Turning over, not starting!

[katmcheapy]

Hi all,

I bought my first moggy last month. It's a 66 reg and all was in fantastic fettle. It had been standing for 2 weeks and when I tried to start it up yesterday it was turning over fine but nothing else.

Upon inspection my carburetor is leaking fuel when my ignition is on (just when the fuel pump is going on its own) which may or may not be related. I've tried cleaning all my spark plugs to no avail .

Any clues?

[bmcecosse]

Well - you need to sort out the fuel leak before there is a fire.... It's maybe just flooded...... Take the top off the float bowl and check the needle valve is sealing ok - and is the float ok ?

[simmitc]

The fuel leak may be a perished hose, or a loose clip, or as Roy suggests, the needle valve; just possibly the leak is from the jet. Get the leak sorted first. Afterwards non-starting is going to be either fuel (lack of, dirty) or ignition. Plenty of simple checks once it is safe to continue.

[katmcheapy]

Update: fuel leak stopped. Took the carb apart and it seems that it was just flooded (thanks for that). Tried engine again and it sounded very much closer to starting but still nothing. Might check my battery next...Thanks for all your help so far! Kat

[bmcecosse]

Indeed - charge it up - and dry the spark plugs off before trying again.

[katmcheapy]

Spark plugs dried, battery charged - engine now starting beautifully. Thank you so much for your help!

[bmcecosse]

Excellent! Well done.