X flow starting problems
Discussion
Got a 1700 super sprint which refuses to start!
Running fine about 4 weeks ago following a service, but been left in the cold since then.
Have spark and fuel pump running fine also.
New plugs and Leads at service as well
Can hear it wanting to start with a few little coughs but no joy!!
RAC been out but he was stumped as well!
He was mucking about with the distributed caps and now worried plugs in wrong way...
Should it be cylinder 1 in top right hand plug, 2 in top left, 3 in bottom right and 4 bottom left??
If you see what I mean?
Any ideas?
Running fine about 4 weeks ago following a service, but been left in the cold since then.
Have spark and fuel pump running fine also.
New plugs and Leads at service as well
Can hear it wanting to start with a few little coughs but no joy!!
RAC been out but he was stumped as well!
He was mucking about with the distributed caps and now worried plugs in wrong way...
Should it be cylinder 1 in top right hand plug, 2 in top left, 3 in bottom right and 4 bottom left??
If you see what I mean?
Any ideas?
Oh dear, the RAC man has been mucking about.
Trouble is he probably doesn't have much of an education of points, capacitors etc
I assume its a Ford Crossflow
The distributor is under the webers and not easy to meddle with so:
did he actually remove the distributor? If he did then there are 6 different options for putting it back in.
Lets assume first that he didn't
remove the cap
turn the engine over to TDC (two options for this so I'm afraid the rocker cover needs to come off)
the TDC you want is the one where the rockers on cylinder 1 are both "loose" ie not touching the top of the valve and the valve is therefore closed.
where is the rotor arm pointing? That's the place on the distributor where lead 1 should go.
From 1, go clockwise 3, 4, 2.
If he did pull the distributor out the above is generally the same BUT you might have trouble withthe low tension cable being too stretched so you'll need to remove the distributor and turn it through 1/6th a turn.
Going back to the very beginning, it worked 4 weeks ago but not now.
Damp on the coil, distributor cap, leads?
The capacitor has coincidently failed (they do but normally on the road)
Ditto the rotor arm, normally fails on a dark night or when you are taking the car for an MoT!
Ditto the coil I suppose but all along you said there was a spark and fuel.
So (i hate starting a sentence with so) my guess is you flooded it. Have the plugs been out, cleaned, dried? Maybe hold the electrodes in a gas flame to dry and warm.
Oh and one other thought, is it a mechanical fuel pump. If so did it take most of the battery to get fuel to the carbs by which time there wasn't enough battery left to spin the engine over?
Where abouts are you, much of the above is easier to do than write about.
Tony H
Trouble is he probably doesn't have much of an education of points, capacitors etc
I assume its a Ford Crossflow
The distributor is under the webers and not easy to meddle with so:
did he actually remove the distributor? If he did then there are 6 different options for putting it back in.
Lets assume first that he didn't
remove the cap
turn the engine over to TDC (two options for this so I'm afraid the rocker cover needs to come off)
the TDC you want is the one where the rockers on cylinder 1 are both "loose" ie not touching the top of the valve and the valve is therefore closed.
where is the rotor arm pointing? That's the place on the distributor where lead 1 should go.
From 1, go clockwise 3, 4, 2.
If he did pull the distributor out the above is generally the same BUT you might have trouble withthe low tension cable being too stretched so you'll need to remove the distributor and turn it through 1/6th a turn.
Going back to the very beginning, it worked 4 weeks ago but not now.
Damp on the coil, distributor cap, leads?
The capacitor has coincidently failed (they do but normally on the road)
Ditto the rotor arm, normally fails on a dark night or when you are taking the car for an MoT!
Ditto the coil I suppose but all along you said there was a spark and fuel.
So (i hate starting a sentence with so) my guess is you flooded it. Have the plugs been out, cleaned, dried? Maybe hold the electrodes in a gas flame to dry and warm.
Oh and one other thought, is it a mechanical fuel pump. If so did it take most of the battery to get fuel to the carbs by which time there wasn't enough battery left to spin the engine over?
