VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 33 Master: Dry Plugs

My car was running great until it suddenly ran rough on an outing. Got the car home, shut it down and it would not start thereafter. Did complete tune up and tried starting with no luck. Pulled all the plugs and they had no fuel at all on them. I sent out the carb and fuel pump to Doyle Stokes who promptly rebuilt both. The carb is getting plenty of fuel from the fuel pump, but still no fuel on the plugs. Doyle said the carb and the fuel filter were clogged with dirt. So I installed a new fuel filter in the pump before trying to start it with the rebuilt parts. I sprayed gas into the carb to prime it, but it still won't start and the spark plugs do not seem to be getting any fuel. What could this be?

You need to check for spark to the plugs, and have you checked the compression?

I have a very old compression gauge and I got nothing from any of the six cylinders with it. It's been knocked around so it could be bad. When I stick my finger in each spark plug hole I do get considerable pressure, but at this point I have no idea of what the pressure is. I would expect to have flooded the plugs after trying to start it so many times. There is a strong odor of fuel consistent with a flooded engine, but the plugs are bone dry. Notwithstanding, I will check the spark, but shouldn't I have some fuel on the plugs?

Did you check for spark at the spark plugs?

I am getting spark

You say "it suddenly ran rough". You've already re-worked the fuel system so I'd look elsewhere. I would double-check the timing as possibly the fiber timing gear is stripped.

There wpold be no spark if the timing gear was stripped.

I would be looking at the fuel lines again.
Remove them all and blow them out with compressed air.

I had a similar occurrence with my S1 land rover.

the pump was working, but no fuel at the head.
I removed the fuel filter bowl (old glass bowl type used on many English cars in the 50's/60's)and found that the very fine filter gauss in the top of the filter alloy casing was almost totally blocked.
So cut and made a new piece, and reinstalled.

Now the fuel would not fill the new clean bowl, so blew air down the fuel lines starting at the carbie.
Finally blew the line from the tank to the fuel filter bowl and hey presto the fuel started to flow.
With my particular vehicle the pump SUCKS from the tank and the tank outlet was blocked as well as the fuel bowl filter.
Killed 2 birds with one stone.
reconnected everything and it started first go...
so double check everything,
Even if it means poking a long piece of thin wire down the lines, sometimes air can get past an obstruction but petrol cant in any volume?
good luck and dont give up..
Peter

Thanks Peter, Chevgene and Coachill:
I guess the plugs were not getting fuel due to the clogged carb and fuel pump, but I had another problem that continued after the rebuilt parts were installed. While I had done a recent tune up before the problem surfaced, doing another complete tune up with new parts as well as cleaning all the plugs, has solved my starting problem. I don't know if the plugs were fouled (they did not look bad at all) or if I had a bad set of points or a bad condenser. I will say this, the rebuld of the carb and fuel pump has made a significant difference. The car starts very easily now and runs more smoothly. I tip my hat to Doyle Stokes for his carb and fuel pump rebuilding skill. He rebuilt my 34 sedan carb also. Great work and quick turnaround. If you are out there Doyle, thanks again. And thanks to all the suggestions in this post. All helped to point me in the correct direction.