The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine will not start

This has me puzzled. There was a 235 engine in my truck when I purchased it last fall. After hooking up everything, it would not start. I cleaned the fuel tank, fuel lines, replaced the coil. points and condensor. I was getting spark and gas. A friend had another 235 in a truck that ran and was in great shape. I started the engine in the other truck and checked the compression. Engine started, ran good with good compression. We pulled the engine and put it in my truck. I'm now trying to start the engine in my truck. It will not start. I'm getting fuel and spark. The new engine was 12 volt when in the other truck. I used all my 6 volt parts when installing it in my truck. I'm not a mechanic. Any ideas?

trade trucks...

bad coil most likely from your truck. Just because it's "new" doesn't mean it's good.

Try some fresh gas. I'm working on a weedeater right now that has gas in the tank that's hard to light with a match. If yours has been in the tank for a while, it's possible the "gas" you're getting doesn't want to light off by the spark plugs.
Jerry

did u remove the distributor and are u sure the points are set almost to open (distributor pointing at #1, steel ball on flywheel on pointer, tdc on cylinder #1)?

The fuel tank and fuel lines have been flushed and cleaned. The fuel is fresh. The points and the distributor have not been touched. It ran before with the those items as they are now. And it ran good. The new stuff is the coil and the plugs bought from Napa. It is now 6 volt and was 12 volt. The starter is 6 volt. I removed the carburetor and the coil tonight and replaced them with another set from my friends truck. His truck ran before I borrowed the parts. I tried to start it again with those new parts. It still does not start. I'm going to pull the ground strap tomorrow and clean the contact surface.

You say it was a 12 volt and is now a 6 volt. I am assuming you installed a 6 volt coil. The first thing I would try is running a jumper wire from the starter to the coil to bypass all the wiring and the switch. I suppose you do know where the on position is on your ignition switch. If it doesn't do anything with a jumper, pull the distributor cap off and take a look. Its not uncommon for points to corrode over when they set for extended periods of time. Try filing them, but make sure you have no oil on your file.

The coil is 6 volt. I will run the jumper wire from the starter to the postive side of the coil and bypass the ignition switch tomorrow. I am getting spark thus I assumed the ignition switch was functional. Tomorrow is another day. Thanks for the suggestion.

Spent a good part of the day trying to start the engine. I ran a wire directly from the starter to the coil. No additional response. I went to Napa a replaced the points, the condensor, the distributor cap and the spark plug wires. There is good spark. It sounded like it wanted to start a couple times. Just enough that I felt encourged. My friend kept telling it will start. Tomorrow is another day.

nels1954, starting problems on 6 volt vehicles that have been sitting for a while are common. My restored '36 Chevy pickup that I've driven all over the western states had been sitting for a couple of months when I decided to take it for a spin on a 30 degree morning a couple of weeks ago. It WOULD NOT START! I rolled it down my driveway and it fired it up the second I engaged the clutch, then started and ran perfectly the rest of the day and on another outing a couple of days ago.

My Ford 8N tractor does the same thing in the winter. I jump start it with a 12 volt car and that works every time.

Well, its still not running. I've tried everything. I'm now working on some of the other stuff that also needs to be restored. I spent the last couple days replacing the brake system. New shoes, master cylinder, wheel cylinders and brake hoses. Blowing out the brake lines. Brake lines fittings have been another challenge. Also replacing the studs on one of the rear axles. I'm keeping busy. It will run and I'll be able to drive it with the new brakes.

When you say "it's getting spark", I'll take that as you're getting good spark at the plugs. If you are, and it's getting fuel to the intake, then it must be a timing issue.

I would double check the timing and your points (.19 for new ones, I believe).

You are experiencing some of the fun of a stovebolt. If there is a trick they haven't yet come up with it won't be long.....As VEW says about has to be a timing issue--check that. I have known those 'cornstalk' timing gears to break for very little reason & usually think up the reason themselves. also have seen the gears on the bottom of dist. break or teeth gone. Had one that way that moved just enuff to snap the points & make spark but didn't rotate. I had to think up some new words that day..Also check ALL the plug wires for spark,-yes I learned that the hard way too. Let us know what you find hang in there Steve

I had the same problem with my 235. I had someone in the truck and turning over the motor and there was spark. But I found that as long as someone was pushing in the foot stomp and the starter was turning the motor would run. But when you let off on the starter the engine would die. Turned out to be a $10.00 part. The iginition ballast resistor was burned out.

You learned a good lesson, tracern1. Your engine starts on 12v, but runs on 8.? volts. With ignition in the start position (or when you're depressing your foot pedal to start), you have 12 voilts running in to the coil. When you release your key or let off you foot pedal, it sends 8.? volts to the coil through your resister.

yup. I used a jumper and it ran fine. The only problem is it leaving a jumper will burn out the points real quick.

Lots of stuff to restore on the old truck. Starting the engine will happen in due time. Finished installing the new brake parts yesterday. If it is going to run it has to stop. Plan to bleed the brakes and order u-joints this week. Once I get that stuff done, I'll try starting it again on compression.

PS: Yesterday I made a new purchase. A fellow HAMBer had some stuff. Bought a fenton dual manifold with rebuilt carburetors and a T5 transmission with adapter plate and crossmember. Not anything I need now but I could not resist.