At my wits end, with this no-start problem!

[newshirt]

Originally Posted by dlshady

4) Make sure there's no abnormal obstructions in the exhaust

Have you pulled the exhaust manifold?

[Jynx]

Seen a car with a plugged muffler...could try disconnecting it

[gweilbaker]

Do you read a voltage on either terminal of the terminal box referencing the chassis? I have not seen it mentioned?

GW

[Jazzjr]

Try the Old School Trick, You may think I'm crazy, but its worked for Me for Years.
It ran when You Bought it, and once after. I think You are Flooding the Engine and Fouling the Plugs, every time You try to Start it.!

Pull the Spark Plugs Out, clean them by Sand Blasting them if you can, or use New ones gaped correctly.
Let the Cylinders Dry out for a Couple of Hours.
Make sure you have some kind of Fire at the Points, set the Timing. If you are using a Cap with Wires, make sure they are going to the Correct Cylinders.

Tow it By using a Tow Strap, to a Steep Hill and with gas on, key on, put Transmission in Second Gear, Coast down the hill, Let the Clutch out Slowly to try start it.
No Hill, have Someone Tow You on the Level.
Your Engine Will turn over 10 Times Faster than using the Battery.

Now I know You have done this in your Lifetime, what have You to Loose. Try it again...... Good Luck

PS: It has been Mentioned to do a Commpression Check, Did You? You may have a Valve Stuck Open and Not Seating.
By Towing or Coasting Down the Hill, If You have a Valve Open, It should Backfire when Trying to Start.

[MCHinson]

Bob,

A few things that I have not seen while reading your explanations about what you have done come to mind.

Have you considered an intake manifold leak? If you have a leak here, the fuel will not be sucked in to be able to burn.

If that is not the case, I would think that, as has been mentioned, you may need to clean or replace the sparkplugs, or points.

Those who are urging you to get back to the basics are right. It is impossible for us to diagnose it from afar without really precise explanations of what has and has not been done. It is surely a simple problem. Simple problems are sometimes more elusive than difficult problems.

[John S]

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Originally Posted by dlshady

Bob,

I've read through every post in this thread so thatI don't make a bunch of useless suggestions, but the one thing I don't recall you mentioning is a basic compression check. Many years ago I attended an AC Delco training school for the (then) new EFI systems, and the one thing I remember my instructor saying is that all internal combustion motors have one thing in common. To run they have to "suck, squeeze, bang and puke", and they have to do all of the above in the proper timing.

If I were in your shoes, the first thing I would do is verify whether or not the engine is doing the four basic functions above, regardless of whether it's doing them at the right times.

1) Hold your hand over the throat of the carb to be sure it's attempting to draw air in.

2) Run a compression check, or at the very least crank it over while holding your hand over each plug hole respectively to be sure of compression.

3) Check for spark (which I'm pretty sure you have covered)

4) Make sure there's no abnormal obstructions in the exhaust

Once you can be sure that the engine is capable of getting air/fuel in, compressing it, combusting it and getting rid of the spent gases then you can move on to making sure that everything is happening in the right order and in proper timing.

If you suspect a fuel problem (which doesn't seem too likely) then shoot it with ether while cranking.

From the sound of things it looks like you have everything the engine needs to run, which would make me think that something must be happening at the wrong time.

Keep us posted!
Deron

This is the best advice you can get IMO and you won't spend a cent doing these checks. I'm going to guess that you have some stuck valves or a head gasket blown between two cylinders. Check the compression and let us know the readings. And don't give up...you can fix it.
"Suck, squeeze, bang and puke".....Jeeze...I think I had the same instructor at GM school.

[dlshady]

You know, something else I was just sitting here thinking about...

Several years ago I built a race motor for a customer's Mustang drag car, and thought I was NEVER going to get it cranked when I got it back in the car. I realized pretty quickly that I'd flooded the motor because of a blown fuse to the ignition box, but after fixing that it still wouldn't crank. I pulled the plugs, used an sir hose to dry them off, cranked the motor around to rid the cylinders of any raw gas, etc... But even after all that it still wouldn't fire.

By this point it was about 2:00 AM the morning before he was to pick it up so in an act of desperation I pulled the plugs one more time, took my acetylene torch and heated the insulator on every plug. I did this to 1) burn off any raw fuel that had possibly soaked the ceramic (hey, I was grasping at straws!) and 2) merely just to heat them up a bit.

Then I reinstalled the plugs and tried to crank the motor. It only lit off on two or three cylinders at first, but it ran. Every three or four revolutions it would light off another cylinder and it wasn't long before it was running on all eight, and it never gave trouble again.

Just food for thought, but my point is that just because the plugs might be new it doesn't necessarily mean that they're good.....


Hope you get it going soon!
Deron

[Bobs29ModelA]

I love DLSHADY's suggestion, regarding the use of a torch... although I'm considering using one on the whole CAR instead! LOL!

[Bill Goddard]

Have you checked the little carbon nib on the distributor cap that rides on the rotor? If it is broken away or glossed over with dirt it will not transmit power to rotor. Also I like the $100 challange idea.

[Russell in Tulsa]

I'm going to guess it has a fuel problem. Get a propane torch,unlit of course, and direct the gas into the carb. If it fires right up, kill it and check your fuel lines and make sure you don't have too much tubing protruding past the ferrules on both ends. Try it out on a lawnmower (the torch) and see how nicely it starts, with no gasoline in the mower tank. Hope this helps and if not it got your mind off of the non=working "A" for a minute. Good luck.

[J Franklin]

Send me a round trip Amtrack ticket and put me up for a night and I will get it running or tell you why it won't. If I can't do that I'll reimburse you fully.

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

I didn't read all the posts, but I had a friend with an erratic run/start, and it turned out to be the ampmeter. Chuck

[Clem Clement]

I fought an A for awhile using 3 sets of plugs. Turned out all were dead.
clem

[Ken Ehrenhofer]

In the Navy we used to call this "DIVE BOMBING". Boucing around changing parts that do not need changing. Big difference between a parts changer and a trouble shooter.
The Navy taught a "Logical Trouble shooting procedure" step by Step. Do not change two things only one at a time or you will never know what fixed the problem!
"Fly Navy" This advice works for everything in life........well almost everything,
Ken
Lots of good advice from all these guys!

[dlshady]

Originally Posted by Ken Ehrenhofer

In the Navy we used to call this "DIVE BOMBING".

That's awesome!

[1931 flamingo]

And on a promotion exam, if in doubt,it was "Dive Bomb Charlie (c.)".
Paul in CT

[sonny30coupe]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

Send me a round trip Amtrack ticket and put me up for a night and I will get it running or tell you why it won't. If I can't do that I'll reimburse you fully.

That sounds like the way to go to me

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Chuck Sea/Tac

I didn't read all the posts, but I had a friend with an erratic run/start, and it turned out to be the ampmeter. Chuck

You can bypass the amp guage by using a jumper wire across the two wing nuts on the terminal box cover. But, if the nuts inside the terminal box are loose or corroded then you still have a problem inside the terminal box that hasn't been bypassed with the jumper wire.

It's still a good idea to try, as the problem may be in the ammeter only and not the terminal box nuts.

[cw]

Did you check the timing gear for missing teeth?

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Something fishy about this thread????????? Is this just a GAME????