• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

"Failure to Proceed" (Engine Won't Fire)

Share this page

H

hama61

Jedi Hopeful
Country flag
Offline
Good day,

The Healey didn't run for a while, and doesn't start anymore.

What she does:

Pump is ticking

Engine turn when starting

Engine has spark but doesn't turn on In the past i used brake cleaner to boost but this is now without result.

When she was still running it was sometimes a difficult starter and had the issue that over a certain rev she was losing power and felt like turning of when given less trottle she was picking up. Revs when the car was driving was max up to 2500 rpm.

Look forward to the steps to be taken or to follow to get her to life again.

Kind regards

Harry
 
Last edited by a moderator:
First step: Determine if it's an ignition issue or fuel delivery issue (you say you have spark, but it may be marginal). I don't know if 'starting fluid'--ether-based spray, probably denatured to discourage 'huffing'--is available in The NL, but if it is, squirt a little in the carburettor intakes while cranking (I'd be less comfortable using brake cleaner; composition varies and chlorinated versions are likely more toxic). If engine fires, even briefly, you have a fuel delivery issue (which is most likely IMO). If not, it's likely an ignition issue; where are you testing for spark? If you have a strong spark at the plug wire ends then, well, it's still probably fuel delivery (pump can tick and not deliver adequate flow). The Big Healey cold start augmentation ('choke') system is iffy at best; hard starting when cold is usually an issue with this. Are you getting any fuel leaks around the carbs or intake?
 
In addition to the fuel pump ticking, when the engine is not running it should stop ticking when the float bowls are full and the float needle closes. It shouldn't take more than 5 or 8 seconds for this to happen if the car has been sitting and perhaps less if it has just been run. Your time may vary but it shouldn't keep ticking.
 
roscoe said:
In addition to the fuel pump ticking, when the engine is not running it should stop ticking when the float bowls are full and the float needle closes. It shouldn't take more than 5 or 8 seconds for this to happen if the car has been sitting and perhaps less if it has just been run. Your time may vary but it shouldn't keep ticking.
Click to expand...
Some aftermarket fuel pumps (Facet gold brick for one) keep ticking.
 
I'd always feel like I was out of fuel if I had one of thosešŸ˜„.
 
Bob_Spidell said:
First step: Determine if it's an ignition issue or fuel delivery issue (you say you have spark, but it may be marginal). I don't know if 'starting fluid'--ether-based spray, probably denatured to discourage 'huffing'--is available in The NL, but if it is, squirt a little in the carburettor intakes while cranking (I'd be less comfortable using brake cleaner; composition varies and chlorinated versions are likely more toxic). If engine fires, even briefly, you have a fuel delivery issue (which is most likely IMO). If not, it's likely an ignition issue; where are you testing for spark? If you have a strong spark at the plug wire ends then, well, it's still probably fuel delivery (pump can tick and not deliver adequate flow). The Big Healey cold start augmentation ('choke') system is iffy at best; hard starting when cold is usually an issue with this. Are you getting any fuel leaks around the carbs or intake?
Click to expand...
Many thanks i will try this weekend to check the suggestions

Kind regards

Harry
 
Good day

From what I can determine sofar is that she doesn't fire at at all. I can remember from the period when she was still running she had starting problems at well. When starting it felt allways close to firing up but after a few seconds she stopped ( car shaking ) More than 10 attempts were in general needed to keep her running at that time.

Due to Easter the shops were closed but will buy tomorrow ether based starter fluid.

I was just wonderring if it could be a distributor issue as well?

Below a short video with thoe fuel pump filling the system before attempt to start

Will update a short videa of starting later on

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
 
Good day all,

And here the short sound clip with the starting attempt

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
 
Back
Top