No Start Check List?

[karls59tr]

Did someone post a no start checklist here some time ago.I went to start the TR3 for the first time this year but it wouldn't fire up.Battery was fully charged and engine cranked. I'm getting fuel to the float chambers. The temperatures are still quite low here....around zero.... so I suppose I could have put a block heater on the oil pan first to warm things up. possibility of bad gas but gas only 5 months old. I ran out of time today to look into it further but will try again tomorrow to see if I have spark(pertronix).I was just wondering about the most effective way to check things out?

 

[tdskip]

Hi Karl - it's down to the basics. Fuel, air, spark.

Assume you have air. Check the spark next and report back. Assuming you do and the distributor timed properly before if you have spark then you looking at fuel. Make sure you are getting flow to the filter, then the bowls and then through the needle to the engine.

I like to use starting fluid to make sure she'll run OK once I find I have spark just to rule timing out.

Others will jump in with other/better ideas.

 

[TR3driver]

Float valves that stick shut during storage seem to be more common with today's fuel. I would probably start with the starting fluid (pun intended); although I find that spray carb cleaner seems to actually work better on spark-ignited engines. If it starts and dies, the problem almost has to be fuel.

Also when you check the spark, check right at the plugs. I prefer to pull #3 (it's easiest to get to plus has a long enough wire) and lay it on the rocker cover with the wire attached, to see if there is actually a spark at the gap. Finding a spark does not necessarily guarantee that it is not an ignition problem, but makes it a lot less likely IMO.

Oh, and you probably checked this, but since you didn't mention ... did the choke pull both carb jets down?

 

[tdskip]

Float valves that stick shut during storage seem to be more common with today's fuel. I would probably start with the starting fluid (pun intended); although I find that spray carb cleaner seems to actually work better on spark-ignited engines. If it starts and dies, the problem almost has to be fuel.

Good point!

 

[tomgt6]

Some days my no start check list goes like this.

Can of Gas
Fill outside of car with gas
Find match
Light car on fire

Ok, sorry I had to say it. Sometimes it can be a frustration after storage. You put a car away in good running condition and then it doesn't want to start again.


If you didn't have any issues before you put it away it is most likely one of the items the others have already talked about. The only other issue I have seen is a mouse chewing through some wires.

 

[sp53]

I am not sure why, but the tr3s I have been close to start hard after they sit too long. They appear to be cold blooded for some reason. I hope someone knows if I am just experiencing some statistical deviation or not. Anyways I am not above using starter fluid. It has always kinda amazed me that one squirt of starter fluid and they roar.
Steve

 

[Darrell_Walker]

I am not sure why, but the tr3s I have been close to start hard after they sit too long. They appear to be cold blooded for some reason. I hope someone knows if I am just experiencing some statistical deviation or not. Anyways I am not above using starter fluid. It has always kinda amazed me that one squirt of starter fluid and they roar.
Steve

I suspect one reason for this is fuel evaporating out of the float chambers. On the plus side, the time it takes cranking the engine to get them filled allows the oil pressure to build. Perhaps it is a design feature!

 

[TR3driver]

Doesn't anybody use the priming lever any more? The reason it's there is to make the engine easier to start after sitting for awhile.

BTW, on a TR3, the fuel doesn't have to evaporate from the chambers. They almost always leak a bit.

 

[Darrell_Walker]

Doesn't anybody use the priming lever any more? The reason it's there is to make the engine easier to start after sitting for awhile.

BTW, on a TR3, the fuel doesn't have to evaporate from the chambers. They almost always leak a bit.

The SU HS6s on my 4A also did (leak a bit). I thought that was just me!

 

[karls59tr]

I have an electric fuel pump on my 3 so there is no priming issue. I 'm going to check the grose jets today and see if there is gas in the float bowls. Everybody seems to recommend a shot of starting fluid so I'll try that but first I'll check for spark. Can 't be mice I left Bounce fabric softener scattered about the car and their supposed to dislike that.

 

[ekamm]

Wow if you car smells that bad?

I left my 3 parked for 3 months+ while I did the suspension and steering. When I was done pumped the primer till it was tight and first crank it was good no problems.

 

[tdskip]

I 'm going to check the <span style="font-weight: bold">grose jets</span> today and see if there is gas in the float bowls.

Guys - don't we collectively dislike grose jets as they are problematic?

 

[TR3driver]

Nah, I'd say opinion is pretty evenly divided. Apparently they work fine for some people.

But I've fixed several cars now by throwing away the Grose jets and reinstalling the "inferior" stock float valves. My experience has been that, if the stock valves are having troubles, it's due to crud in the fuel, not the valves themselves. Cleaning the valves and replacing the soft lines is the usual cure. And the Grose Jets are just as susceptible (maybe more so) to crud in the fuel, IMO.

 

[dklawson]

The camp may be split on Grose Jets as Randall said. However, I encourage people not to buy them. They have let me down on two cars.

That said, the Viton tipped float valves on my Mini's SUs tend to stick closed after sitting for a while. The Strombergs on the GT6 have a different problem. The jet assemblies gum up quite badly with a green varnish goo if I don't use the car regularly.

 

[karls59tr]

The old girl fired up! You were right Randall. It seems the choke cable, even though pulled all the way out at the dash, did not lower the jets so I did it manually. Ya gotta love the sound of that four banger. I have to do the rear brakes and front right trunnion and I'll be good to go by the time the April rains wash the sand and salt from the streets here. By the way I prefer the Grose jets. I was rebuilding an SU this winter and the kit contained the Viton tipped Float bowl jet. It was jammed and I couldn't get it unstuck!

 

[tdskip]

Cool!

 

[TR3driver]

The old girl fired up! You were right Randall.

Good deal!

-- Blind Pig