Van won't start! Any ideas?

[vwwinston72]

Hi, for some reason my van won't start,

it did start first time and i even drove it round the block, came home parked up went to take it for another quick drive and it wouldn't start at all even with jump leads so i ended up pushing it back on the drive and swearing loads!

It turns over fine but just doesn't seem to spark into life, any ideas about what could be causing this?

Any help would be greatly received cause im lost with it at the moment!

thanks!

 

[issy]

Petrol or fuel filter blockage?
Earth cable?
starter motor earth or cabling affected by water??

 

[bus72]

you need to check and see if your producing a spark, start there first...

 

[vwwinston72]

no petrol issues thats definitely getting through, i'll have a check for a spark,im pretty sure the earth is fine on both the starter and the battery but again i'll check cheers for the help!

any more suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[KevH]

Checking your points gap and coil would be my first steps. Good luck.

 

[vwwinston72]

sorry i should of mentioned it has a petronix electronic igniton and the flame thrower coil to go with it.

thanks for the reply though!

 

[KevH]

sorry i should of mentioned it has a petronix electronic igniton and the flame thrower coil to go with it.

thanks for the reply though!

Aha...good choices. Got this set up myself.

Might be worth checking out the Pertronix ignition in that case. It is so easy to burn them out. The only way to check this seems to be to replace the existing unit with a spare or to refit points/condensor (did I really suggest that...jeez!).

 

[sparkywig]

sorry i should of mentioned it has a petronix electronic igniton and the flame thrower coil to go with it.

thanks for the reply though!

Did you leave the ignition on for a while?

 

[lard]

Same setup as me - had the same problem in france a few months ago

Has it been raining round your way? Check your seals on your front window, near side bottom corner - then stick your head up and check the fusebox, if the windscreen leaks here it drips into the fuse box, then lift up the fusebox and check out the relays.....sounds daft but mine filled up with water - give em a shake

This same issue happened to me, turning over but not even attempting to fire - I then left the van in the french sunlight for a few hours (was hot!), when recovery came it fired up fine and never missed a beat again, apart from the indicators/hazards no longer worked since it happened.....back in the UK relay taken apart and showed water corrosion, swapped it and all working again - electrical gremlins due to leaking windscreen seal - you never know!

 

[vwwinston72]

i did let it keep trying to start it for a while but the ignition wasn't just left on,

lard: thanks for the tip i'll check that out!

 

[matt-me]

could the dizzy have moved at all?

 

[sharky71]

king lead loose either end(coil/dissy)
lost all power the other week whilst driving.
turned over but not fire,checked all leads n found king lead came loose at coil

 

[vwwinston72]

if its something that simple i'll be well chuffed! i'll keep you posted! thanks for taking time to reply!

 

[BJ1]

I've seen several dead 'flamethrower' coils in the pst couple of years and also seen a dizzy cap burnt out by these coils. Check the coil is working and also check the centre electrode on the dizzy cap - it may be eroded away.

 

[vwwinston72]

I got to drive my van!!!!!!

still not 100% sure on what the problem was but i think the carb basically was on full choke and it didn't need it, also i managed to flood the cylinders with petrol so that didn't help but its running now and i got to drive it!

Got abit of a shock when loads of crap flew out of the exhaust on start up!

Massive thanks for all the replys and suggestions, i really didn't have a clue without you lot!!

 

[55ovalcharlie]

If you have a distributor cap that's on it's way out, then starting can sometimes be intermittent. Check inside it for signs of any hairline cracks in it.