Flathead won't start!

L

LukeCrawford

Junior Member
Hey everyone, so before I begin I'd like to say that the 8ba I rebuilt was running before this problem. It has a merc crank, and Navarro heads, it was running very poorly at high rpm so I decided to bring it home for a valve set and new malory distributer over winter. Now the problem is that the truck is cranking and for the life of me I just can't get it to go. It has fuel, spark and iv triple checked the timing and even took the intake manifold back off thinking I had messed up the valve set.. anyways what else could make this thing not start?! Also on 6 volt system and 2x2 intake Thanks
 
I'd suspect a problem with the Mallory unit, as it appears to be the only big change made, according to your post. Reinstall your original distributor and coil and see if it starts and runs. We have seen more than one Mallory cause problems. Some people love the Mallory unit, but we have found them to be a problem. Unless you are drag racing, or circle track running, the stock distributor is more than adequate
 
Could be poor spark. Try another coil and condenser. Pull a spark plug wire and see if you get a strong spark by grounding it against the head with a screw driver.
Could be the cam gear is off a tooth with the crank gear.

Keep looking....
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes I have just put the old distributer back on and still nothing. And I got the Mallory because iv heard that dual point was required to make it handle higher rpms. It was running very poorly before
 
Init1 said:
Could be poor spark. Try another coil and condenser. Pull a spark plug wire and see if you get a strong spark by grounding it against the head with a screw driver.
Could be the cam gear is off a tooth with the crank gear.

Keep looking....
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Has new coil, got good spark and I don't think it's the cam gear as it was starting well before and I was driving it down the street, just couldn't handle high rpms so I got a new distributer
 
Have you checked the compression? Might have washed the cylinders or could just be dried out. My flathead did the same thing after setting for a few months.Put some oil in the cylinders, let the motor spin over a while, then put the spark plugs back in and it fired right up.Smoked quite a bit for a while, but now it is doing great again! My 2 cents worth!
 
kycowman said:
Have you checked the compression? Might have washed the cylinders or could just be dried out. My flathead did the same thing after setting for a few months.Put some oil in the cylinders, let the motor spin over a while, then put the spark plugs back in and it fired right up.Smoked quite a bit for a while, but now it is doing great again! My 2 cents worth!
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Thanks for the idea! I have not tryed this yet il let you know
 
You can always go back to the tried and true method...pull it!
I know for a fact that it if will start that will start it.
 
My flathead v8 1953 pu started great all summer then it just turn & turn no pop, i live up North temps right now 30's. So took some starting fluid spray inside carb and it fire up on 3 try this work for me.
 
you say its 6 volt, i had trouble starting my 36 pickup. it got so bad that i did not want to take it anywhere. if i did not flood it , it would start after i let off on the starter switch. it would spin over fast, but not lite. one day the starter switch started to smoke, it was hot as fire, tightened up the connections and then it would start so easy! the trouble was the coil was not getting the right voltage as i was cranking. check all your battery conections, grounds and connections at the starter and the relay
 
I responded on the HAMB and suggested you were either flooded or 180 degrees out. Now that I read this for the second time---- if you bought a new Mallory dual point distributor they are known for having bad condensors right out of the box. Also their points are crap. Swap in a new (old) condenser and set of Eichlin CS2300 points, or better yet a Pertronix Ignitor.

Oh, and the Pertronix 0.6 ohm coil is great for high rpms on a 6 volt system.
 
Mike51Merc said:
I responded on the HAMB and suggested you were either flooded or 180 degrees out. Now that I read this for the second time---- if you bought a new Mallory dual point distributor they are known for having bad condensors right out of the box. Also their points are crap. Swap in a new (old) condenser and set of Eichlin CS2300 points, or better yet a Pertronix Ignitor.

Oh, and the Pertronix 0.6 ohm coil is great for high rpms on a 6 volt system.
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Thanks Mike this is my first flathead and I'm glad you can help me out with this! Going to head to town and grab a few things this morning
 
Pull starting was always the "go to method" for starting the stubborn old flatheads years ago. Once Dad bought the 52 with Mercomatic that was no longer an option. Nowadays it can still be stubborn on a cold start due to unaddressed carburetor issues and a 12 year old six volt battery. I cheat a little and temporarily hook up 12 volts directly to the starter. Don't want to put 12 volts through the rest of the starting system but the starter will handle it just fine and spin at least twice as fast. Works for me.
 
As I suggested to the other guy that his flathead would't start. Since you have confirmed that you have gas and spark, I would suggest that you find someone sit and push the starter button. Loosen the distributor so it turns freeley. Then while the other person is pushing the starter button you rotate the distributor both ways until you get a back fire or it starts. As was suggested on the other post a remote starter button will get the job done too. Flatheads want to run, so if it ran before it will run again.
 
Merc Cruzer said:
As I suggested to the other guy that his flathead would't start. Since you have confirmed that you have gas and spark, I would suggest that you find someone sit and push the starter button. Loosen the distributor so it turns freeley. Then while the other person is pushing the starter button you rotate the distributor both ways until you get a back fire or it starts. As was suggested on the other post a remote starter button will get the job done too. Flatheads want to run, so if it ran before it will run again.
Click to expand...
Tryed this.still not doing much
 
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