went to start the indy this afternoon and i get turn over and eventually a cruddy turnover whilst holding on the accelerator.

After accelerator is released it stalls straight away, i felt the exhausts and only the third pipe was hot (from front). Running on 1 cylinder?

Checked the electrics and everything is fine, getting a full spark at each one.

there is however a smell of fuel, is it just badly flooded? The car is currently running without the automatic choke though this has been fine until today, any ideas?

is it a zetec you are running as i have had prob's with this at work when the wrong oil is used ther dont start well if at all the holds the tapets open (ie no coprstion ) best experance is to warm the oil run till read hot with 2 cans off oil flush in then drain ti ill still hot
all ways use ford's own 5/30 oil
sall so dont no if you are useing the ford ECU but thay are pron to losing one off there end stages which all so gives you a smiler fault
hope this iders help

nope, its a pinto, it was running before fine just a couple of days ago and now it wont!

Does it not turn over very fast? If not, check the engine earth strap.

Easiest way to eliminate it is to clip a jump lead on the engine block somewhere, and the other end onto the -ve battery terminal.

[Edited on 12/7/07 by ChrisGamlin]

hmm, i'll have to try that tomorrow, if all else fails i'll have to cancel sva and get these bike carbs on and re-book!!

What carb and ignition system are you running?

Ive had some problems with the early type electronic - ended up being a crap new aftermarket amplifier. Not saying your problem is the same but some more info may help.

Has anything changed recently? (inc where car stored etc - wondering if wet damp weather could be a contributor?)

went out this morning in hope that the car had woken up this morning but no.

Tried to start and all i get is turn over - no pops bangs or effort to really start.

All suggestions and thoughts are welcome but bare in mind that this car was working perfectly well 2 days ago and no known factors have changed.

edit to say-

i have tried

plugs and i'm getting a good spark

timing is ok

earths are fine

all wires are tight


[Edited on 13/7/07 by iscmatt]

what set are u running? what carbs, fuel pump, ignition set up, is the cam timing correct, and is the ignition timing correct?

2.0 pinto with stnd dizzy and a stnd pierburg carb. it has an bike fuel pump.

The timing is all correct, fuel is getting to the filter before the carb so presumably is getting to the carb.

My car runs fine with auto choke mech removed as well (38DGAS). At first though i had a problem with accelerator diaphragm (split - cured when replaced) and fuel pressure too high (due to red top facet).

Im wondering if something is a miss in the carb (although usually suspect ignition first). Is it a new carb or recently overhauled. Reasoning here is possibly if an old carb with unknown history could something have persished? Just a thought.

I assume the bike pump is carb type and not high pressure injection.

I know you have spark but maybe it isnt good enough. Is coil new or old? If points dizzy does that use ballast resistor? Im not sure what would happen if this was ommitted or broken down.

Last time you used the car (had it running) did anything happen?

As i say my car was running fine until 2 days ago, the carb was cleaned out by myself about a month ago (the engine had not been running before this). The car since has been tuned to run correctly but now its gone kaput.

The bike pump is correct for our application and the coil is a new one. the dizzy is a vacum induced bosch unit (if that helps?) I have also just recharged the batarry to full and no change.

Last time i used the car (2 days ago) it ran fine and nothing untoward happend.

My answers are probebly not helping to find an answer for the problem but thats why i am on here asking you guys!

Have any gaskets been replaced recently? If so, it may be worth checking them. Are you sure that fuel is getting to the carbs, as it sounds like you aren't. Pull the inlet off the carbs and see if you actually have fuel getting through. If you are, pull whatever filter(s) you have off and look down the inlet tracts, and see if you can spot anything odd/amiss with the carbs.
Apologies if this sounds condescending, but how have you checked the timing?

One thing to check. Despite being careful i had some swarfe from drilling the fuel level sender in tank that got through to the fuel filter a while back. Only caused an issue at high revs but enough to cause fuel starvation. Is yours still clean?

A Si says - worth running through all settings again. Sometimes strange things can happen until its all bedded in.

have checked just now as i had suspected that there wasn't any fuel but i have found that the fuel is getting there :S

As i dont have a strobe light i have just lined it up to tdc and everything is as it was when i had it tuned, nothings changed.

I think i may just have to get my tuner man back out to have a look, i will let you all know what he says the issue was.

thanks for your help guys

Is there anyway you could take the crabs apart and check the fuel is actually going through them? From what you've said, it could be the fuel isn't getting into the float chambers/through into the engine. What does the exhaust smell like? IE can you smell the fuel coming out the back? If not, I'd look closer at the carbs.

i think i set mine up 10 deg static to get running and then fine tuned with strobe. It ran sort of OK at TDC but better at 10deg.


Is it points dizzy? Someone with more experience may point to potential issues with them if it is. Ive only experienced electronic.

one way to check the fuel side would be to get a mate to turn ti over wile you tip a dab off fuel down the carb see if it starts

iam in york my sen if like ill pop round one night if you like a fresh set off eyes on the prob mite help you never no

[Edited on 13/7/07 by repper]

ok so update time.

There seems to be a slight smell of fuel from the exhaust, the float chamber is full and the fuel is def squirting through.

The car is currently set to advanced timing already.

An engine only needs three things to run.

Compression - Which will not have changed in the last few days!!!

Fuel - Reaching the cylinders in a reasonable mixture with oxygen.

Spark - Of reasonable strength and at the correct time.

If you work on number 1 being a given then work through 23 and 3 until you find the problem. As has been said, drop a small amount of fuel down the carb while someone turns it over. If it fires then fuelling is your problem. If not the I would guess spark.

Take 2 plugs out (to give the engine a better chance of spinning over quicker) and then try starting it. With only two plugs to fire the coil should have a better chance of producing a good spark. If it fires now then I would suspect something in the ignition side is breaking down. Don't let it run for long though if it fires up.

Don't assume the spark is good just because it fires an open plug. The spark has a much harder job when under compression and with added fuel.

I hope this helps.

Steve