Model A won't start

30A

30A

Senior Member
I installed a rebuilt carburetor and the car ran great. Parked it and the next day it will not start. I checked the float and no problem. Where does a newbie go from here? Thx Steve
 
30A said:
I installed a rebuilt carburetor and the car ran great. Parked it and the next day it will not start. I checked the float and no problem. Where does a newbie go from here? Thx Steve
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First - stupid question but I have to ask, is the gas on?

Second - disconnect the full line from the carb and turn the gas on to make sure you are getting a solid stream of gas coming out, that way you will know there is no junk blocking the fuel line.

Third - are you getting spark at the points?
 
you need to determine what system is causing your trouble
ignition
fuel
mechanical

take the coil wire out of the cap and hold it a 1/4 from a head nut and crank over the engine with the key on. you should see a nice spark. if thats good remove the fuel line from the carburetor and make sure you get a nice flow of fuel with the shutoff valve turned on. post back your findings and then we can attack it further.
 
Thanks! No problem with asking the obvious...aka stupid questions. Don't take anything for granted.

Steady stream of gas!

Lots of spark at the coil wire. Blue spark at points but not that bright..also battery going down so not turning very fast at the moment.

It was running great...what can happen overnight?
 
You checked the float, but sounds to me that the float valve may have stuck shut when you shut it off. Drain some fuel out of the carburetor and tap on the top of it with a plastic hammer.

Tom Endy
 
Took off the carb, opened it up and checked the float and valve...I know it is not stuck...at least now. Put the carb back on but battery is weak and turn over is slow. I will charge overnight and let you know in the morning.

Tom, you could be right since my gas valve doesn't seem to have a positive shut off.

Many thanks! Steve
 
When you crank the engine and pull the choke for a couple compression strokes, there should be some gas dripping out the carb intake, unless it's not getting gas.

A well tuned Model A should start after a couple compression strokes, and even if it doesn't, you should never have to pull the choke for more than a couple compression strokes.
 
did you install a new fuel line to the carb? if the new line and ferell is pushed to far in the carburetor it restricts the gas flow.
 
Mitch//pa said:
did you install a new fuel line to the carb? if the new line and Ferrell is pushed to far in the carburetor it restricts the gas flow.
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been there done this one trick i now use is to take a marker slide the Ferrell up to the cap leave about a 1\8 inch sticking out then mark the fuel line, when you install it have the cap at the mark when you tighten it up it will be right AL
 
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No luck starting this morning. I do have gas dripping out the air intake of the carb so it seems I am getting gas. However, the ferell is rather far up on the gas line. I will trim the gas line beyond the ferell anyway and see what happens. Thanks.
 
Your either not getting spark at the plugs or it's flooded. With the ignition on pull a plug wire off and see if a spark jumps to the head of the plug or a screw driver with the screw driver tip gounded on the engine
 
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