Crosflow powered 7 - won't start
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
That's exactly why I'm asking.
Sorry - I didn't realise you were asking: there was no question mark on the end of your statement that your arms weren't long enough to reach.Not intending to be rude, but whilst the basic faultfinding is really simple (if you've got a spark and petrol, it should run, so it's just a matter of finding out which is missing, and where), it involves playing with flammable liquids and very high voltages, so if you're likely to do silly things like holding a spark plug in your hand as the live ignition system tries to fire it, you're best not touching anything and getting someone in.
Went round to help start a Xflow car after a winter lay up very similar to yours and it was cranking fine, had fuel and sparks but just wouldn't fire up. In the end we put some jump leads on to give it a bit extra oomph,cleaned the plugs, spun the starter and pumped throttle wide open to clear the over fuelling and cranked it for quite some time and then it fired up and cleared itself. It did take a few minutes of cranking! I put it down to old fuel in the carbs which had then fouled the plugs etc. As soon as it had warmed up, there was no problem with starting again.
Equus said:
Sorry - I didn't realise you were asking: there was no question mark on the end of your statement that your arms weren't long enough to reach.
Not intending to be rude, but whilst the basic faultfinding is really simple (if you've got a spark and petrol, it should run, so it's just a matter of finding out which is missing, and where), it involves playing with flammable liquids and very high voltages, so if you're likely to do silly things like holding a spark plug in your hand as the live ignition system tries to fire it, you're best not touching anything and getting someone in.
If I'd known what to do, I wouldn't have opened the thread in the first place. Although I'm no mechanic and freely admit it, I have taken part in car maintenance and repair courses, including one that was for a whole year. At no point was I ever advised to carry out any sort of test using spark plugs lying on exhaust manifolds - probably because the teachers would not have been silly enough to advise such a tactic.Not intending to be rude, but whilst the basic faultfinding is really simple (if you've got a spark and petrol, it should run, so it's just a matter of finding out which is missing, and where), it involves playing with flammable liquids and very high voltages, so if you're likely to do silly things like holding a spark plug in your hand as the live ignition system tries to fire it, you're best not touching anything and getting someone in.
As it is, I had no intention of doing this because, in the back of my mind, it did seem not quite "right".
Eric Mc said:
. At no point was I ever advised to carry out any sort of test using spark plugs lying on exhaust manifolds - probably because the teachers would not have been silly enough to advise such a tactic.
As it is, I had no intention of doing this because, in the back of my mind, it did seem not quite "right".
Well the course missed out on one of the basics. That is something mechanics have been doing forever. As it is, I had no intention of doing this because, in the back of my mind, it did seem not quite "right".
Eric Mc said:
Maybe they were concerned about the dangers and didn't want to be sued if some pupil electrocuted themselves
Working on cars is dangerous. They can crush you, burn you, scald you, electrocute you, tangle you in their whizzy bits, and even (now that we have airbags) explode in your face.Working on them requires a degree of common sense. If you don't have such, leave them alone.
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