30 Starting... No fuel to cylinders, just carb

[Tulsa]

Ok, I am by no means a pro Model A owner. Not even close. I have done the research to see what needs to be cleaned and checked before start up. I have spark, compression, power, gas to carb (carb was just inspected and cleaned of all gunk) I do not seem to get gas past carb. the inlet on carb is wet. The cylinders are not wet at all.

What could the problem be?

Picture of car for reference...

[J Franklin]

Try a shot of starting fluid and see if it will start. If the valves aren't working right the cyls. can't pull gas vapor

[Tulsa]

We had a small amount before we cleaned carb, but couldnt get good spray in it due to angle. It puffed a few times and blew some smoke once, but we ran out of starter fluid.

[700rpm]

Check your line going into the carb. If the ferrule is too far from the end of the tube, the tube can close up against the filter screen and stop the flow of gas. When you remove the line it will look like gas is getting to the carb, and it is, but it isn't getting past the filter. Very common problem.

[Tulsa]

Gas gets to carb. When starting and choked I can feel it in the inlet of carb.

[Keith True]

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If you are getting enough gas to the carb it should run all over the place when you over choke it.If you are just getting a little wet inside the carb it isn't getting enough gas.What kind of suction do you get when cranking over with your hand over the carb? Was the carb taken apart and the passages reamed out with a wire? Or,were the passages blown out with a can of carb cleaner and an air hose and called clean.Take the drain plug out of the bottom and turn the gas on.The gas should gush out of there,steadily,and not slow down until the tank is empty.You need to try it for a couple of minutes,not 30 seconds.If the carb is truly good you may have to look more,such as sticky valves or a muffler plugged by mice.The A has big pistons trying to suck gas through a skinny pipe,if there is any gas at all in there it will get sucked up.Even sticky valves will suck something up.Now a plugged muffler won't let anything in.But,first,I think we need more details of exactly was done to the carb.

[Tulsa]

Originally Posted by Keith True

If you are getting enough gas to the carb it should run all over the place when you over choke it.If you are just getting a little wet inside the carb it isn't getting enough gas.What kind of suction do you get when cranking over with your hand over the carb? Was the carb taken apart and the passages reamed out with a wire? Or,were the passages blown out with a can of carb cleaner and an air hose and called clean.Take the drain plug out of the bottom and turn the gas on.The gas should gush out of there,steadily,and not slow down until the tank is empty.You need to try it for a couple of minutes,not 30 seconds.If the carb is truly good you may have to look more,such as sticky valves or a muffler plugged by mice.The A has big pistons trying to suck gas through a skinny pipe,if there is any gas at all in there it will get sucked up.Even sticky valves will suck something up.Now a plugged muffler won't let anything in.But,first,I think we need more details of exactly was done to the carb.

Thanks for the info.

We reamed out with a wire and carb cleaner, I will try the drain and see what that does.

Gas doesnt flow out like crazy when choked just gets carb inlet wet. I didnt think to check muffler, thats a good idea. If its sticky valves whats the best option for that? I have heard people spraying wd40 overnight? What would you recommend?

Thanks again for the help!

[redmodelt]

Put a little gas in each cylinder directly through the spark plug holes and see if you can get it to fire off that way. If the muffler is plugged be ready for a big boom! Might want to do outside.

[Tulsa]

Ok,

New spark plugs just to freshen it up. put little gas in each cylinder, no luck firing up. We disconnected the exhaust from manifold. WHen I crank it and put my hand over the exhaust manifold I get more of a suck and very very little blow... probably none. Would that point to stuck valves? If so whats the best option to unstick?

[Mitch//pa]

did you ever ck compression?

[Tulsa]

not officially, but there definitely was compression when we checked spark. Almost sucked my thumb in.

[redmodelt]

Uh, compression would push your thumb out. I would suggest doing a "REAL COMPRESSION" test and check the timing. Testing one or all four cylinder with your thumb does not give you a real picture of the engines condition.
Is it firing at the right time? When was he last time it ran? Has the timing been check by the timing pin?
Everything else right now is just shooting from the hip.
You could check the valves, look through the spark plug hole, is the intake valve opening on the intake stroke etc or pull the valve cover off and look at what the valves are doing. Do you have any repair manuals? Do you understand how to set the spray needle and use the choke to prime to start?

[Clem Clement]

If it has set awhile you might try a squirk of oil in the spark plug holes. This will ad somecompression.
clem

[James Rogers]

Sounds like a stripped timing gear. The cam is not turning so the cylinder you checked has the valves closed and when the piston goes down it will try to suck your thumb into the spark plug hole but it won't ever run. Remove the distributor cap and spin the motor and see if the rotor turns. This will tell you a lot. If the motor has sat for some time, the lifters could be stuck and strip the cam gear before the engine turns even once.

[redmodelt]

He says he has spark, that would indicate the cam is turning. Could be a plugged intake.

[James Rogers]

Originally Posted by redmodelt

He says he has spark, that would indicate the cam is turning. Could be a plugged intake.

Maybe not. If he is just checking for spark by shorting the points with a screwdriver, he would have spark and the rotor still might not be turning. Never take anything for granted. He also stated he had compression but only checked with a thumb field test. There is still no guarantee of proper compression till a gauge is used.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by redmodelt

He says he has spark, that would indicate the cam is turning. Could be a plugged intake.

the rotor could still be turning but cam timing could be off from worn/stripped gears.. needs to ck compression properly.

[redmodelt]

I was thinking about those two things also, using a screwdriver to check for spark by open and closing the points and the cam/crank gear not being in alignment ether being striped or miss installed.
Still, if the cam is turning, then he needs to check the compression dry and wet. Check the timing, the screw may have come loose and the timing is way off. Or theirs a big old fat mud dauber nest in the intake.

[james hitchcock]

Funny you have this problem. I was running Ol' Walter yesterday after adjusting his timing due to wear in the dizzy. Was running for a bit and was kinda coughing gave him the gas and had a bit of a carb backfire and evened out. Next thing I know he dies and now won't start. Checked and fuel is coming out the line to the carb. Checked carb for gunk and all looks clean. Doesn't want to fire at all now. Maybe I adjusted the timing too much. Although he did start after first try after the adjustment. What the heck this time.....

[Tulsa]

It has to be spark, valves all open and unstuck. We have sprayed starter fluid directly in, and also tried gas... nothing.

We get spark but it seems week. I also noticed the shock by touching top of plug is alot weaker than the shock of touching cap (when off) and top of rotor.

Thoughts on that?

I am convinced its lack of spark. I checked spark buy placing plug onto head to ground. I get spark, but not alot...