Following on from my thread in the Engine Section about stripping down & rebuilding my engine, I have now got it back in and connected, but it won't start. Does anyone have any suggestions ...?
* We have fuel and air getting to the carb & cylinders
* We have power to the Dynastarter, and the engine turns over fine
* The ignition light & oil pressure light work fine
BUT
* There is no spark, nor any power getting to the distributor as far as we can tell.
Could someone help me to understand what I should be looking for? Presumably this is not a timing issue, as we are not getting any sparks / back fires or anything. Should one see a spark if one "breaks / separates" the points? How can one check what is not working correctly so that no power is getting to the distributor? The wiring between it and the coil looks fine, as do the HT leads.
One thing that we did look at was the strip of paper that seems to insulate the blade spring of the points from the inner body of the distributor; I had damaged it when I cleaned the distributor, but we have once again dismantled the terminal "pole", replaced the damaged paper with some thin gasket making paper, and tried to insulate the terminal pole / bolt from the rest of the distributor body.
Any tips would be hugely welcomed!
Thanks in advance ...
[EDITED TO ADD: Someone has suggested that the breakers may be going to earth; would this cause the issues I have? And if so, how does one prevent it, bearing in mind the terminal bolt / pole goes through the distributor body with no sign of any insulation along the thickness of the body]
No power to distributor
No power to distributor
Julian B
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
Re: No power to distributor
Julian,
Do you posses a multimeter? If yes then this can be used to find out what is happening. Basically, disconnect any wiring you have going to the points.
Using the multimeter set to measure resistance, you can connect one lead to the body of the distributor, the other lead goes to the wire which has the capacitor / suppressor attached to it. When the points are together current will flow and the meter with show "0" or if it is an analogue meter, swing all the way to the right. When you open the points, the reading will change. Points are working OK. If NO change then your points are earthing out. That will need to be sorted before anything else can happen.
After that there are some other tests you can carry out with the meter set to measure voltage. Tests to see if there is voltage on the coil terminals.
With everything wired up (assuming the points break the current they get) you can take the center HT lead from the top of the distributor cap and fix it so it is within 1/4 inch of the body work. Use a screw driver to manually break the points with the ignition on. If all is working you will get a spark jumping from the HT lead to the body work.
John
Do you posses a multimeter? If yes then this can be used to find out what is happening. Basically, disconnect any wiring you have going to the points.
Using the multimeter set to measure resistance, you can connect one lead to the body of the distributor, the other lead goes to the wire which has the capacitor / suppressor attached to it. When the points are together current will flow and the meter with show "0" or if it is an analogue meter, swing all the way to the right. When you open the points, the reading will change. Points are working OK. If NO change then your points are earthing out. That will need to be sorted before anything else can happen.
After that there are some other tests you can carry out with the meter set to measure voltage. Tests to see if there is voltage on the coil terminals.
With everything wired up (assuming the points break the current they get) you can take the center HT lead from the top of the distributor cap and fix it so it is within 1/4 inch of the body work. Use a screw driver to manually break the points with the ignition on. If all is working you will get a spark jumping from the HT lead to the body work.
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
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Re: No power to distributor
Yay! It works 
There was obviously a short somewhere within the distributor (where the terminal bolt goes through the body of the distributor), and having now sorted that the engine fired first time. Still a bit more general tweaking to do, but at least it works!
Thanks to John for his invaluable help with this.
There was obviously a short somewhere within the distributor (where the terminal bolt goes through the body of the distributor), and having now sorted that the engine fired first time. Still a bit more general tweaking to do, but at least it works!
Thanks to John for his invaluable help with this.
Julian B
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
Re: No power to distributor
Well done!!
Glad you found the problem. What did you do to cure the short? Just another piece of paper or a rubber washer?
If you have a stroboscope you can dynamically adjust the timing to get it "just right". Then when it is warm, you can set the idle speed.
John
Glad you found the problem. What did you do to cure the short? Just another piece of paper or a rubber washer?
If you have a stroboscope you can dynamically adjust the timing to get it "just right". Then when it is warm, you can set the idle speed.
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Re: No power to distributor
It was something to do with getting the bolt that goes through the distributor body insulated from some bits and connected to others. Probably not helped by me reassembling some of the components in the wrong order?
I do have a timing gun***, and used it to get the timing almost right. Will now wait to sort the slight oil leak and then get the engine nicely warm and finalise the timing and idling etc.
*** The leads of which are a bit short for a Haflinger - more suited to cars that have the battery in the engine compartment!
I do have a timing gun***, and used it to get the timing almost right. Will now wait to sort the slight oil leak and then get the engine nicely warm and finalise the timing and idling etc.
*** The leads of which are a bit short for a Haflinger - more suited to cars that have the battery in the engine compartment!
Julian B
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
W Sussex, UK
| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
Re: No power to distributor
If you have a "spare" 12 volt battery, you can just run the "gun" from that with just the HT pick up connected to the left hand cylinder spark plug lead.
If not, then a couple of battery jump leads from the Haflinger battery (pulled out on its tray) would allow you to provide power.
Or:
Find the battery lead that goes to the starter solenoid in the front offside of the engine compartment and make the positive connection there. The negative connection can be any part of the engine which does not move!
John
If not, then a couple of battery jump leads from the Haflinger battery (pulled out on its tray) would allow you to provide power.
Or:
Find the battery lead that goes to the starter solenoid in the front offside of the engine compartment and make the positive connection there. The negative connection can be any part of the engine which does not move!
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!