Running rough, won't start after it dies.

GregLast said:
I'm familiar with the starting procedure, and I know it has fresh gas (I put it in there). I've checked to make sure fuel is flowing free to the carb. I got it to turn run just a little, but it acted like it was gasping for air, and I saw a little white smoke come from under car (from the carb), then it shut down again.

When the key is off and I press the starter button, it shouldn't try and turn over, right? It does.
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The starter will run no matter what the key position is.
 
GregLast said:
I'm familiar with the starting procedure, and I know it has fresh gas (I put it in there). I've checked to make sure fuel is flowing free to the carb. I got it to turn run just a little, but it acted like it was gasping for air, and I saw a little white smoke come from under car (from the carb), then it shut down again.

When the key is off and I press the starter button, it shouldn't try and turn over, right? It does.
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Was there any gas left in the tank when you put fresh gas in? Adding fresh to a little stale fuel will cause problems.

All the nuts and bolts tight on your carburetor and intake manifold?

Your starter will operate regardless of key position.

Still need to know if you have spark.
 
I'll pull a plug and see what I get there. If I used the test light correctly, I'm seeing current on the movable points arm.

There was gas in the tank before I added new. It's not much, so I will drain it all and put some new in and try it out.
 
Back to basics... make sure you try starting with choke open first and than close it while cranking. Remove plugs and check compression. Double check your timing and make absolutely sure you have a good strong spark across the points. Check plugs....if they remain dry after cranking while choked, you are probably not getting fuel into cylinders. A trick I have used to start my old ford tractor is to hold my hand over carb intake while cranking with key off to make sure I am drawing plenty of fuel into cylinders than I remove
plugs to make sure they are wet. As stated earlier, lay a plug on the block and crank engine watching for good strong blue spark. Try to check spark out of the sunlight so you can see it decently. finally, I thought I read something about white smoke? This could be a sign of coolant in the combustion chamber. You will usually smell coolant but water is not noticeable. You can learn a lot when you test compression.
 
Ok. Replaced the gas and pulled a plug. I saw a good blue spark. So I know it's getting that far. Tried starting it choked after the new gas and it tried to start and limped along, but now it's back to not starting.
 
I think you will need to remove and clean your carburetor...it sounds to me like something got in there and is either plugging the float valve or a jet....
 
Excellent. I'll put the car back in the garage tonight and I'll put the battery on the charger and do some reading on the Zenith carb tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I can get this car back on the road.
 
I haven't seen any more smoke since this one time. I got into the distributor and cleaned contacts today and haven't been having any problems with smoke. Now it just won't start. The carb looks like it's dripping gas. It would make sense that I might need to clean it.

I'm in Oklahoma City. It was 110F today. I'm keeping that GAV pretty close to shut. I wish it was 50F here. :)
 
Someone mentioned a compression test. Can you do this? Local clubs can usually lend you a compression gauge. It's good to join a local club. White smoke from carb? Sounds funny. But if you have white smoke coming from your tail pipe, it would be water in the combustion chamber (not good), indicating a leak in the head gasket from a water cooling chamber into a combustion chamber, and would also make the engine run rough. Chuck
 
Got out and cleaned the spark plugs and disassembled/reassembled the carb. There was plenty of fuel in the bowl and it didn't have a whole lot of junk in it. The jets all seemed to be clear. The carb is leaking a lot out of the side. I checked the float and it didn't see to be stuck.

Car still only catches every now and then.

I cranked the engine manually, slowly, and each rotation was hard like normal.
 
Sounds like it's not getting fuel. Try starting while choked and hold choke partially closed to keep it running. Throttle the choke opened / closed as necessary to keep it running. If you can keep it running, your problem is in the fuel supply between tank and carb. If not, you should perform a compression test and post the results. Either way, let us know.
 
Let's say the car doesn't pass muster on a compression test. What kind of job am I looking at? I can do it, just don't like surprises. :)
 
P.S. You have all been extremely helpful in organizing my thoughts and giving me a direction to go in. I was really scared to take anything apart at first, and now I feel like I can do this and am learning a lot.

Thanks for everything so far. I'll keep everyone posted and post a video when it's running again!
 
Where are you located?

Battery in question........you should always start by slow charging the battery for 8 to 12 hours, then do a load test. No use to replace a good battery.........which you may have done.

When charging a battery be sure to feel each of the cells every so often, and if any feel hot then turn off the charger and trade in the battery.

If you have gas dripping from the carb intake, then you should have gas to at least fire, if not run.

Before things get replaced or taken apart needlessly, it best to have someone experienced give a helping hand (in person).
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
Where are you located?

Battery in question........you should always start by slow charging the battery for 8 to 12 hours, then do a load test. No use to replace a good battery.........which you may have done.

If you have gas dripping from the carb intake, then you should have gas to at least fire, if not run.

Before things get replaced or taken apart needlessly, it best to have someone experienced give a helping hand (in person).
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I'm in Oklahoma City. I reached out to the Sooner Model A Club last night. I live really close to the park that they meet at, so that's a bonus!

I am aware that I may have replaced a good battery. I'm ok with that. I don't know how long that battery was in the car and if it's not bad, I have an extra now. I got the new battery for a really good deal.

I am more than open to a helping hand in person.
 
Try this to see if it will fire for a short time. Pull all of your plugs out and crank the engine over for several revolutions. Then put a teaspoon of gas in each cylinder. Pop the plugs back in a crank it over and see if it wants to catch and run for a few seconds.
 
Your video sounds to me like an engine running with the spark fully retarded at low throttle. Does the engine speed change when you advance the spark? What happens when it is running like shown in the video and you press the accelerator pedal?
 
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