Ran great, now just turns over....sometimes. Options

[surfdogskier]

Hey guys,

I have been driving my baby every other evening and she is running great. Yesterday, I went out to start her and all she did was turn over and over, like not getting gas. I check power to the coil and it is strong. I am getting spark. Now she tries to start when sometimes but then my key won't turn her over. Battery is strong. I have noticed over the past month or so, she will do this. I let her sit a bit and and then she will turn over and then she won't.

Does this seem my ignition switch may be going bad? Would this cause her not to start even if she was turning over. I changed it out a couple of years ago.

I check fuel lines and she is definitely getting gas.

I'm at a loss.

1972 914/4, dual webers.

Thanks,
Jason

[ctc911ctc]

We need the year of the car and 1.7/1.8 or 2.0?

Injection of carburation?

If injection, always start with the fuel pump - is it running?

Hey guys,

I have been driving my baby every other evening and she is running great. Yesterday, I went out to start her and all she did was turn over and over, like not getting gas. I check power to the coil and it is strong. I am getting spark. Now she tries to start when sometimes but then my key won't turn her over. Battery is strong. I have noticed over the past month or so, she will do this. I let her sit a bit and and then she will turn over and then she won't.

Does this seem my ignition switch may be going bad? Would this cause her not to start even if she was turning over. I changed it out a couple of years ago.

I check fuel lines and she is definitely getting gas.

I'm at a loss.

1972 914/4, dual webers.

Thanks,
Jason

[Rand]

He said it's carbed. I wouldn't think ignition switch in this case, as that usually means intermittent failure to crank. I'm a little confused though because you said it turns over and over, then you said it doesn't turn. If it fails to turn, the ignition switch is a likely suspect. If it turns without firing, that's something else. Definitely check the fuel pump. How did you check the fuel lines? Would be nice to put a gauge inline and see what the pressure is.

[surfdogskier]

Just to update after playing around with it. I am getting fire when she turns over but she will not start. I have played around with the distributor by adjusting it is how I got it to almost crank. She is obviously out of timing.

She is getting gas. I pulled both gas lines to the carbs and they both pump gas strong, like it was when she was running well so I don't think that is the issue.

Regarding the ignition, when I turn the key once or twice the engine will turn over but not immediately. There is like a delay of a half a second or so. Then all of a sudden you can turn the key and nothing. What is weird is if I put a booster on the battery, it will turn over immediately even though the battery is at full charge. This makes me wonder if I have coil issue. It has me perplexed.

[surfdogskier]

Just to update after playing around with it. I am getting fire when she turns over but she will not start. I have played around with the distributor by adjusting it is how I got it to almost crank. She is obviously out of timing.

She is getting gas. I pulled both gas lines to the carbs and they both pump gas strong, like it was when she was running well so I don't think that is the issue.

Regarding the ignition, when I turn the key once or twice the engine will turn over but not immediately. There is like a delay of a half a second or so. Then all of a sudden you can turn the key and nothing. What is weird is if I put a booster on the battery, it will turn over immediately even though the battery is at full charge. This makes me wonder if I have coil issue. It has me perplexed.

[BillC]

Sounds like maybe your starter is on its way out, or maybe there's corrosion on the connections for the large starter cable (that runs from the battery to the solenoid).

The booster is helping to overcome the stickiness in the solenoid or the corrosion in the cable (or both).

[surfdogskier]

Sounds like maybe your starter is on its way out, or maybe there's corrosion on the connections for the large starter cable (that runs from the battery to the solenoid).

The booster is helping to overcome the stickiness in the solenoid or the corrosion in the cable (or both).

Aw...I didn't think about that. I will give a look and see what the cable looks like. The starter is not that old.

Thanks!

[Rand]

I have played around with the distributor by adjusting it is how I got it to almost crank. She is obviously out of timing.

The last thing you want to do when having intermittent cranking/firing issues is to start just messing with stuff like timing. If it ran before and then stopped, why would you think timing?

If it was cranking without firing, the problem is not the starter. Cranking just means the engine turns over BTW in case there is semantic confusion. Timing has ZERO to do with cranking.

Can open, worms everywhere.

[ndfrigi]

Hello, you mentioned that it was running great before the start issue occurred. I think it is not the timing that need to be adjusted.
Did you try using push button or similar to start it along the starter? If it runs, most likely the ignition switch.
And did you check if you have enough fuel? sometimes fuel gauge is failing and not giving accurate level.

[Tdskip]

Good morning Jason, as @Rand commented, changing multiple things at the same time is a recipe for much frustration.

When troubleshooting you generally want to start with the most likely/obvious issue and address that before going on to do anything else. The people here are extremely knowledgeable and supportive, and I’m always amazed at how quickly people respond so let’s going forward try to go from one potential issue to another but not moving on until we’ve tackled one thing at a time.

It also is helpful if you can more specifically describe the issues that you’re encountering. For example – if the car was running fine and then just wasn’t turning over reliably it would be good to know if the starter only engaged sometimes, if the starter would engage but then slow down every couple revolutions, or if the starter was just occasionally clicking and not turning over.

Connecting an additional battery to it and having that make a difference strongly suggests that it has nothing to do with the timing of the distributor, and you may have inadvertently introduced one more challenge to your troubleshooting by messing with it.

[rhodyguy]

Remove the coil to dist wire. With the pump energized, look down the carbs and operate the linkage. Look for fuel squirting out of the pump jets. Spark and fuel? the problem is elsewhere.

[Spoke]

Regarding the ignition, when I turn the key once or twice the engine will turn over but not immediately. There is like a delay of a half a second or so. Then all of a sudden you can turn the key and nothing.

It sounds like the bendix on the starter is gummed up. I had this same issue. I took the bendix off as much as I could and sprayed WD40 on the mechanism. No problems after that.

The bendix pushes the start gear into the flywheel and closes a contact to spin the starter. If the bendix doesn't pull in or is slow, there will be no starter action or it will be delayed. There could be an ignition switch issue as well. Look up "Ford relay hot start".

What is weird is if I put a booster on the battery, it will turn over immediately even though the battery is at full charge. This makes me wonder if I have coil issue. It has me perplexed.

Please detail what you mean by "turn over" and "start". Turn over means the starter is spinning the engine. Start means the engine fires up after the starter spins the engine.

The coil has nothing to do with turning over the engine.

With the higher voltage from the booster, the bendix has more voltage and likely easier to contact the starter. Looks like the bendix and/or ignition switch is at issue.

Like Tdskip said, solve one issue at a time. Solve the starter issue first, then worry about the coil, timing, fuel and firing up the engine.

[Rand]

I wonder if this person really wants to fix it or just mess with us. So... OP.... What now?