VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Engine won't start

I took my 31 to an interior shop a few weeks ago to get some work done. When I tried to bring it home today it wouldn't start. It is getting spark, fuel and all the gauges work but it won't fire. I had an intermittent problem with starting but now it does nothing but spin. Any suggestions.

Do you mean that the engine is spinning or is it just the starter that is spinning?

The engine is spinning and there is compression because you can feel the sucking of air at the carb.

If it gets spark and gas (and is in time) it has to run!

That's what I thought. I'm getting strong spark at the plugs and we even tried squirting some gas in the carb while cranking. No gas dripping so it didn't flood. It's defying logic. I can't check time until next week but I drove it there.

Might have broken the fiber timing gear. Remove the valve cover and then turn the engine over. If the valves don't go up and down you have found the problem.

I will try that thank you.

You bet and let us know what you find.

Or remove the distributor cap and see if the rotor is turning.

Hello GMGuyBob,
If you have strong spark (at all of the spark plugs) while cranking, the distributor rotor is rotating. If you feel suction at the carb while cranking, the valves are working, otherwise there would be blowing out of the carb also. The squirting of gas may not have been enough or way too much, who knows? Give it another try with starting fluid. Retard the advance, squirt the fluid, pull the choke, ignition on, crank the starter. With what has been said here, I would suspect a fuel issue. Just guessing.

stuck float needle valve in the carb? fixed mine. j

Well, picked up the 31 with a roll back and dropped it off at the garage. Decided to give it another try and it turned over two times and ran. I don't get it but it is running fine now. Some fuel did come out of the carb when it was tilted on the roll back but nothing else unusual.