None starter! not even a cough??

L

lebaldyman

Member
Hi, Unfortunately I made the mistake of popping to a dubious local garage to get a couple of litres of super unleaded to pop into my car so I could move it to my other garage and then the trouble starts.
My car always started straight away and was running really well. However after putting the 2 litres in it ran rough and died? I checked the fuel only to find it had the hint of a diesel smell and after smelling the can a waft of diesel again. so far I have drained the tank and flushed through the lines and cleaned out the carb and filled float bowl with fresh super unleaded but she just turns over now not even a hint of firing?? I have a spark at the points and fuel in the cylinder but no obvious spark at the plugs but the inline spark plug tester does flash??? could it be that all 4 plugs are shot although all have done no miles as car is off the road. I am at my wits end as all should be good but it isn't? compression test was 150 across all 4 cylinders. from what I can tell the super unleaded seems like it was contaminated with diesel as it was definitely a mixture and showed super unleaded on the receipt. Garage didn't want to know but that lot are a whole other story!!! Any help would be appreciated! many thanks..
 
thanks for the reply! I have cleaned out the fuel system so thankfully no trace or smell of diesel. I'll replace plugs, points and condenser and see how i go from there! its really weird as it started on the button before....
 
Only do one thing at a time, otherwise the rabbit hole is going to get deeper and deeper.
It ran ok - yes, you put contaminated fuel in and then it would not run - yes, so change the plugs and put petrol in it, nothing else.
Don't fanny about with the points and condenser - it worked before ......
 
Well put an old set of plugs in from another engine i have lying around and bosh started know the button!! Intrigued to know what happened to the other plugs as they were brand new.. Just going to check timing etc and et it run awhile as its a little smoky at the moment so some of the old contaminated fuel must still be around in the system... Happy now!
 
Clean then with a blow torch to burn off the diesel and then a spark plug wire brush to be sure. They should be fine after that.
 
Hi there all Forumers, I have not been on for a long time. This post is regarding a non starting issue for my 1971 2000TC and I am stumped.
The two carbs have been professionally completely rebuilt. After fitting the rebuilt carbs, there is no hint of the engine starting.
The fuel has been drained and replaced with fresh fuel. the 'O" rings between the carb adaptor plates and the inlet manifold have been replaced. New spark plugs have been fitted. The dashpots have been correctly filled with the correct grade of oil. the dizzy has not been touched and there is spark at the plugs. I have put a small amount of petrol in each pot and the engine fires up immediately for a very short time. The engine will also fire after giving it a squirt of easy start. After attempting to start the engine, the spark plugs are dry..
All this indicates to me that the carbies are not delivering the fuel as intended. Any advice will be very much appreciated. Tom
 
I would check to see if you have power to the coil with the ignition on. A ballasted ignition system feeds 12v to the coils when the starter is running and then goes down to 9v via the feed with a ballast resistor when running. When the ballast resistor goes bad you’ll have the car start but as soon as the starter is switched off the power to the coil fails. It would give symptoms similar to yours.

The easy way to test this is to run a temporary wire from the dissy directly to the coil if the car runs fine there is your problem.

Unfortunately the resistor is built into the loom behind the dash. (white wire with pink trace if I remember right). So replacing it means digging into the loom behind the dash.
 
If that’s fine and it is a fuel problem check the fuel pump. Modern fuel with ethanol can damage the rubber flap valves and diaphragm.

You mention a full rebuild of the carbs, are you sure the float levels are correctly set?
 
Thank you for your reply sdibbers. The Fuel pump has been overhauled and fuel with ethanol has never been used. The fuel filter bowl is full as is the fuel pump bowl. The resistor test I can do but the car cranks over well but will not start or any hint of a start up. I have not checked the float levels but will do so. I am assuming they were checked when the rebuild was done. The floats and the needles and seats were replaced at time of rebuild. I have heard that assumptions are the root of all stuff ups. But.....
The WSM mentions the lost motion sensor of which I do not understand the workings of. Perhaps this sensor needs adjusting.
Thanks again for your reply. Tom
 
Problem solved. Yep, the needle in the front float bowl was stuck. After loosening it the engine started easily and quickly without much cranking.
In my previous post I mentioned lost motion sensor, sorry that was meant to be lost motion lever.
Thank you again sdibbers. Tom
 
Yes, that is for sure.. The last thing I expected was a stuck float needle in a fully rebuilt carb..
 
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