nonstarter - 1984 1.9 DG with pierburg

[mankymusic]

1984 caravelle
1.9DG engine, pierburg carb

I turn the key and it does everything but start.
Starter turning over OK.
fuel getting to the input of the carb OK so I assume the fuel pump is OK, fuel in the tank, battery fully charged, air filter not connected to carb

so far I have :
*replaced the fuel filter, ignition coil, rotor arm, ht leads, distributor, spark plugs (they were all looking a bit suspect, all bought from from mr baxter so I know they are OK)
*removed and cleaned the carb fuel filter
*stripped and cleaned the carb to best of my abilities
*checked the auto choke diaphragm
*checked there is a spark to the distributor
*tried a new battery
*tried spraying "easy start" down the carb and turning her over

I once got it to turn over for a few seconds after I poured a cap full of "loose" (after checking the fuel pump) fuel down the top of the carb, other than that nothing but constant recharging of my battery.

was working fine last time i used it

about to admit defeat and phone the aa but I don't like giving up - any more suggestions?

I think its got to be a carb thing.

[boatdog]

how long has fuel been in tank? have you triedlinking a can of fuel to the carb to see if it fires that way?

[Ian Hulley]

Another advert for not parking these vans up.

Sounds like stale fuel.

Ian

[boatdog]

lol Ian going to use that one on the wife "If i dont keep driving it round it will break and be expensive to fix"

[mankymusic]

hmmm, to be fair the week before this problem I filled up and did a 160 mile run so it hadn't been sat there, the van is my only vehicle and I usually use it at least once a week.

stale fuel or not surely it would have started with the "easy start"?

sods law - I'm stuck on a ship off holyhead for the next few weeks so if the fuel wasn't stale it might be by the time I get back

I'll try getting a can of "fresh" fuel in the carb when I get back, cheers.

[tinman]

If it won't start with easy start you need to be checking for a good spark.
You need 3 things
Fuel
Spark
compression
If your sure you have all 3 then you'll need to start looking at timing but that wont have moved on its own.Have you had the distributer out?

[mankymusic]

it went to the garage, turned out to be water in the fuel.

[Ian Hulley]

Rotten tank or rotten filler neck ?

Ian

[mankymusic]

filler neck I think..........another thing to add to the list

thanks for your help people, outstanding support as usual, cheers!