Starting gremlin

[collins_dan]

Drove the S4 to work on Friday, no problems. Went to drive it last night, checked coolant level and dripped a little bit of coolant on alternator, but that shouldn't affect starting. Didn't use choke as I had just driven 2 days ago. It turned over great, but wouldn't start. Gave it some choke, then some gas, turned over a bunch more. Nothing. Thinking that I had flooded it (although didn't smell excessive amounts of fuel), held gas all the way down and eventually it started. I backed out about 10 feet and it died, and wouldn't start again. Went out later and checked all connections (none of which were loose), tried starting again, and after more turnovers than usual, it started. Checked all connections again, while running to see if it was just a loose connection. Nothing. Ran fine.

So now I am in that unpleasant gremlin situation. If it dies on the road, I'd like to run through a good check list, so that I get to the problem as quickly as possible. Here is my thought: listen for electric fuel pump, (not sure what else to do to check that fuel getting to strombergs, other than the smell test), then check ignition, coil and electronic ignition connections, then fuse box connections.

My gut says its electrical. It always starts like a champ. The only problem that I have had in the past is driving along and a jet get clogged and it dies on the road. I am now an expert at tapping the bowl with socket to clear.

Thanks, Dan

[PeterNev]

Did the car just stop which would point to an electrical problem, or did it splutter a bit then stop. My + 2 did the complete stop and I traced the problem back to a loose connection on the back of the rev counter. Try running a wire from the fuse box to the coil bypassing the rev counter/key and see if it will run. Unless you find a fuse then only comes live with the ignition key you will have to pull the wire off the coil to stop the engine. That will let you use the car and point you to the area behind the dash.

Hope this helps.

Peter

[collins_dan]

It ran on Friday. Drove it into the garage and turned it off. When I went to start, it turned over, but didn't start. See the course of events Below. Just checked the connection of the ignition wire on the back of tach, as I forgot to include that on my checklist, and it seems fine. Just started right up now. So no clue what happened yesterday. Point of the post was my checklist. Did I miss anything other than checking where the ignition wire connects to the tach. Thanks, Dan

[rgh0]

Hi Dan

I would also check the High voltage side of the Dizzy - centre lead to coil secure both ends and not wet ( did you get coolant their also during the check?). Rotor and carbon contact pin inside the cap secure and in good condition.

The best way to diagnose an intermittent electrical problem is to try to bypass the area of concern with a direct wire as was said previously to see if the problem goes away then you both have a running car and know where the problem is for more detailed investigation.

A broken inside the insulation low voltage wire to the distributor can also occur due to vibration and then fiddling with the wire remakes the brokens ends to touch temporarily so the car starts!

cheers
Rohan

[collins_dan]

Thanks. I'll check the dizzy more closely. Did check the centre lead and it was on securely. Didn't remove the cap, but will check inside as well. The one question going through my head is when an electronic ignition goes, how does it go? Completely broken, or sporadic. I've had mine in there for over 10 years (Pertronix Igniter). Thanks, Dan

[ricarbo]

I think I would check that there is a spark at the plugs, when you have the 'not working' situation. If you don't know how, follow this. if you do, please accept my apologies.
Pull off a plug cap, push a screwdriver into it to make contact, then hold the handle of the the screwdriver so the screwdriver blade is about a quarter of an inch from something earthed, e.g. cam cover stud. get a pal to try to start the car and look for a good spark between screwdriver and stud. Caution - making the gap too big might stress the electronic ignition and touching the blade might give your pacemaker a surprise, the sort of wake up call we can easily get in the UK from the house mains, that you don't get in the US with your weedy 110 volts! so use a screwdriver with a well insulated handle. Some of mine are marked 10,000 volts, which could still be insufficient given that there could be 30,000 volts or more available, but will be no problem if you keep the gap down to a quarter of an inch.
regards
Richard