Hi Glen,
I've been through similar things with my '67 Midget, so here's what I'm
thinking:
Cars need fuel, oxygen, spark and compression, and they need these things
all at particular times. As a result, I'd guess the following is
happening:
1. Your points gap is incorrect.
If this were true, you still may get a spark to jump from the wire to the
plug, but under the effects of compression, the presence of fuel and
other additives, there may be too much resistance inside for the plugs to
fire. Check the gap.
2. The plugs are flooded, fouled or carbon gapped.
If your engine is running too rich, the plugs may be carbon gapped, which
is to say a small thread of carbon may be causing the plug to be short
circuited, preventing spark. A rich engine may foul plugs to the point
where they won't fire unless glowing hot. If the engine is flooded, all
of this is moot anyway.
3. Plugs may be fine, points may be fine, etc.. but do a static timing
check. If the timing is wrong, the car probably won't fire. Also, check
the firing order and make sure it's correct.
4. Your coil might be toast. This is the same theory as incorrectly set
points (which tend to lead toward fried coils). There may be enough
juice to show a spark jumping from the wire to the plug, but inside that
nasty cylinder, it might not be strong enough.
I hope this helps. I doubt it's the fuel pump, though if it keeps
pumping even though pressure has equalized, it could need a new
diaphragm. That wouldn't prevent the car from at least kicking over
briefly, but could become a problem of its own.
Cheers,
Andy Ramm
'67 Midget -- The Smidgin
'69 B -- Emma
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics says, "Natural processes increase entropy."
Translation - You think you're in trouble now? Just you wait...
----------------Original Message Follows----------------
Hello People,
I'm a little bit embarrassed to say my '66 Midget will not fire, and I'm
not
having much luck fixing it. I must have brain fade, but I'd appreciate a
few
pointers.
There is good gas in the tank. The fuel pump is pumping and fuel comes
out
into a container when the line to the carb is disconnected. When I
disconnect the #1 cylinder wire and hold it about an eighth of an inch
from
the spark plug, I can see a spark jump each time that cylinder comes up
on a
power stroke. I have pulled this plug and it is perfectly clean and not
wet,
so I'm guessing it's not flooded.
One odd think is that the fuel pump (a solid state Purolator job) keeps
on
pumping as if it's not getting up to pressure. As I said, it is pumping
into
a container, but I haven't measured the pressure.
I looked inside the float bowls. There is a tiny, tiny bit of sediment
in
the bottom, but they seem fine. They are not overflowing.
Finally, I tried spraying some starting fluid into the carbs while
holding
the butterflies open and still could not get ANY ignition. Not one
sputter...
The fact that the starting fluid is not igniting seems to be saying there
is
no spark, but the wire sparks to the plug, so where does that leave me?
How
much of a spark should I see?
Last clue is that I'm a little bit suspicious of the two very light gauge
wires inside the distributor. They seem pretty flimsy, but then again
I'm
getting sparks from the wire to the plug.
PLEASE SUGGEST POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, NO MATTER HOW OBVIOUS.
(I made a point to post this during the day since a lot of you seem to do
your e-mail during business hours when you probably should be working.)
Thanks.
Glen Wilson
---------------- End of Original Message -----------------
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