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Full Version: I have spark, fuel, but wont start.
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1969 Mach1 351 W Edelbrock 4100 Carburetor. Everything else is stock.

Here is the short story, I hope. Two days ago she was driving really well. We went to a gas station and got about 1/2 tank. On the way home she began to sputter. The next day she made it to work, but it was a struggle getting home. Now she wont start at all. Cranks ok, strong Batt.

Changed the fuel filter.


Checked:

Spark is good at the coil and plug.
Fuel is getting to the carburetor.
Pulled a couple of plugs and they look good.

Im sure I'm missing something, but I can't figure it out.

Also shot a little starter fluid in the carb, still no go. I don't like using the stuff so I only did that once.

Thanks in advance for any input.



(05-17-2012, 03:01 PM)Mcanical Wrote: [ -> ]1969 Mach1 351 W Edelbrock 4100 Carburetor. Everything else is stock.

Here is the short story, I hope. Two days ago she was driving really well. We went to a gas station and got about 1/2 tank. On the way home she began to sputter. The next day she made it to work, but it was a struggle getting home. Now she wont start at all. Cranks ok, strong Batt.

Changed the fuel filter.


Checked:

Spark is good at the coil and plug.
Fuel is getting to the carburetor.
Pulled a couple of plugs and they look good.

Im sure I'm missing something, but I can't figure it out.

Also shot a little starter fluid in the carb, still no go. I don't like using the stuff so I only did that once.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Have you checked the timing ? I have heard of the Dissy gear being stripped and timeing being way off. You may also want to make sure your point Gap is right ( if you have points )


Mymachone has given you some very good advice.

My first thought was also of a timing problem but as I continued reading the symptoms my end thought was of a fuel issue. How old was the gas that was all ready in the tank? For some reason it sounds as though gas is bad. Although I would have also thought that a little shot of starting fluid would have given the engine some life.

Start with the basics - check you points, spark plugs, etc. Do you have an after market tach? If so disconnect that.

Let us know how this first round goes.
Yeah I agree with Steven, It sounds like a fuel problem. What did the fuel in the filter look like? smell like? If it was discolored, kind of a brownish color it would be old. If it smells like old varnish or paint thinner it's definetly old. Try to blow through the filter, and see what comes out, if anything? you could have clogged your carb, with dirty old crud that the fresh gas loosened off the bottom of the tank. Especially if the gas you put in has ethenol in it, as it will disolve all kinds of crud. Keep checking and give us some more clues we'll figure it out. Could simply be a load of bad gas from the station. Keep us informed. JTS 71 Mach1
check your compression on a couple of cylinders, that will solve the timing question. starting fluid should over ride the bad fuel issue.
were the plugs you checked wet?


I am thinking along the lines of a clogged carb.

If the plugs are wet then maybe not, water in gas maybe.

I am also wondering why it didnt try to start when the "ether" was tried.

Pull off the distributer cap to make sure the rotor rotates.

If you have a bad tach it would cause this....you would have to bypass the tach at the tach itself and see....However if the plugs are getting the spark I would doubt that the tach is the culprit.

Check the fuel filter to see if its clean.

Good luck.
Thanks for the help. Still working on it.

The car has been a daily driver so the fuel hasn't been an issue, although I'm starting to think I got a tank of nasty instead of a tank of fuel last fill. Fuel filter has been replaced and I do get fuel all the way to the carb.

today I'm going to go through the timing and make sure everything is firing at the right time.

Points are electronic. cap and rotor look good... not new but good.

plugs are dry. they look a little used but in decent shape. I may replace them for good measure anyway along with the cap and rotor.

I haven't checked the Dissy gear yet, great next step. Thank you.

I'll keep you updated. Thanks again.

Well... I"m breaking into the timing chain next. I had a friend come over and we think the timing chain may have jumped a tooth.

I haven't rebuilt the engine and it's original. So I"m thinking it's time to change the timing chain regardless and it will allow me to take care of some small leaks...

Any recommendations on a more aggressive cam? Biggrin
Go to the Comp Cams web site and download there Camquest, put in all your engines info etc. It will give you a couple of choices inluding the best match according to you combination. JTS 71 Mach1


I am wondering that if all the plugs are totally dry then is it possible that the idle or main jets are clogged in the carb?

If fuel doesnt reach the cylinders then this may be the culprit.

Just a thought.SCo_hmmthink

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