she just wont start!!!

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:47 pm

hi guys im new on theforums, but i come asking help/advice. I have a 69 moggy 1000 which was being used as a daily driver up untill friday when she refused to start. I changed the points, condensor, leads, plugs, cap and rotor arm. managed to get her started but only on the rear two cylinders. So i checked all the rocker clearences and now she is just refusing to start at all, i need help as i need it running next week.

please help

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:10 pm

Welcome to the best forum on the internet! Unfortunate you are joining under these circs - but i'm sure we can help. When you put it to bed on friday - was it running in good health? After your new parts flurry - it's strange it would only start on the rear two - any chance you have mixed up the HT leads going to the plugs ? Check the order - it should be 1342 in an anti clock direction round the dizzy cap. Or - 3421 to suit this case -so is it possible 1 and 2 have been mixed up since 3 and 4 seem to be firing ok ? Worth checking before delving further!

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:18 pm

may seem like a silly question, but wher on the cap do yu start the count and which is my nuber one cy

inder front or back

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:29 pm

Number 1 cylinder is the one at the front of the car. Usually it is connected to the distributor cap socket nearest to the front of the car, though sometimes the distributor has been fitted 180 degrees out and it is the one furthest from the front instead.

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:30 pm

right i will give that a go,

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:37 pm

right gota charge the battery as all my repeted attemps seem to have drained it, be back in n hour or so with some results hopfully

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:45 pm

Since you said 3 and 4 (the back two) were running - leave them in place and work round the cap anticlock ie 3421 - so assuming 3 and 4 are ok next should be 2 then 1 !! there are many other reasons why it's not going - and when changing parts it really is best to just change one thing at a time rather than 'everything'! Worst scenario is that the engine has blown the head gasket - but if it was ok on friday, that's unlikely and it was probably just a simple ignition problem. Trouble is - so many things now changed - it could be anything!!!!

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:00 pm

yup, might bite the bullet and call mr rac guy out

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:20 pm

Well - if you have home start - may as well! But do pls let us know what he finds !

Post by **fatal8446** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:11 pm

yup will do

Post by **fatal8446** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:27 pm

right we have life after a head gasket some timing, setting the fueling up and some very bloody knuckles

Post by **d_harris** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:55 pm

Good stuff! Congratulations!

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 12:28 pm

Well - I did suggest head gasket as worst possibility. Did RAC do that for you ???

Post by **fatal8446** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:35 pm

na did it myself, only took 40 odd mins, was a pain though cause i only changed it 4 months ago. prob didn't tourqe it down enough

but all's well that ends well

chears for the help guys

Post by **bmcecosse** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:03 pm

Remember to torque it down again after the first run (44 ft lbf) and then reset the valve gaps. Have to say - if it's blown twice, you should start now to look for another engine !

Post by **jock299** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:17 pm

if it has blown twice the head may just be slightly warped and may need a slight skim

Post by **fatal8446** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:24 pm

yeah i,ve got a rover 1.4 16v gti (got a red cam cover not sure if its a red top or if thats just a vauxhall thing) k series sat inmy garage waiting to go in. but im going away with wor in a couple of weeks till aftr christmas so its guna have to wait. Incidently do you happen to know where can get the conversion kit from??

Post by **alex_holden** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:34 pm

fatal8446 wrote:yeah i,ve got a rover 1.4 16v gti (got a red cam cover not sure if its a red top or if thats just a vauxhall thing) k series sat inmy garage waiting to go in. but im going away with wor in a couple of weeks till aftr christmas so its guna have to wait. Incidently do you happen to know where can get the conversion kit from??

Try JLH.