grotto Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hi all, long time since I've been on the boards and was hoping for some help. The car has sat for about 2 years under a shed. Charged the battery, fresh gas, turned the key and she fires for half a second then nothing. Tried again a week later and same thing. Car ran great before parking two years ago. Any tricks I should try? A bit of fuel down the throttle body? The reason she was parked is a bad oil leak from the timing cover area. Wanted to finally fix the leak but not much sense in doing that if it doesn't run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szybura Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Are you sure it is firing or maybe just a compression kick? If it is firing then you know you have compression and spark. Sounds like fuel. Have you changed the filters? Can you see/smell the fuel in the spfi throat? Do you have enough fuel pressure? Can you hear the pump run for a few seconds when you turn on the key? Just a start, these engines are not rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grotto Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 I'd say it definitely wants to fire. Fuel was my initial thought as I cannot hear the fuel pump and it acts fuel starved. Have not tried to chase it down yet. Will check for fuel presssure and go from there. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivans imports Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Clean up grounds on coil bracket to firewall and add ground wire from - batt post to bottom coil bracket bolt then try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early Rider Steve Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hi, Does your state use oxygenated/ethanol fuel? I was building a hotrod a few years ago and drove the donor car before pulling the engine, it took a little over a year till I was ready to restart the engine and the same thing acted like it wasn't getting fuel. The engine would run as long as I dribbled gas down the carb. I took the carb appart and the inside looked like it had been under water, all corroded. So I did a little on line research and found out that the fuels that have ethanol will breakdown and attract moisture in 3-6 months. Hope that helps a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprjohn Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Even Al Gore admits ethanol was a bad idea. I avoid it like the plague. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibreakstuff Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Ethanol still has its place, works great with high compression or forced induction. I just don't want it in blended in my regular unleaded pump gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Just a long shot but try this - take off the distrubutor cap, wipe out the condensation and any carbon buidup. Make sure the set screw is on the rotor shaft. Polish the rotor tip with some emery cloth to remove carbon and expose shiny metal. I let my Loyale sit for three months and this was required to get it going again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grotto Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Thanks for all the tips, many of them I would not have thought of. Much appreciated. Yes, ethanol here. Hope to carve out some time this weekend for it. Will report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Possibly the fuel pump has seized fom sitting. try tapping it with a hammer. if you need to replace it, a generic ford in-line pump will do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grotto Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 OK, so I tapped on the fuel pump housing, hopped in the car, turned the key and the pump whirrs to life. Turn it over and she coughs, sputters and fires up!! Thank-you MilesFox. Fuel pump now working. Ran it for several minutes but it doesn't hold at the correct idle speed, it idles way down to just a two or three hundred RPM's. Ran it till she warmed up, let it idle way down and after several minutes it dies. Starts, runs dies, starts runs dies until no start. Tried the next day and again no start and no inidication of firing like before. Previously, when I added a gallon of fresh gas, the fuel gauge read empty. Now the gas gauge inducates 1/4 tank so I figure I still have bad gas. Pull the fuel line from the fuel pump to drain the gas tank and no gas comes out. Maybe that's the problem. Blow some air through the fuel line back into the tank to clear whatever is blocking and it now drains. Empty the tank, 5-gallons, add a couple gallons of fresh gas and again no start. Plan to change the fuel filters, and check the spark plugs next as I think that since it did run, the failure to start is still a fuel issue. Once I get it starting reliably again I'll address the low idle and any other issues that come up. My plan is to eventually pull the engine and re-seal all the oil leaks but I want to first get it running right. Any other ideas? Thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Check your plugs. New ones will probably help. Or clean them. Might have fouled them all out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grotto Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Check your plugs. New ones will probably help. Or clean them. Might have fouled them all out. Yes, that and filters is what I'm thinking right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now