Club 80-90 Forums

Its a pig to start!

I have just gone through two batteries with no luck. It tries to go and fires occasionally but nothing today. I managed to get it started yesterday after about 5 mins but was still very hard. Once it has been running even for only 30 seconds it starts like a dream and runs fine too.

I took everybodies advice and had the timing done which was about 4 degrees out but that hasnt made any difference. Have checked all the hoses that i can see and they appear to be fine. One from the back of the dual vacume carb is a little lose but nothing bad.

Just a bit more info I had the coil replaced recently, could this be the wrong one? Not enough spark. I am trying to get it running so I can get up in the morning and it starts. Then when I know its gonna start I will take it to gasure and have the carbs sorted out.

Any ideas? Should i check the spark plugs, gaps, ht leads? Becuase I had the timing done 4 days ago I would have throught that would be OK

Cheers
2ltr 1982 Aircooled

Is the coil suitable for electronic ignition?
It could be that the coil you have is for breaker ignition and not electronic distributor

It may not be your problem but... There is a nack to starting these!

Pump accellerator pedal 3-4 times leaving padal down for about second each time. On the last one, keep your foot to the floor, leave it there and try starting then. May work, may not but worth a try!

points coil only about 15000v not enough for leccy ignition!!

could be the elec ingition thingys if you have them on your van i took mine off(was coughing spluttering and throwing smoke through the carb)put 009 on it and it`s ok now (well better anyway)

choke stuck off? (if its auto choke that is) hence why it starts again fine once its warmer?

umgum wrote:could be the elec ingition thingys if you have them on your van i took mine off(was coughing spluttering and throwing smoke through the carb)put 009 on it and it`s ok now (well better anyway)

009 no good for a type 4 motor.

i know it is some times concidered as a bit crude, but try using easy start.

if it fires up straight away with easy start you can safely assume its a fuel problem. if it doesn`t then the ingition system needs testing

i had the same troble on a old van i had . it was a dirty lose earth . it was fine alfter it started
but from first of it did not want to know . hope it helps .

I had a faulty ignition amplifier/control unit which caused intermittent starting and then complete failure to start. Could be worth checking yours is operational.

What I would do is chuck a teaspoon of petrol down each carb and if it bursts into life after a few turns have a look at your fuel system. Then take a plug lead off and clip a spare plug onto the lead. Then lay the plug on a clean bit of engine and crank it over to see what sort of a spark you are getting under cranking conditions. Needless to say you will need an assistant for this. An intermittent or weak spark with maybe an orangey kind of colour will indicate an ignition problem. If you have a half decent multimeter (£9.99 at Maplins) check the resitance of the ignition leads. I forget the exact figure now but they should all be roughly similar in value - maybe 5KOhms. (Anyone know?) If your spark is weak you can close the plug gaps down to see if this improves matters but only as a diagnostic check. I have been known to put the distrubuter cap, rotor arm and plug leads in the dishwasher before now and this cleans and dries them out beutifully. Although this rates just below degreasing cylinder heads in the shower in terms of potential divorce!. Unfortunatelly there are a number of things which can cause bad starting but If if you are uncertain if the timing is right you can mark the position then loosen off the clamp and rotate the distributor back and forth while cranking to see if it is badly mistimed. Too advanced and it will kick back and too retarded you may get backfiring, a tractor sound and die on large or sudden throttle opening. This is a rough and ready method but I have known people to faff around for ages and not get it right and then suss it out doing this. It is a fact that if your engine has compression, fuel and sparks (petrol only) then it cannot fail to start. Then how come so many fail to do just that?
Good luck
Wolfie