plenty of spark but???

[bleddyn]

thanks again everybody for all your previous suggestions,but still will not fire up,points set right,leads correct to cap,spark to ht lead fom coil, plugs are also good spark, have changed everything electrically to new,
she turns over but not trying fire up, petrol is approx one month old,plenty
of ticking from pump,petrol coming through, and can smell on plugs, any more suggestions gratefully recieved,am now getting really p###sed off
but am still seeing the funny side of it also, so please please please help,
thanks again Bleddyn Williams

[Dean]

ok, so you have petrol.... and you have spark... but not starting. Then it must be the firing order, your plugs are very very wet, the petrol has got contamination. Have you messed with the position of the Dizzy? Could it be so way out of tune it won't start, I'm not familiar with tuning and twisting the dizzy??? Could the mixture be too lean???

[bleddyn]

I took car for spin approx 1 month ago, no missing, or sputters, just parked her up,while talking to a mate,was idling ok, then cut out, could'nt start her, and hav'nt since, plugs not wet but have smell of petrol, have taken first plug to tdc,and rotar arm pointing to no1 plug and gone 1342 anticlock as suggested,thanks

[rayofleamington]

Could it be so way out of tune it won't start,

that's unlikely on an A-series, I've known them to still start with +20 and -20° errors in the timing!!

In the cases where parts have been changed, you need to trace back and re-check everything.

Do ALL the plugs give a spark?

Re-check that you have the firing sequence ok (with ignition off) by putting your finger over the plug hole and turning with the starting handle. When it's on compression stroke, the cylinder gas will blow past your finger. Near the end of that stroke the rotor arm should point to the correct place in the dizzy cap for that spark plug.
Check that on #1 to set up, but on each plug if you still get problems

Flooding - disconect the petrol pump and keep cranking. Eventually you'll dry it out.

Petrol - with a dry cylinder, and the fuel pump off, splash some FRESH petrol into the carb inlet. This will allow a short start-up if the problem is petrol related. (this even works on modern fuel injected cars - although you have to find something that's not a carb to splash the petrol into!)

And lastly - good luck!

[bleddyn]

thanks for that, I have a spare carb still on doner car which actually looks pretty new, do think its worth swapping over, also how much oil needed for pot, have unscewed plung piston and i can hear it sqwellching, so wondering if to low, thanks

[Dean]

When pushing the piston in, you should feel some resistance.. not too much though.

[bmcecosse]

Only a dribble of oil - don't worry about it. Do however make sure the carb piston rises with a finger push - and falls back with a clunk.

[Kevin]

As you have changed a few items have you checked the low tension lead at the dizzy as these can sometimes break within the insulation, as for the dashpot oil the level is to the shoulder inside the chamber, and sorry to question it but are you sure the plug leads are in the correct order.

[David53]

I'm curious - did you get it going? What was the prob? I always like to know the end of the story!

[bmcecosse]

Indeed! Me too. It's nice if folks take the trouble to come back to report success...........

[Dean]

He did get it started, there are about three threads I think. But doesn't he now have another problem of a slight miss?

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... 64#p308464

[bmcecosse]

A slight miss - like - Twiggy ?? http://www.google.com/search?client=ope ... 8&oe=utf-8