VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 won't fire

I have a 53 chev(bel-air),,,,,I tried to start it,,It will turn over,but won't fire,,,can anyone please give any advice,,Thanx,God Bless America!!

Here are some quick and easy things that you can try: Look in your carburetor to see if you are getting gas. The gas should squirt in when you depress the throttle shaft. If not, check your fuel pump to see if it is pumping correctly. To do that, remove the line on the outlet side of the pump (this is the line that goes to the carburetor) and turn the engine over. Gas should squirt out of the pump outlet big time. If your fuel pump is working and you if don't have any gas inside the carb. then you can suspect a problem with the carb. If you do have gas both at the pump and at the carb., then check for spark at the spark plugs or at the distributor points. If no spark, clean your points and try again. If you still don't have spark, then replace your condenser and check your ignition coil for output.

With respect to Junkyards wisdom. Instead of going through all the fuss of diconection fuel lines and disassembling ignition systems. Why not just pour a cap full of fuel down the throat of the carb and turn the key. If it fires you know the ignition is fine. If not you will most likely not have power in the ignition. Just pull a spark plug wire and ground it with a little air space to prove this out. THen work backwards to the coil wire. If no spark there then you will have to get your fingers dirty.

Hey Ron! What size cap? I have a 7 1/8 size but it won't hold much gas, it is a summer model with the mess top.
I just spray some WD-40 down the chute!

Gottcha!

Mack, a 7 1/2 cap with a sceen. Sounds like a filter to me.

Ops, "with a mesh"