Race Car won't start...
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Race Car won't start...
I've been so busy with my house and family, I didn't have time to get my race car started in probably about 1.5 years.. I'm planning on selling my race Vette and try to start it again.. I last raced it at the 2008 National Corvette Challenge.. Since then, the car has been sitting in my garage. I did start it occasionally during 2008 and early 2009 but from about February 2009, the car has not been started.. Back then, I was told to change the race gas as the gas in the car could've gone "flat". Finally, 1.5 years later, I got some fresh race gas, drained the old gas out of the system and filled it with fresh race gas. Primed the oil system and tried starting the car and..... nothing.. Tried for several minutes without success. Even used starter fluid etc. etc.
Checked the spark plugs and I get a good spark on all 8. Carburetor is delivering fuel. Fuel pressure is good (electric fuel pump). Distributor is in unchanged position, so the timing shouldn't be off..
I really don't know what else to check?? Nothing seems to get the car going.. Engine spins easily withoug a problem.. Compression is good on all 8 cylinders..
I got:
*) spark
*) fuel
*) fresh gas
*) compression
What else can I look for???
Checked the spark plugs and I get a good spark on all 8. Carburetor is delivering fuel. Fuel pressure is good (electric fuel pump). Distributor is in unchanged position, so the timing shouldn't be off..
I really don't know what else to check?? Nothing seems to get the car going.. Engine spins easily withoug a problem.. Compression is good on all 8 cylinders..
I got:
*) spark
*) fuel
*) fresh gas
*) compression
What else can I look for???
Race Director
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From: Corsicana, Tx
2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
2020 Corvette of the Year (performance mods)
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Wow...I thought you fell off the face of the earth! Welcome back!
Did you just check fire down to the plugs at the wires? Did you happen to check the plugs themselves?
Maybe they're too fouled from sitting around? Or got flooded during all the cranking?
No chance dist. is out of whack as far as timing after you primed it?
JIM
Did you just check fire down to the plugs at the wires? Did you happen to check the plugs themselves?
Maybe they're too fouled from sitting around? Or got flooded during all the cranking?
No chance dist. is out of whack as far as timing after you primed it?
JIM
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
Likes: 88
From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Wow...I thought you fell off the face of the earth! Welcome back!
Did you just check fire down to the plugs at the wires? Did you happen to check the plugs themselves?
Maybe they're too fouled from sitting around? Or got flooded during all the cranking?
No chance dist. is out of whack as far as timing after you primed it?
JIM
Did you just check fire down to the plugs at the wires? Did you happen to check the plugs themselves?
Maybe they're too fouled from sitting around? Or got flooded during all the cranking?
No chance dist. is out of whack as far as timing after you primed it?
JIM
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
Likes: 88
From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
I also did a pressure test on all cylinders and all looks good..
Last edited by GrandSportC3; Sep 20, 2010 at 03:07 PM.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
I did drain all fuel from the lines AND fuel bowls before filling it with fresh gas.. I do have excellent fuel pressure at the carb.. (regulated to 7 psi)
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
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From: Dayton, Ohio
That pretty much ruins that theory. I was thinking about a car I had in a couple years ago that had sat for a long time and ran good before. When he tried to start it ,it tore several teeth off the crank gear. It still had spark because the cam and distributor were turning sometimes but the cam to crank timing was screwed.
The only thing I could think the cam didn't want to turn when the crank wanted it to.
The only thing I could think the cam didn't want to turn when the crank wanted it to.
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Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
Likes: 88
From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
That pretty much ruins that theory. I was thinking about a car I had in a couple years ago that had sat for a long time and ran good before. When he tried to start it ,it tore several teeth off the crank gear. It still had spark because the cam and distributor were turning sometimes but the cam to crank timing was screwed.
The only thing I could think the cam didn't want to turn when the crank wanted it to.
The only thing I could think the cam didn't want to turn when the crank wanted it to.
The engine is built very solid as it's has about 650+ HP on engine and is built for up to 250 HP shot of nitrous..
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
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From: Lakeland, FL
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St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2002
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From: Lebanon Township New Jersey
So you're saying that the engine has not run with the distributor in its present location, right? Definitely a timing issue then. I don't think one tooth off is close enough to start unless you really twist the distributor around.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
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From: Dayton, Ohio
Way above my head ! Good luck , hopefully just cranking the dist around a little will make it fire up.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
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Likes: 1
GrandSportC3,
Well, if you've got spark and you've stated you have good fuel pressure and even tried starter fluid, then the issue has to be timing.
Try this:
Unhook/remove the spark plugs
Get a compression gauge and hook it up to the #1 cylinder.
Get a timing light and link it to the #1 spark plug wire.
Hold your finger over the pressure release valve(if available)on the neck of the compression gauge.
Point the timing light at the face of the compression gauge
Remotely/or get a pal to turn the motor over.
You should see the compression gauge jump with every flash.
If it's delayed or off, then set her to TDC and reinstall the dizzy
Good luck.
Well, if you've got spark and you've stated you have good fuel pressure and even tried starter fluid, then the issue has to be timing.
Try this:
Unhook/remove the spark plugs
Get a compression gauge and hook it up to the #1 cylinder.
Get a timing light and link it to the #1 spark plug wire.
Hold your finger over the pressure release valve(if available)on the neck of the compression gauge.
Point the timing light at the face of the compression gauge
Remotely/or get a pal to turn the motor over.
You should see the compression gauge jump with every flash.
If it's delayed or off, then set her to TDC and reinstall the dizzy
Good luck.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 13,018
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From: Corsicana, Tx
2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
2020 Corvette of the Year (performance mods)
C2 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
2017 C2 of Year Finalist
The carb is actually squirting fuel right? The bowls are full of fuel?
Congratulations on the new son! What's his name?
JIM
Congratulations on the new son! What's his name?
JIM
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 17,676
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
If you restabbed your dist. my guess is the timing isn't correct, marking the location on the manifold and a mark on the dist. sometimes fools you as when you pull the the dist it has a helical gear and will move the oil pump slot a little now when you put it back in and it finally sits down on the manifold and into the oil pump slot you could be off an entire cylinder when cranking and it ain't gonna start.
Take the cap off and see where #1 tower is and look at the rotor, make sure you are on #1 compression stroke and not #6 and stab the dist. so the rotor is past # 1 tower ( 15deg advance or whatever you have ). This might require you to get a long screw driver or any long flat skinny piece of metal and mover the oil pump slot until you can drop it in the right place. Make sure whatever you use you don't drop it in there.
Good luck GSC3 and congrats on the new child
Take the cap off and see where #1 tower is and look at the rotor, make sure you are on #1 compression stroke and not #6 and stab the dist. so the rotor is past # 1 tower ( 15deg advance or whatever you have ). This might require you to get a long screw driver or any long flat skinny piece of metal and mover the oil pump slot until you can drop it in the right place. Make sure whatever you use you don't drop it in there.
Good luck GSC3 and congrats on the new child
