MOTOR ISSUE

[Bevo]

I've been trying to get my grey back up and running just put in a reconditioned dizzy and sent the carby off to be reconditioned and now she wont start.
anyone got any ideas as to what might be happening?
Any help would be great.
Aaron

[Bevo]

I meant to add its swinging just not starting

[Blacky]

Give us a couple of clues, do you have fuel ? Spark ? is it trying to fire , or is it just winding over and over ?

[Bevo]

Getting fuel and spark but just winding over

[bootlegger]

Pretty much only two things wont make it run spark and fuel.
After that do a compression check.

[bootlegger]

Is it sparking at the lead or the coil.
Have you got the distributor in the right position.

[Craig Allardyce]

Was the engine a runner before???? Do you have compression and are the rockers moving when you crank it? Have you timed the distributor to No1 TDC on compression stroke????

[Devilrod]

I would have thought its not starting as you have sent the Carby off.....

As said check the dissy is in right. My guess is it's a bit out.

[Harv]

Bevo,

Some simple stuff to help the guys trouble shoot the problem for you:
a) With the engine off, take off the air cleaner and give it two good pumps of the accelerator linkage by hand. Look down the carb throat as you do. If you get a good mist of fuel squirting into the throat, chances are you have fuel.
b) Pull out one spark plug, put the lead back on it, earth the electrode by holding it against the block and have someone crank the car. If you get spark at the plug, chances are the ignition system is OK.
c) Pull off the rocker cover, and turn the motor over by the fan. Check to see the rockers move (ie timing gear not stripped)... unlikely if it was a runner and you have fuel and spark.

I agree with the guys - probably the dizzy in wrong. To get it in right:
a) Using the fan, turn the motor over until cylinder #1 is in the firing position. This can be seen by looking at cylinder #6 (the one closest to the firewall). Watch carefully until you can see one of the cylinder #6 rockers rising (and just stopping), and the other cylinder #6 rocker just starting to fall. This is referred to as cylinder #6 “rocking” (i.e. one rocker just finishing and one just starting). As you are turning the motor over, you should hear the fuel pump wheezing, and the glass fuel bowl filling with fuel.
b) Check the timing mark by looking at the back of the motor under the distributor. In the timing “window” you should be able to see a white mark on the flywheel (this is the timing ball – it is often marked with white paint to make it easier to see). Use the fan to move the motor backwards or forwards (just a touch) until the timing ball is directly under the timing window pointer.
c) With the distributor in your hands or on a bench, take the distributor cap off the distributor and look carefully at the steel “rim” where the cap sits. There is a small mark on the rim near the vacuum advance module (you may need to clean the last fifty years of crap off the rim to see the mark… it is faint). This mark is where the rotor button points when it is firing cylinder #1. Turn the rotor button around by spinning the distributor shaft until the rotor button is pointing to the mark.
d) Look at how the oil pump drive tang at the bottom of the distributor is pointing. Imagine the distributor in the motor, and how the oil pump tang would face (side to side across the block). Using a long screwdriver down the camshaft hole, engage the oil pump and turn it until it is side-to-side, ready to engage the distributor.
e) Reconnect the black earth lead to the distributor, then gently lower the distributor down the distributor hole, allowing it to turn very slightly as the gear engages. It may be necessary to turn the motor (via the fan) slightly until the distributor drops (don’t force it). You can see the distributor has dropped when the advance/retard plate at the base of the distributor is sitting on the block. Once the distributor has dropped, check the white timing mark is still under the pointer in the timing window, and that the rotor button is still pointing to the mark on the distributor rim. If you missed the drive gear by one tooth, the rotor button won’t be pointing correctly to the mark – take it out and try again. Once it is aligned (white mark in the timing window pointer, cylinder # 6 rocking and rotor pointing to the mark), install the ½” bolt in the distributor advance/retard plate. Connect the vacuum advance line flare nut.
f) Install the distributor cap and leads, taking care to get the right lead to it’s cylinder. Remember that the distributor spins clockwise (viewed from above), and the firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4.

This should get you running. However, it is possible with a reco'd dizzy that you cannot get the timing ball directly under the timing gear window. The symptoms of this are:
a) the timing mark appears to the far right of the window no matter how far you advance the distributor. It feels like you have the distributor off by one tooth. However, if you move the distributor around one tooth, the timing mark appears to the far left of the window no matter how far you retard the distributor.
b) It feels like you are “stuck” between too much advance, and too much retard, and can be caused by the old timing fibre timing gear having had a lot of slop. If this is the case:
a) with the engine stopped, move the engine around until the until the timing ball is directly under the timing window pointer and the distributor is pointing to cylinder #1.
a) loosen the ½” bolt in the distributor advance/retard plate and set the distributor to about ½ way between full advance and full retard (i.e. zero advance and zero retard) on the advance/retard plate.
b) slacken the slot-headed clamp around the distributor body.
c) with the engine and a timing light running, turn the distributor body until the timing ball is directly under the timing window pointer.
d) tighten the slot-headed clamp around the distributor body.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Harv