• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

Ford 1500 Kent pre-crossflow mystery

Chevron56

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
In a recent vintage race my 1500 Kent pre-crossflow engine suddenly dropped from firing on four cylinders to two. Cylinders one and four are firing, two and three are not. Over a period of several days I have tried the following:

- Replaced the entire ignition system incl. distributor body, points, condenser, coil, high tension and low tension wires and spark plugs.
- Replaced the head gasket.
- Performed compression and leak-down tests with all reading within acceptable limits.
- Verified cam timing.
- Verified valve operation, lift and lash.
- checked intake valve stem seals.
- Tested an alternate intake manifold / carburetor system.

None of these actions has any effect on getting cylinders two and three to fire.

Does anyone on this forum have any additional input or theories to help resolve this issue?

Thank you
 

PhilW

Jedi Hopeful
Country flag
Offline
Replace the rotor with an original - A really crappy one is OK as long as it's an old one. If that's no help, leave the old rotor on and replace the coil with an old original. The new rotors tend to arc across into the dist. metal guts. The new high output coils exagerate the arcing. We've found this on 2 cars recently after tune-ups. The new rotors plastic just doesn't insulate the spark properly. If this easy check doesn't help, check firing order one more time, then step away before you throw something and hit the car.

Phil.
 

Roger

Luke Skywalker
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
I don't want to state the obvious, but you did remember that on those engines the Firing Order is 1 2 4 3 not the more normal 1 3 4 2 , didn't you?
 

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Offline
are you running one carb or two? What colour were you plugs? I'm not familiar with the manifold on thos puppies but could there be an obstruction?
 
OP
C

Chevron56

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
One sidedraft Weber DCOE. Checked for obstructions in the intake manifold, carb and exhaust manifold and found nothing. the mystery continues.
 

coldplugs

Darth Vader
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Probably a dumb suggestion but it seems you've already checked almost everything - are you sure the rotor is pointing to the #1 cylinder's terminal with the piston just before TDC?

I assume you're getting spark on all 4.
 

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Yeah, Roger, a bit disconcerting.
 
D

Deleted member 8987

Guest
Guest
Offline
Vacuum gauge, as mentioned in the other thread, while running. Tell me what it does. Then check the valve springs.
If that's all good, I'd be pulling the rocker shaft and making sure one of the rockers isn't bound up, holding an inlet valve open when running.

We know what it isn't, now we isolate down to what it is.

Dave
 

racingenglishcars

Darth Vader
Country flag
Offline
I had at one time a customer's VW beetle, where the inlet valve seals allowed just enough oil in to burn onto the top of the inlet valves. After much time, the build-up was enough to effectively block the inlet air - only while running at sufficient speed. Compression test showed good, same with all other tests like timing, spark, mixture etc. Problem was solved by removing and cleaning the valves. Of course replacing valve seals was also necessary.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
C Ford 1500 Kent Pre-Cross Flow Mystery Lotus 20
AngliaGT Saw These Today (This is FORD Country?) Spotted 2
AngliaGT '64 Ford F100 Spotted 2
AngliaGT 1969 Ford Galaxie Spotted 3
algot1901 1950 Ford Prefect Brake Lining Other British Cars 1
algot1901 Window Channel Ford Prefect Other British Cars 5
algot1901 How about an English Ford Folder FORUM Navigation Questions 1
algot1901 1950 Ford Prefect Paint Other British Cars 5
algot1901 Rear Seat Bottom/Frame for 1950 Ford Prefect Other British Cars 12
AngliaGT I Need to Resist - 1980 Ford Fiesta Other Cars 9
JPSmit Ford Taunus - never seen on in the flash before Spotted 4
Sherlock 1982 Ford F150 stepside vs 1975 Triumph TR7 Other Cars 4
AngliaGT New Supra,BaT Ford Bronco Spotted 0
C Wanted Ford Kent Pre-Cross Flow Gasket Other British Classifieds 4
TRMark Ford Anglia/Prefect USA parts supplier Other British Cars 7
Lin Ford Versus Ferrari Question Austin Healey 23
C Ford pre-crossflow valve train Other British Cars 2
AngliaGT My Old Ford Consul Capri Other Cars 0
Basil Ford Tractor Spotted 12
O Ford Cars Other British Cars 18
C Wanted Wanted - Ford Cortina "bullet" style gearbox Other British Classifieds 1
H Ford T9 5 speed question Restoration & Tools 1
3798j Ex-Bell Telephone "55 Ford F100 Other Cars 8
C For Sale AC Bristol with a Ford engine Other British Classifieds 0
M TR2/3/3A Ford Alternator Conversion Problems Triumph 10
Paul_1 Vintage Ford Cortina Spotted 12
Steve Ford Capri Spotted 13
PAUL161 6.0 Power Stroke Ford Truck Other Cars 4
D Mazda 3 vs Ford Focus Other Cars 5
aeronca65t Glider in store-Ford GT, etc Spotted 1
P Wedge Ford powered TR7 Triumph 5
Sherlock Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Spotted 1
jackq 47 Ford 2 dr Deluxe Other Cars 4
DrEntropy 1963 Ford Fairlane Spotted 1
G Ford F250 Other Cars 13
mailbox Ford power steering pump Other Cars 0
bcliff Ford Model Y English for sale Other British Cars 1
aeronca65t Ford GT Spotted 7
JPSmit Lotus Formula Ford Racecar Other British Cars 2
jackq 46 Ford...finally Other Cars 11
B very excited! Just ordered my Ford Mustang 2013 GT Other Cars 1
A Ford GT Spotted 2
kylekoehler 1953 Ford Consul burned piston Other British Cars 9
J Another pic of '67 Ford GT MKIII Other British Cars 13
J Ford GT MKIII Other British Cars 0
glemon 800,000 ford truck Other Cars 9
CZ_Dave Help in Identifying this British Ford? Other Cars 11
bcliff For the English Ford Lovers Other British Cars 11
tr6nitjulius TR5/TR250 FYI: Ford Blue 250/6 Triumph 12
J Brakes for a Mk2 Ford Cortina Other British Cars 4

Similar threads

Top