Car Won't Start

[Guest shadetree77]

I am thoroughly confused here. My dad and I tried to get the car started again today. No dice. We took all the spark plug wires off one by one and checked to see that they were getting a good spark and they all are. We also hooked up the carb and fuel pump to a fresh can of gas to eliminate the chance that the gas went bad. The only time the car will try to start is if you pour some fuel down the carb. It will try to run and then stop. What's confusing me is that I DO have fuel squirting out of the jets when the pedal is pressed but those squirts aren't keeping the motor running. I decided to take the carb off the motor and take it apart AGAIN to check the measurements and adjustments on the internal stuff. When I took the carb off the manifold though, there was about a 1/4 inch or more of fuel standing in the bottom of the manifold! :confused: Anybody know what's going on here?? I just don't get it! It was running fine a few days before with the exception of one rocker arm not moving. All I did was re-adjust one of the rockers and now a few days later, it won't start. I've posted about this on my "Me and My Buick" thread but a fellow member suggested I post here as well to garner more responses. Here's a list of all the other things I've already checked and/or done if you missed my other posts.(Also keep in mind my car was modified by the previous owner and no longer makes use of a generator, carb start switch, or any of the starting system relays.)

Charged The Battery

Cleaned the Terminals and Connections

Tried Another Charged Battery

Checked All Spark Plug Connections

Checked For Voltage At Coil

Bypassed Ceramic Resistor

Took Off And Inspected Cap And Rotor

Replaced Wire Running From Coil To Distributor

Replaced Positive Battery Cable

Verified Gas In Carb Bowl Through Plug On Side Of Carb

Edited February 7, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[MrEarl]

Certainly sounds gas related. But a wise ol man once told me that 90% of all fuel problems are electrical. Have you moved the distributor in any of all this and perhaps got it too far out of time. Is the rotor hitting #1 spark plug wire when #1 piston is at top dead center on the compression stroke. Is so, may as well try replacing the coil. Never hurts to have a spare one anyway.

Edited February 4, 2012 by MrEarl (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

I might end up doing that if I can't track this down. Is there any way to tell if the coil is bad? That coil only has about 20 miles on it. We did the test where you hold a plug wire next to the engine block and try to start the car. There was a good strong spark from every plug wire meaning the coil is producing voltage. Just how much I don't know but my dad said that spark looked plenty strong enough. All I have done with the distributor is to take the cap off of it a few times. I didn't loosen it or anything. I can re-check the timing again but it was dead-on when I adjusted that rocker. I know because you have to line up the marks on the flywheel/bellhousing when you adjust the rocker arms. When I did this to adjust the rocker, the timing marks and rotor matched up perfectly on the #1 and #8 piston just like the manual says.

Edited February 4, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Robert, I saw your post on the MAMB forum about the gas in the manifold. I recommend pulling one plug ( any of them) and see if the tip is fouled with gas and or carbon. If so, I would pull and clean each plug and use compressed air to blow out each cylinder, then try again.

Sort of sounds like you still have an internal carb gas leak to me.

[Smartin]

1/4" of fuel in the manifold? I assume that the older carburetors are similar to the later models which have a float, needle, and seat to keep gas from entering the carb once it is full of fuel. It sounds like this part is failing or is installed incorrectly.

Last Spring, I rebuilt a 2 barrel rochester for a buddy on his 72 Skylark. Initial startup showed I had something way wrong, because gas was pouring into the intake through the carb. I pulled it back off and looked at the float/needle/seat assembly. I had installed one of the components backwards, causing it to be OPEN once the fuel had filled the carb. 15 minutes later, the car ran like a top.

[old-tank]

If your available fuel contains ethanol see THIS.

Leaving the spark plugs out and the carb off the manifold for a day should dry out the water. Then fill your carb with fresh gas and run from your remote source.

Willie

[buick man]

The fuel is building up because that is what happens if the fuel pump keeps on a pumping while the car keeps on a not running.

Though not intentional on your part, I would seriously follow, confirm and check out the hacky motto work the previous owner inflicted upon the entire starting circuit.

The problems I have encountered with these type of "conversion jobs" is most likely where some bubble gum or tape came off of a connection or two somewhere, and now your in the dark on why it does not run and with no circuit schematic to follow.

That would be my guess anyways. Follow the logic on this install on the starter circuit conversion and see what gremlins you come up with.

Good luck.

Edited February 6, 2012 by buick man (see edit history)

[Smartin]

Fuel should not be entering the intake at that rate regardless of a pump pushing it or not, unless the fuel pressure is too high and pushing through the needle/seat assembly in the carb...that is why I suspected something sticking open and allowing fuel to pour into the engine. That said, check your oil level and make sure your oil isn't contaminated with gas.

[Guest shadetree77]

Today I took the plugs out(pictures below). They did have a black coating on them but nothing crusty or solid. Just a sooty black coating. I cleaned them up and I am going to take Willie's advice on leaving them out for a few days just in case I have water in the cylinders. The standing fuel or water or whatever it was is gone from the manifold.

Adam, that very same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. The float needle wasn't seating and the carb overflowed with gas. I took it off the manifold and put in a new one. After re-installing the carb, the car started just fine and ran for about 15-20 mins. I had a rocker not moving so I shut it down and the car sat for a few days while I got around to fixing the rocker problem. When I tried to start it back up is when all the stuff on this thread began. I am in the process of tearing down the carb again to check all the measurements and adjustments.

David, calling what the previous owner did to this car a hack job would be putting it lightly. However, I have since re-wired everything he did and removed all bubble gum and tape:p to make it safe and correct. It's not "period correct" of course, but it is a safe way to do things until I can convert back to the 6 volt system. As far as I know, all the wiring gremlins should be taken care of as the car has been running just fine until now.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll be working on it all through the week and I'll post here if I figure anything out. Feel free to make more suggestions if you think of anything more to add.

Edited February 7, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[55 SURVIVOR]

Timing sounds advanced too far,does the choke close all the way? IS the plug putting out a good spark?Check or replace the condensor.

[Guest brh]

What did you remove, change or do, in the process of taking care of the rocker? If the car ran fine prior to the repair, is it possible, that you knocked off a wire or moved something that is causing this?? Just a thought. Black on plugs indicates that its flooding, but that could also be because it hasn't had a chance to warm up and burn off too.

[Guest shadetree77]

I re-built the carb and checked all the adjustments. The float level was way off. I put the carb back on the car today and tried to start her up. Noticed my battery ground wire smoking after a few attempts. I took it off and cleaned up all the contacts. Also separated the electric fuel pump ground wire that the previous owner had rigged up to the battery ground(guess I missed that particular gremlin ehh David?). Messed around with the carb some more and she finally started up! No way to tell what the problem was exactly. I fixed and adjusted so many things at once it's hard to tell. My money is on a combination of the float level and the bad ground. Bad news is that the rocker arm stopped moving again after a few minutes of running. Must be a bad lifter. Back to square one with that problem, but at least she's running again!! Thanks for all the help guys.