line out
After you try to start it, pull a plug, look at it, and smell
it. If it is wet and/or smells of fuel, it's getting fuel. Dry all the
plugs before your next trial if they are wet. My guess is it isn't fuel.
To get the approximate timing, put the #1 cylinder on TDC by determining
that both valves are closed and there is compression. Look at the timing
mark--is it reasonably aligned with the pointer? If it isn't pretty
close, then either you were mistaken about TDC or there's trouble in River
City. If the mark is aligned, make sure the dist. rotor is pointing to
the wire to #1 plug, and that the other wires are arranged around the cap
in correct firing order. (Make sure you know which way the rotor rotates
when the engine is running.) Identify the wire from the coil primary to
the distributor. Connect a 12V test lamp between either end of this wire
and a good ground. Turn the ignition on. Loosen the distr. and rotate it
until you find the point where the lamp just lights (the points just
open--it is the old VW beetle timing method if that helps you as a former
VW owner). Tighten the distributor. It should be timed to fire at TDC,
close enough to start the car.
Remove #1 spark plug, and attach its wire to it. Hold the side of the
spark plug against a good ground, and manually open and close the points
(uh, oh yes, don't have your hand on the secondary wire when you do
this). A fat spark should appear at the gap.
Install the plugs and try to start the car. If it does not start, some
brave souls would try to squirt a little gas into the intake manifold
using a pump type oil can filled with gas, and try again. I'm not sure I
would want to try it, given that the engine valve timing is unknown and
backfires are fairly likely. For sure, don't pump gas in *while* the
engine is cranking. If it still does not start, I would begin to worry
about the valve timing. Maybe the timing chain has jumped. Have you
checked compression?
Warning--try at your own risk. If you burn the car and house down, I
don't want to hear about it.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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