Fast Marina Magazine

Hello All

Can anyone help with the following:
I have now put the car in the garage and went to start her for the first time in 2 weeks. I pulled the choke out turned the ignition and she fired first time,as I started to put the choke in she felt a bit lumpy and then stalled

For the life of me I can not get her started again although I have tried several times over the last few days

Any advice please (I have never had a problem before when she was parked outside)

Many Thanks, Bills (1974, 1.3 Coupe with a single carb)

Hi Bills, have you checked the obvious...points closed up?, sounds like it`s probably electrical to me, coil, points or condenser, do you have a spark at the plugs?

It will only ever be two things, electrics or fuel.

Fuel is easy to check, take the top off the float chamber and check if there is any fuel in the chamber, if it is dry then fill it about 1/3rd full and replace the top. Then try to start the car. If it starts and then stops after a while then you either have a fuel blockage or a split hose.

If the float chamber had fuel in it when you checked, then follow Franks advice. Methodically work through the points, rotor arm, plugs, distributor cap, plug leads, coil etc.

I am surprised Easystart wasnt mentioned. Its a quick way to isolate electric from fuel problems.

Reading back on this forum it's surprising how many times fuel pumps fail. I have had my fair share.
If you do decide to swap the pump for whatever reason, consider replacing the bolts into the block with studs. It makes it easier to fit the pump as it is 'pre-aligned' and the gasket and spacer dont fall out of position.

I had a similar problem and found that it was a blockage in the float chamber. I took the top of the float chamber and blew through the brass inlet pipe and it cleared. While the top is off it is worth while cleaning the float chamber out, I sucked the fuel out with a syringe and used cotton wool buds to clean out the gunge that had accumulated in the bottom. It was suprising just how much crud there was.

Damp plugs??maybe
my dad had his ital running then put in the garage.
He could'nt get it going again several days later and after checking everything found out that the plugs had got damp and carboned up,took them out cleaned them up and it fired up first time.
Best regards
Barry