engine start up problems
 

I’m in the process of taking an old 911 out of long term storage and getting it on the road again. It’s a long story but I will try to be brief in hopes that you will be able to help me.

It is a 1965/66 911 S/N 300714 with a 2.0 engine and has been in storage for over 15 years. The engine is a rebuilt unit and was installed just prior to being put in storage – never run.

I have drained the oil, cleaned the fuel tank and lines and rebuilt the carbs. I also reset the valves and did a compression check. Everything seems to be within specs. Now comes the problem.

Upon start up and tuning the carbs I find that the entire right bank of cylinders is not firing. I have spark but the fuel is just pumping thru the cylinders and dripping from the exhaust. All three cylinders are cold.

Since I am getting compression and I was able to set the valve clearances, I know that the cam is turning but is it possible that the cam is 180 degrees off and thus firing only on the exhaust stroke? That’s the only thing I think may be happening. If this is the case can the cam be readjusted with the engine in the car?

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Greg Armstrong
Oshkosh, WI
gjarm@aol.com

Greg is the car still equipped with the Solex's or has it been converted to Webers??

I have the weber carbs.

You might be right as this is a common error during a rebuild (at least from the people on this forum). There are several ways you could check this. One way would be to pull the 1 and 4 plugs and turn the engine over by hand. When turning the crank on the compression stroke of 1 or 4 check that air blows out the hole on one of them but not both. They should alternate every 360 degrees. You could also bull the intake valve covers and see that the intake valves open 360 degrees apart. Cam timing can be done in the car. I'm not sure it would be easier than pulling the engine to do it however. I guess if it were me I'd give it a try.

I just thought of an easier way to check the 180 error. Turning over the engine by hand you would find that you have no compression half the time you go past a TDC mark. It would have compression only every 240 degrees instead of 120 degrees.

-Andy

Thanks Andy, I'll give it a try tomorrow.