Steve L Posted April 30, 2004 Posted April 30, 2004 I have a 91 Westfield with a 1.6 L Kent engine which has not run for about 2 1/2 years. Former owner said that engine ran up to the day of the fire in wiring harness. I have installed a new factory wiring harness. The problem is the engine won't start. I have made about 50 attempts now. I put the battery on the charger each night. Engine cranks well, and I can do 10-12 tests at least before the battery shows signs of slowing down. In all the attempts, I heard 2 or 3 ignitions, but that was all. Seems that the spark is there, the fuel is there, but they are not meeting as planned. 40 Webber carbs 290° cam (I think. In any case, not the standard one.) Lucas distributor Points .0025 inch Timing 10° BTDC New coil New condensor Plugs make a fat, bluish-white spark. Plugs are wet after a few attempts, so fuel is getting to cylinders. I can also feel a good suction at the carbs. A friend thought to check the jets and they are clear. Pulled one plug, and a mist of fuel comes out the plug hole at about the same time that the plug sparks, so at least I do not have the spark off by 180°. No crack visible in distributor cap. But each of the plug wire contacts inside the cap are burned on the "back" side, seen in direction of rotation. My friend thought there might be a problem with the mechanical advance, and the spark is way late, but we did not have time last night to check that. No sparks from HT wires visible in dark. Does anyone have further suggestions? I am beginning to get just a wee bit frustrated. Thanks a lot for any help you might be able to offer. Steve Quote
fordy Posted April 30, 2004 Posted April 30, 2004 If the engine hasnt run for 2 1/2 yrs, then id strip it down and re-build it - you may get it started, but you may have no end of trouble with it - all the seals would have dried out, bores may have gone rusty, Valves may be sticking, Check your compression before you go any further. cheers Chris Quote
SteveF Posted April 30, 2004 Posted April 30, 2004 Had a problem on my Xflow which had similar symptoms - all the right elements were there - fuel / spark etc, and it did fire the occaisional time, but wouldn't start. The problem turned out to be the rotor arm in the distributor - the locator for the shaft had broken - so it was spinning - but at its own rate - it sparked - just not at the right time . The fix was simple - cost me about £1 for a new rotor arm from the local motor factors. Hope this helps Steve Quote
Thrustyjust Posted April 30, 2004 Posted April 30, 2004 sounds more like the timing is out.Check you are not 180 degrees out on timing.If you have a spark and fuel is wetting the plugs,you can't be far off.If the car has been standing for such a long time,I would take off the rocker cover and remove the plugs.Turn the engine over to see if the valves all actuate.With a cam like that,they should be some hefty springs closing them.Must be simple and oh so close......keep trying. Are you local,maybe someone could stick a head in and help out? Quote
Steve L Posted April 30, 2004 Author Posted April 30, 2004 Engine Running and Thrustyjust was probably closest to correct. In fact, the rotor was rotated 180°. We knew this, but the cables were correctly assigned so that the spark came when No.1 was TDC. My friend got it to run, though. He put the rotor on correctly, rechecked the timing and it fired up on the second try. My friend couldn't say for sure exactly where the problem was. Would anyone like to do a post-mortem? Thank you all for your help. Isn't that a nice way to celebrate the extension of the EU? By the way, I *have* to get this car registered by May 29. I have a bet with my wife, who thinks that I won't, and the winner gets to say to the looser, "I told you so! I told you so!" Steve Quote
Steve L Posted April 30, 2004 Author Posted April 30, 2004 PS, by the way, from your point of view, I am not local. I live in Brunswick, Germany, a bit East of Hanover. Steve Quote
DickieB Posted May 1, 2004 Posted May 1, 2004 Isn't that a nice way to celebrate the extension of the EU? No comment. Quote
smudge Posted May 1, 2004 Posted May 1, 2004 I used to live in germany in falingbostel good roads I envy you! Quote
DickieB Posted May 1, 2004 Posted May 1, 2004 I preferred the ones west of Hanover myself - nearer to Nienburg or across to Osnatraz. Then again, the ones down south were even better. Memorable drives to and from Munich. Happy days. Quote
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