No start

[Christien]

Bit of background, just trying to start the car after winter storage (yeah, I'm late this year ). Last it ran was in the fall, running fine, but then I used it to boost our other car, and in a hurry I was lazy and didn't have the 911 running, just ran the cables to the battery. It wouldn't start after that, and I pushed it into the garage for winter storage. I checked the battery and it's fine, put it on a charger last night for a few hours, so lots of juice in the battery. No blown fuses or anything. No concerns with cables being crossed, or anything, so I don't think I damaged anything when boosting.

So now to troubleshooting. I've got a booster pack hooked up to the battery to make sure there's sufficient power. Listen to the sound in the video - it sounds like it's trying to fire a couple times, and I can smell a little bit of exhaust, so I'm thinking there's at least some degree of combustion taking place.

Distributor was out for recurving over the winter, but the behaviour now is exactly the same as it was before I removed it and sent it out, so I'm thinking that's not the problem.

Thoughts on where to start troubleshooting?

[Oh Haha]

The battery doesn't sound strong enough to turn the engine over to me.

Did you put the distibutor back on correctly? If it's off a tooth or two it won't fire correctly.

Lastly, check the fuel pump relay and fuses. Not likely, but you COULD have blown 1 jumping the other car last year.

[timmy2]

Fresh fuel in the tank?
How long has the fuel been in the tank, 4-6 months?
Is it ethanol blend and full of water now?
Drain it and use it in your lawn mower, throw in a jerry can of fresh fuel.

[Christien]

Could be the distributor, not positive I put it back properly, but it should at least fire and run roughly, right? I'll pull it, set it to TDC and put it back in. No fuses blown, but I didn't check the relays. How can I test them?

Not likely the fuel - it was fresh when it wouldn't start in the fall, and there's no ethanol in it.

[timmy2]

Swap your red pump relay for the horn relay and see if your horn works. (assuming horn is working)

[Christien]

Ok, I'll try that. I can hear the fuel pump running, if that makes a difference.

[timmy2]

If it is running then the relay is working.
So more detail about what you have done, (eg dizzy out) mods to engine, carbs or MFI etc.
Do you have fuel at the cylinders, do you have spark at the cylinders?
Battery resting voltage, battery cranking voltage. etc.

[Christien]

Horn relay's dead. . I have spark, hooked up the timing light and I'm getting flashes. I sprayed some carb cleaner down the throats, then cranked. Still no love. How do I test for fuel delivery with carbs? Found lots of threads on testing injectors, but not carbs.

Battery measures 12.6 sitting, 11.1 while cranking.

[Christien]

More detail as to what was done: I swapped a 1982 3.0L in last year and drove it for a few months before storing for winter. It was running fine, though missing some power because I used the SC dizzy with webers, so no vacuum advance or retard. The day I used it to boost the Honda it had been driven fine the day before. The only thing I did over the winter was pull the dizzy to send it out for recurving. Everything else was interior work. The no start symptoms now are exactly the same as they were in November.

I'm leaning towards fuel.

[tobluforu]

It should fire with starter fluid if you think its fuel related.

[Christien]

How much? I gave it maybe 2 seconds of squirt in each cylinder. Should that be enough?

[timmy2]

Did you install your dizzy 180 degrees out?
Cylinder 1 at TDC, timing mark lined up on crankshaft pulley, rotor lining up with little mark on edge of dizzy case for #1 firing position. (Or basically pointing at the edge of the fan housing)
Dizzy set to mid range of adjustment to start.

Carbs fuel delivery is easy, push the throttle lever and look inside each throat to see if fuel is squirting every time you do it. Residual pressure should be enough with the car turned off.

If no fuel in carbs pull the fuel line at the carbs, put it in a jar and crank the motor to see if it is flowing.

[Christien]

I just pulled the dizzy and turned the engine over once by hand, then reinstalled the dizzy. Still no start, though I did get a single backfire through one of the carburetors. So that makes me think I had the dizzy right the first time, right? And yes, it's set at mid-range.

I'm getting fuel squirts into the bowls by pushing the throttle lever, no problem there. But I'm not getting as strong a fuel smell in the engine bay after trying to crank it as I think I should. There's a bit of fuel smell in the tailpipe.

[Christien]

How reliable is the timing light test in testing for spark? I only tried it on one plug wire (#1, I think). Should I do it on all 6?

[boyt911sc]

Have you confirmed @ TDC that the distributor rotor is pointing towards the distributor mark for cylinder #1? Keep us posted.

Tony

[Christien]

Yep. Pointing at the notch, then pulled, rotates engine, still pointing at notch

[kidrock]

if you're getting fuel and spark, pretty much the only issue left is going to be the position of your distributor.

[Christien]

So how can I make sure it's exactly right?

[timmy2]

I read a post a while ago where someone needed to absolutely confirm TDC on cylinder 1. He used a wooden dowel in the spark plug hole. Turned it over by hand to make sure #1 piston is all the way up and the timing mark lines up on z at the crank mark, dizzy pointing to the #1 mark.
Should get you real close.

The lack of fuel smell may be an indicaor of dilution from condensation.
Pump out a gallon by disconnecting supply line like I described earlier and see what you are getting. (Most of the junk collects at the bottom)

[Christien]

Alright, I'll try both those in the morning.