Good starter, now won't

1.3 Previously a good starter.

was then left for a couple of weeks, truggled to start but did to be moved up the road. And started fine an hour our two later.

A week later it nearly starts then dies,,,, And then refused untill battery was amlost flat…

Charged battery.

Tried to start and despite turning over well it would not fire…

Poured some fule down the carb ( no joy )

Checked for spark and looked healthy.

Baked the plugs.

Tried cranking for ages and it almost sounded like it was picking up…

Still no joy.

Turned the dizzy fully twords the back, no joy.

Turned dizzy fully twords the front and a few blips, and then after shead loads of cranking it fired up but with a loud tapping.

Turned the dizzy back to normal positionand it seemed to run ok.

Tapping went away after a minute or so.

Drove the car for 1 1/2 miles. Turned off , tried to restart and it still would not fire up. Tried the dizzy trick again but tht was not successful this time. And there was a lot of tapping under cranking..

So…

Theories people.

1) why is it almost impossible to start.

2) what was the loud clonking. ( bearing in mind that  (a oil preasure was good after 30-40  minutes cranking over two hours ) ( b once running it sounded clean and good as always ))



I have a theory, but lets see what you come up with.

did you check in the cap for dampness

Dry. When it did finaly run it was fairly smooth.

Fuel pump?, disconnect outlet to carb and make sure you have a good healthy spurt whilst cranking..... ooherrrrr matron.

Don't think it's a problem, drove the 1.5 miles no problem. And pouring fule down the carb gave no results.

TT

Might still be worth doing the 'spurt test'. My brothers MK11 1300 once did this, not enough petrol being pumped at cranking speed but fine when engine running at 1000+ rpm.

Hang on.  don't mess about with ignition and fuel systems.

Start at the very begining when you have a problem like this.

Check the cam is timed in properly.

Check the dizzy is timed up properly.

Do a compression test (without one you have no idea if it's worth doing anything else).

Then, and only then, can you start to look at the fueling and ignition system.

Does the air filter look oily?

What do the plugs look like?

All the earth straps are okay?  And the condition of the battery?

My suspicions were right..

With dry daylight I have been able to have a proper look.

With the cambelt cover of it was obvious the timing had slipped.

It had been a very cold night and I think the antifreez may have been week and frozen the water pump..

Anyway, apart from some stripped teeth on the belt I also found that the cam drive wheel was cracked and buckled slightly…

After fiting a new wheel and a spare used belt for testing. it still would not go. closer inspection showed two cam folowers with free air clerance when supposedly closed..

darn….

Head off, 3 bent valves… Bummer!

Oh well…

Wife will say scrap it, but I can't bring myself to do that!!

Washed down the head and its currently drying in the oven with my pizza…

TT

Darn!!!

Pizza still cold, cooked head at 90c!

Doh!

TT