engine cranks but won't start

[Anonymous]

I was hoping I could pick the brains of the forum. I've got a 66 Mustang 200 ci. that has not run in about 4 years. I decided it was time to get her going again and started into the engine. I drained what was once fuel from the gas tank, drained and replaced the oil, replaced the antifreeze, rebuilt the stock 1v carb, changed the fuel filter, and replaced the spark plugs. The motor cranks but will not turn over. I disconnected the fuel line from the carb to verify fuel is flowing. With a flashlight, I pulled the throttle linkage to look for fuel spraying in the carb. I don't see any sprays, but there is a mist of fuel and the throttle plate is coated with fuel. I'm pretty much a beginner mechanic and I was hoping I could get some suggestions on where to go from this point. Any direction is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

The fuel in the carb is probably stale. Should pull the carb and drain it and douche with carb cleaner to get the gum and varnish out. Wouldn't hurt to get a carb kit. 4 year old gas will put out a fire like water.

 

[MustangSix]

Next step is to check for spark. Pull the coil wire from the center of the distributor and place the end close to, but not touching, the engine block. Crank the engine. You should see a spark. If not, start ignition troubleshooting

 

[Anonymous]

i bought a rebuilt engine that had been sitting a year...it didnt start right away either....i really didnt do anything to it to get it to start later..but i had constantly tried starting it and playing with timing and all that...well actually the first time i tried i had put the distributer in 180 deg out..but fixed that...but when i finally got it to fire up it would die...did that a buch of times...then it fired up and kept running...ran real crappy and lotsa black smoke...probably from the oil sitting in the cylinders that long...but i got it running good and strong within that week...so i guess it could be anything since it has been sitting so long...but the best thing u can do is what these other guys said..rebuild the carb and check the basics again like wiring and spark plugs and all that...

 

[Anonymous]

When checking the spark by holding the wire close to the block, do I need to do anything to protect myself from the electrical current? I'm kind of concerned I'll electrocute myself since this is new territory for me. Also, is there a way to crank the engine from the engine compartment while checking the wiring at the same time, I'm a one person shop? Thanks again for the helpful suggestions.

 

[pedal2themetal45]

Yes electrocute your self. Its fun.. Won't hurt but well make ya jump good. use rubber coated handle plyers or fiber plug wire plyers. You should be able to jumper the sylinoid under the hood with a remote starter button (cheap tool) hook it up to the battery side of the sylinoid and the S spot on the sylinoid. Or jumper across the two big post on the sylinoid (battery side and the starter side..). with unprotected plyer handles ( no shock here its DC curent).
Tim

 

[Guest]

...Or jumper across the two big post on the sylinoid (battery side and the starter side..). with unprotected plyer handles ( no shock here its DC curent)....

um....current is current, regardless of source. DC current can be just as deadly, if not more than AC current. If you want to test that, I'll let you grab the leads on a 3HP, 180V DC motor and well see how well you do. Remember the body is a conductor, we are mostly water and water is a conductor. Not only are we water, but we are salt water which is a greater conductor.

The amount of current is determined by the voltage and resistance. Ohm’s law, V=IR. In this particular situation, you are using a pair of steel pliers with a resistance so low, that you can consider it 0. Depending on which part of your body you are using, dirt/grease/hand lotion filming, salinity level, perspiration intensity, pulse rate, hydration level, etc.. the resistance can vary. In this case, let’s say your body resistance is 500K ohms. Now 500K resistance in parallel with 0 ohms is = 0, and current always takes the path of least resistance, so you won’t feel it, but you still have current flowing. I just grabbed a 12V DC source (between left and right hand) and measured .00002 amps of current. Certainly I can not feel such a small current, but it is there.

Here's a test. I’ll charge up this 50,000µF cap here to 12V DC. Why don’t you grab the leads and see how big of a shock you get. The voltage will bite you, and you can say there is no current there, but in fact there is. You can’t have voltage without current 8)

 

[Anonymous]

I would grab an old plug or pull a plug out of your engine plug it up and ground it out by holding against the block. This way you can check for spark and not shock yourself. No need for rubber protection, etc... Just pick a good clean spot on the block hold the plug to it and have someone crank the engine.

 

[Anonymous]

I rigged up a remote starter switch using a heavy duty momentary push button switch. Just connect one wire to positive on the battery and the other to the "s" terminal on the solinoid. Don't forget to turn the key on when checking for spark.



Electricity always takes the path of ZERO resistance. If there isn't a dead short in the circuit, electricity will take ALL paths available. If electricity only took the path of least resistance, we could never have developed complex circuits like radios, TV's or computers.

 

[pedal2themetal45]

HI BIG AL
Thats like compairing a grape to a water mellon, There both round have seeds, and full of juice, one you can fit in your mouth the other maybe not.. Your 3hp. 180v DC generator is about 15 times more voltage than a 12V car battery. SOOO .00002 amps are (as you) say unfelt.
Oh yes I've had a boss that would charge up a condenser and toss it and say catch. I've never been shocked (jolted ) by a 12v system (other than the coil to plug stuff) in my 33yrs. working on cars..
Tim

 

[Guest]

How about dueling engineering degrees at 50 paces. I bet I know how it would turn out :roll:

 

[pedal2themetal45]

Ya know I figgured you'd have some kind of Paper deal..
Give a guy a piece of paper and he knows all.. They well always give more info than needed. Out of the 3 paragraphs you wrote regarding the electrocution it steal came down to

Certainly I can not feel such a small current, but it is there.

So no shock, right , Thats all I was saying.. So lets have and forget it...
Tim

 

[80broncoman]

I watched a guy test for spark by taking a plug out put the plug woire on it and held it so the electrode was directly over the plug hole in the head.
Before I couls yell for them to stop his ASSistant cranked the engine.
He didn't have to look for a arc. The flame that cam out of the plug hole was much bigger than any arc could have ever been.

 

[weeds]

Pull the plug, insert into plug wire, hold next to block, crank engine. You will feel the spark before you see it. Better yet, just grab the dist cap while cranking. Then you won't have to mess with the plugs. 40,000 volts, little tiny current. You'll still feel it.

Ask me how I know, other than the paper on the wall.

Oh yeah, GM HEIs put out quite a jolt. I think I felt that one for a couple of days.

 

[Anonymous]

Battery Current can be real painful. My old Vette had a cable actuated windshield wiper. It had stopped raining and the knob was not cycling the wipers off. So I reached under the dash to pull cable to cycle the switch. My watchband found the back of the ammeter and a ground. Tried to arc weld the watchband to my wrist. Damn thing was red hot pulling if off of my wrist and blistered a couple of other spots as I pulled it over my hand. I have a nice scar of a single watchband link that looks like I was branded. All this happened before I got my engineering piece of paper if that adds more credence to the story. 12 volt car batteries have lots of amps at their disposal. Be careful working with wrenches around the starter relay switch. I once dropped a wrench and it hit the terminal on the relay just right to crank the engine over. Car was in gear and damn near ran over my foot.