Bad day in the garage (winge)

[john h]

I replaced a 164E dizzy 180 degrees out and it took me two weeks to work out the problem! That was before the days of internet forums though.

John

[woolfie1948]

Thanks John.
I think I have dizzy in ok as when I look in the oil filler cap the the valve springs are extented so it is on compression stroke?
The rotor is pointing at no 1 HT lead.
If I'm wrong someone please correct me soon as poss.
I have just taken out the no 1 plug and with lead attached touched it on the block while someone turned the starter and there was a regular spark but it looked small -unfortunately I have not ever done this with a working engine so don't know how big it should be!
However I am now going to work on the assumption it should be bigger and go back to the suggestion by arcturus that the condenser is the culprit. Maybe it got damaged in transit as it was fine before. If that does not work I have a new dizzy cap and rotor arm to try -after that I don't know.

[arcturus]

Don't buy a dizy cap yet. There could be hairline cracks in it which hold moisture and cause tracking. Just clean it and spray the inside with WD 40 to drive out any moisture If it starts and that turns out to be the problem then replace it. If not, don't waste your money.
BTW I've fitted a 123 dizy and that has improved the performance hugely.

[Lesky]

Originally Posted by harvey

What happens while the car is standing unused is that the converter drains back into the main body of the transmission, artificially raising the fluid level, and causing leaks. The cure is to run the engine regularly, which I know in your current predicament isn't possible, so wait until you get it running again, that in itself will refill the converter, and then you can check the fluid level and top up if required.

This happened to me as I left my 164 sitting for a few months. Just below the dizzy is where the auto transmission has an overflow drain. While mine was sitting, it leaked out almost a quart of ATF. The fix is what was stated above.

[john h]

Originally Posted by harvey

What happens while the car is standing unused is that the converter drains back into the main body of the transmission, artificially raising the fluid level, and causing leaks. The cure is to run the engine regularly, which I know in your current predicament isn't possible, so wait until you get it running again, that in itself will refill the converter, and then you can check the fluid level and top up if required.

Very interesting - I didn't know that.

[john h]

How old is the petrol in the car?

Unleaded fuel goes 'stale' and loses its combustability [...is that a word? Sure you'll know what I mean]

Several times, with cars that have petrol that's a few months old, I've had to drain and refil with fresh before they will run.

You can test for this by taking off the air filter cover and element and spraying in some some easy-start while someone is trying to start the car.

If it starts, but then dies or runs badly, then it's worth draining off the old fuel and putting fresh in.

John

[woolfie1948]

Thanks to everyone for all these interesting responses to both problems.
I would still appreciate it if someone can confirm 100% that:
If the engine is set at tdc with no 1 cylinder on compression stroke (valve springs extended) and the rotor arm is pointing at no 1 ht lead in the cap, can it still be possible that I have not installed the dizzy in the right position?
I can then confidently tick this off the list.

[arcturus]

You could try this. remove all plugs, with pully indicating tdc and rotor pointing at no 1 cylinder move the pully one complete rev and watch the rotor position and see where it ends up after one complete rev. If after one rev the rotor points again at no 1. put plugs back and try starting again. No real need to remove plugs except it makes it easier to turn over. As far as I know it takes two revs of crank for all four cylinders to fire.

[woolfie1948]

A big big day in the garage today.
Took rocker cover off to double check the position of the valves and confirm on tdc, then took out dizzy and before refitting put back original condenser that I changed last year only as a precaution. Reset timing static by turning dizzy until I saw a spark, then stopped for a think (if I was a smoker this would have been the time for a strong one).
I think it was the spark at the points that jump started my brain.
A week or more before I took out the dizzy when the car was on the drive I replaced the gaskets between the petrol pump and the block. After this the engine started first time ok and I drove the car into the garage. It must have started on the petol in the carbs and the pipe leading to them, (although at no point did I disconnect the petrol pipes) as today, when I put a jar under the pump outlet pipe and turned the starter it stayed empty.
Then it was pump off, tested working by hand and carefully refitted, lots of sucking petrol and bubbles through clear tube, and a long long burst on the starter and there was just a splutter of life!
If it had started but not made the two car length trip into the garage, or if it had a clear inline petrol filter instead of an opaque one, I may have twigged sooner.
No excuses though, I feel a real plonker, almost too embarrassed to post this but thought all who took the trouble to help deserved a good laugh at my expense!
Reset dwell, and timing set at 10 degrees before tdc with timing light, so now need to go and get some ATF before a road test tomorrow, and I will have to find a way to clean up the fluid soaked garage floor.
Perhaps Father Christmas will bring me a nice big drip tray for xmas!
Thanks again to all.

[arcturus]

Good result. All's well that ends well.If I had £1 for every mistake I'd made I would be a millionair.