The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 54 235 will not run

this is what I have done. Remfgd rochester carb. Fuel pump and new points set .016,new condenser, new plugs set .035 all rockers and valves working and oiling good. has spark at plugs and at points . Dist.cap looks good cant see any cracks. It will try to start and turn over faster than the starter when I let up on the starter it dies . I'v tried pumping the excelerator pedal a little while trying to start it . I took of top off carb Checked float measurement it's correct and the carb bowl half full of gas . New gas filter which is half full or better. Checked where rotor is at T.D.C.of #1 its clost to #1 plug wire.Cant see gas squirting in carb but smell it .Also when cranking hand over carb sucks good lol. Any Ideas ?Thanks Jer

just because you spent good money on a remanufactured carburetor doesn't mean it is going to work. Are all the passages clear, and all the little balls and what nots in there appropriate location.

Your saying it sounds like carburation problem. Maybe I will dismantle it and check what your saying . Thanks for your imput. Jer

I wonder if its flooded? If it was mine I would pull the spark plugs out and put some oil in the cylinders, if the plugs are wet I would put a different set in and try it after getting cylinders oiled good.

Try pouring a little gas right into the carb. Crank it and see if it fires. If it does look at your float level.

When you lined up the distributor so that the rotor pointed at the #1 plug, was the #1 cylinder lined up on the flywheel pointer (and was it on its compression stroke)?

Try holding gas pedal to the floor while starting, i'm thinking choke or also vacuum leak, plugged carb. Also as mentioned try a dribble of gas into the carb or B-12 Chemtool spray.

You said it dies when you let go of the starter. Is this a 12 volt setup with a ballast resistor?

nix rang the bell, bad ballast resistor or mis-wired

Bill

Yes it's wired for 12 volt and it was running good when I pulled it into the garage . It sat for a few years without running and one day I tried to start it and discovered dirt and rust in the gas filter so I replaced the F.pump , carb, gas filter spark plugs and ig.points , condensor. Can a ballast resistor go out on first start up try or from sitting a long time? I must say I never heard of a ballast resistor . Where is it located ?

Yes I will try this thank's I appreciate all your replies.

I have a 56 and its on the drivers side of the fire wall. should look like a ceramic rectangle with a wire on the top and one on the bottom. Basically it drops your volts to around 8-9V so you don't burn up your points.

resistor looks like this .... ballast resistors can go bad unexpectedly with no warning, and the symptom you cited of the engine starting to run until you let off the starter is THE classic symptom of a bad one - the resistor is bypassed while starting by a wire from the starter [to the coil or the output side of the resistor], but when you let off the starter you no longer have that current to the coil, it must pass thru the resistor, to drop the voltage as Benji says - if the resistor is bad, suddenly no juice to the coil, engine dies .... because the resistor was only on originally 12V trucks, yours could have been put somewhere other than the standard firewall mount location, if it's not immediately evident track wires back from the coil to find it, if you don't find one you need to add it unless you have a coil with internal resistance

Bill

I do hope your ballast resister is the culprit. May I ask a question? If it was running good when you pulled it into garage a couple of years ago and experienced a dirty fuel filter recently , why did you change out all that stuff instead of just the fuel filter? Ever heard the quote, "If its not broke, don't fix it"! If you treat the symptoms you observe and only that, you have lots less possibilities as to where the problem lies. I am sorry for the sermon but that is my opinion.

not flooded don. thanks

Shop Shark Why did I replace everything? I love my truck that's why. The gas was not only dirty, It actually stunk and formed a coating inside the carb. The fuel pump was not pumping either. You ever see the inside of a Briggs engine that gas that went bad and the inside of the carb was coated with that film of ?? cant think what it's called. Well that's how my carb was . The ballast resister is good . I bypassed it and same issue. I am getting spark at the points and the plugs. I cant see gas squirt in the carb throat so seems to me there is something plugged maybe a little port or something not working right. Thanks for your reply /.

Benjik my ballast resister is good , yes it is on the firewall. It test out ok. And I am getting spark at the points and plugs. And no flooding . Thank You for your reply.

Bill I appreciate the feed back . MY BALLAST REESISTER IS ON THE FIRE WALL AND IT CHECKS OUT GOOD . tHANKS MAN .

I had a hard time with my fuel system after my truck sat for 4 years. I finally dismantled and let it soak in Berry-mans Chem-Dip for 24 hrs, rebuilt the carb and all was well. That being said I was working with the original carb. If you got fire its got to be fuel or lack there of. Just a passing thought; Is you air fuel mix port stopped up?

To me,(I'M NO EXPERT),it sounds like it wants to run,until you let up on the stomp. It sounds like an electrical issue,as mentioned in several previous posts. Check your ign. switch,and make sure all of your connections are clean,and tight.If the wire that connects from the switch to the ballast resistor is loose,it will act the same as a bad ballast resistor.Same with the connection from resistor to coil. The resistor is constructed like a fuse. If there's a break in the wire,you have no current to the coil,once the starting circuit is by-passed. Maybe the switch itself took a dump? My switch was the culprit,along with the ballast resistor,when I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago. It's strange,but they both quit simultaneously! Hope this helps.

Take a test lead with some alligator clips and connect to the battery + terminal and the other end to the coil + terminal and give it a try. If it starts and runs you have an issue with voltage to the coil. Make sure you take the wire off soon as you test things.

I had a ballast resister which failed intermittently before it completely failed. It would test good on the side of the road, but would lose voltage going down the road (bumps, vibration). Jumped it with the wire with alligator clips, and down the road I went.
Carl