engine won't fire up?

37fordtruckguy

37fordtruckguy

Member
ok I have a question that might baffle a few of you. The other day I decided i would try and get some tuning done on the motor. When I went to turn it over i have nothing. I have checked everything i can think of, cleaned the points, gapped the spark plugs, checked the condenser and made sure the carburetors where working, and everything checks just fine. I even have spark, yet it still wont fire up.
 
Check the compression. If you have spark and compression and it still won't run 99.9% of the time it is a fuel problem. Did you have the distributor out? Might not be back in correctly and the spark is not happening at the right time.
 
It was running last week. It was pinging a little so i was going to advance the timing a little bit, I checked every carb and made sure fuel was being delivered and it was, and check every plug and i was getting a nice blue spark. I can't do any tuning until i get it figured out. i have yet to checked compression but the motor doesn't even have 300miles on with a fresh rebuild, so i wouldn't think that would be a problem.
 
If it's pinging, then retarding the timing would be in order.

But, have you squirted some fuel in a carb or given it a shot or two of starting fluid, to see if it wants to run?
 
The only other thing it could be is timing. If you moved it one way, maybe move it a little the other way. Backfiring thru the exhaust means an exhaust valve is open when the plug is firing. Turn the engine over to #1 TDC pop distributor cap, look at where the rotor is pointing, probably not at #1. Get the rotor and #1 lined up and it should fire, then set your timing
 
I agree with brake1000,. I had a similar problem and found it was 180 degrees out. If yours was running, but rough it could still be way out.
When I got my 52 it barely ran and I found that the crank gear was out of alignment by three teeth. No one could figure how it ran at all. Could be you snapped a tooth???
 
A very fine mechanic always told me, "as long as we are having a conversation about an engine NOT running, it takes TWO things for an engine to run, GAS & SPARK!" SO.....if you have spark???
 
You need to get back to basics and confirm the dist is in the correct position.Your statements sound like it wasn't correct from the time you installed it from the get go.At true TDC on #1 cyl. Appears a tooth out.Running it for 300 miles with the problem described isn't the best condition for a new engine.

Here is the wiring
 

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chap52 said:
I agree with brake1000,. I had a similar problem and found it was 180 degrees out. If yours was running, but rough it could still be way out.
When I got my 52 it barely ran and I found that the crank gear was out of alignment by three teeth. No one could figure how it ran at all. Could be you snapped a tooth???
Click to expand...

An ignition 180 degrees out will not run at all. Never ever. And the only way to get that way is improper installation of the distributor. A previously running engine can't spontaneously get 180 degrees out unless you pull and set the distributor in backwards.

Is it really backfiring? To me, a backfire sounds like firing a large caliber gun, loud enough to wake the neighborhood, strong enough to explode a muffler case. Crackling on deceleration indicates a lean condition at the idle mixture.

As for the immediate problem, I'd suspect you flooded it. Try cranking with the throttle floored. Try a spray of starting fluid down the carb.
 
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