Where abouts are you, much of the above is easier to do than write about.
Tony H
Many thanks Tony!!
Plugs in the clockwise direction 1 through 4, so that sounds ok?
New spark plugs and then the ones that were working, tested again and both sets spark fine!
Fuel pulled through into carbs without using up battery as well - new battery in fact so decent power from it.
All very mysterious??
I’m in the Glos area
Plugs in the clockwise direction 1 through 4, so that sounds ok?
New spark plugs and then the ones that were working, tested again and both sets spark fine!
Fuel pulled through into carbs without using up battery as well - new battery in fact so decent power from it.
All very mysterious??
I’m in the Glos area
Running normally, ticking over and revving ok?
Did it just die "instantly" or stutter cough and die slowly?
ie electric or fuel related. Broken wire on the low tension side? Or to the fuel pump?
Blockage on the fuel line? Blockage on a jet/emulsion tube? Modern fuel can "solidify" when left, certainly screws up my strimmer.
Very difficult to diagnose from a distance
Did it just die "instantly" or stutter cough and die slowly?
ie electric or fuel related. Broken wire on the low tension side? Or to the fuel pump?
Blockage on the fuel line? Blockage on a jet/emulsion tube? Modern fuel can "solidify" when left, certainly screws up my strimmer.
Very difficult to diagnose from a distance
I had similar problems last year after a winter layover. Thanks to great help from some PHers who actually came out to me and worked really hard on the car, the culprit was found to be a split fuel inlet pipe. It was drawing air rather the fuel into the carbs. Once the pipe was replaced, the engine fired up.
Is on 1,3,4,2 Rotor arm pointing at the number 1 lead so think that’s right?
I’m at a loss!!
Fuel all changed and brand new, been getting little shocks off the leads when I’ve been fiddling so think we have sparks happening??
As said earlier- did fire into life last week out of the blue and since then nothing....
I’m at a loss!!
Fuel all changed and brand new, been getting little shocks off the leads when I’ve been fiddling so think we have sparks happening??
As said earlier- did fire into life last week out of the blue and since then nothing....
Is on 1,3,4,2 Rotor arm pointing at the number 1 lead so think that’s right?
I’m at a loss!!
Fuel all changed and brand new, been getting little shocks off the leads when I’ve been fiddling so think we have sparks happening??
As said earlier- did fire into life last week out of the blue and since then nothing....
I’m at a loss!!
Fuel all changed and brand new, been getting little shocks off the leads when I’ve been fiddling so think we have sparks happening??
As said earlier- did fire into life last week out of the blue and since then nothing....
12ax7 said:
XFlows are 1243
In future I will keep my big gob firmly closedJust been out into the cold garage after a couple of beers and a very pleasant whisky and can confirm that anti clockwise 12AX7 is correct!
1342 clockwise 1243 anti clockwise, swop the 2 & 3 plug leads over and report back
I'll then turn to the classroom corner with my Dunces hat on
despite the RAC man may have messed-up the firing order....this wasnt the original problem
the original problem was:
car was put into storage, 3 weeks later it doesnt start, even fuelpump is running and spark is present...right?
carbs are weber dcoe?
sometimes sidedraight cars wont start the engine in cold weather without choke...webers not so critical, dellortos more critical.....so have oyu tried with pulling the choke? is there a choke cable connected?
are you sure, even the fuel-pump is running, that fuel arrives inside the carbs? (open one of the carb covers)
have you tried to unscrew the plugs, clean them and pre-heat them with a lighter, refit them and try to start?
the original problem was:
car was put into storage, 3 weeks later it doesnt start, even fuelpump is running and spark is present...right?
carbs are weber dcoe?
sometimes sidedraight cars wont start the engine in cold weather without choke...webers not so critical, dellortos more critical.....so have oyu tried with pulling the choke? is there a choke cable connected?
are you sure, even the fuel-pump is running, that fuel arrives inside the carbs? (open one of the carb covers)
have you tried to unscrew the plugs, clean them and pre-heat them with a lighter, refit them and try to start?
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff