Engine wont start. What to try next??

[wonderbus70]

I have a 1970 van with standard 1600 engine. It is a twinport engine with bocar carb and pancake oil bath filter. The engine is recon and has done about 10000 miles. The van was running well but started to play up refusing to start for the missus then eventually stopped altogether. It was turning over well but not making any effort to start.

I checked the points(all fine), plugs (getting a sparK) pump (working) but it was not making any attempt at starting just turning over. Thought problem with carb but not sure. was about to give up and call aa to tow me home and poured left over petrol into carb. The engine then started when my 10 year old daughter had a go!!

The engine ran fine for the 100 mile journey home apart from the manifold which iced up under the carb. It has never done this before! The manold under the carb was white. As I was worried about stopping the engine as battery was nearly flat I set off. After about 30 miles I stopped for fuel and it seemed to have sorted itself out. Manifold was cold but no ice.

The engine ran fine for a day or so then started sounding a bit rough. Now it won't start again. Tried changing the carb for old one I had but still nothing. Any ideas what to do next? Have a replacement coil that I have not fitted yet?

I have sprayed the carb with carb cleaner but can't see anything wrong with it.

 

[dazza1975]

Could be a lot of things bud,

Have you checked your timing?

Is it a blocked filter?

Worn fuel pump shaft on a standard fuel pump?

Sounds likes a fuel/timing issue but hard to tell.

Where u based?

 

[wonderbus70]

Not a blocked filter as just changed it before it started up last time.

Points are set right

Fuel is pumping out fine.

Will try changing the coil and putting carb back in and see if she will start.

I'm in walthamstow

May give aa a ring

 

[Dave.P]

Is your choke working ok ?
Also, the icing is caused by the pancake filter. It can't be stressed enough just how crap those things are ! You need a hot air feed ,from below engine to air filter as the standard filter has and clear heat risers on your manifold to cure icing. Chuck the chrome shit in the bin and get an o.g air filter with pipes to suit. You probably never noticed it because its been warm weather, now it's cold it will cause more problems.

 

[wonderbus70]

I am a numpty. I have got the old style oil bath filter noy a pancale filter so its not that. I have cleaned the carb and will try putting it back on see if it fires up. Will update on progress

 

[wonderbus70]

Cleaned up carb changed coil put it all back together. Nothing doing not even trying to start. Kept fiddling and trying till battery died. Any more ideas? I'm stumped

 

[gvee]

So you're turning over but not catching?

Have you tested for a good spark?
Pop your plugs out, have a look at them (anything look off?) and check/set the gaps.

How old are your leads? They don't last forever.

Check for a spark by pulling a plug and earthing it against the body. Stay clear and watch for a spark when someone tries to start it. Repeat for all 4 plugs if you have to.

 

[RePhil]

Hi,
Hope you've sorted this. If not & all the basics are set correctly, how old is your fuel?
You managed to start it previously by putting some fuel directly in the carb.
If the fuel in your tank is stale you may have water in the line.

Ethanol in our vented (non sealed) fuel systems allows water to be absorbed by the ethanol content - currently 5% I think over here. As we know it can rot older fuel lines.

See this US article - they are on 10% I think.

http://www.mossmotors.com/SiteGraphics/Pages/ethanol.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can you safely hook up a temp fuel supply ( like a lawnmower small fuel tank) ? Use fresh fuel.

Hope this helps. You never know.

Phil.

 

[Dave.P]

A few things you can check easily are..
With a mirror look if its squirting fuel down the carb throat when throttle arm is pulled down?
When you turn on the ignition ,press gas pedal down to floor, is the choke working ie the stepped arm goes to the top ,on the carb throttle lever?
Are you then starting it without pressing on the pedal again ? (Cold start procedure)
Did you strip the carb and blow compressed air through the jets when you cleaned it ? Was there muck in the float chamber ?
Just a few ideas to rule out the carb being at fault..

 

[Vanmoose]

Have you checked the timing? I had a similiar thing and it turned out to be the clamp holding the distributor was broken allowing the timing to move slightly.

When you say you've check your points I would suggest just checking again. This made the biggest difference on my bus even though I thought I had them set correctly they were slightly out. I checked them with a dwell meter once I finially got it started and again they weren't quiet perfect. I now have them spot on and the van starts perfectly, I don't even need to use the cold or hot start procedure.

 

[jonboylaw]

How good is the compression? Low compression will make it tough to start.

You have sparks, so a squirt of fresh fuel down the carb then crank it over.


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