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64 won't start

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will54

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hi, I have a 64 chevy truck with a 327. I'm getting fire to the plugs and gas to the carburetor, but it still won't start.x( Got any ideas why it's not firing? Could the fire from my distibutor not be strong enough? Could I be getting too much gas so that it completely floods it. I'm baffled. I tested 3 of my plugs by pulling them out of the block and laying them on the valve covers, then cranking the engine. There's definitely a spark there. I pulled on the throttle, and there's plenty of gas shooting down into the barrels of my 4 barrel 600 Holley. I just put in a new power valve and checked the float levels. They seem to be fine. My timing is at 14 degrees. The truck was running great about 2 days ago. I haven't done anything to it in that time period. What am I doing wrong. :(

ps. If I were a real mechanic, I wouldn't be asking all these dumb questions.
Will, from Colorado
 
OK Will. SOMETHING has changed. Go over what you have done right before it started this. Also, try to describe better the symtoms. Does it sound like no spart? ( no sputtering or anything other than cranking?) Have you tried jumping it? have you messed with battery cables? Point distributer or HEI?

But think about what you did right before. Usually problems are related to the last action.

Dennis
 
hi Dennis,
I have an HEI distributor. When I tried to start the truck, it would fire once every 4 or 5 seconds. Then after a while, it quit firing at all. I'll have to recheck everything tonight. I can't remember doing anything to it recently that would make such a radical change in the way it runs. It was running like a champ, then the next day, it started up, but it sounded like it wasn't hitting on all cylinders. After a few minutes, it snapped right out of it and started running fine. Then, when I tried starting it yesterday, it did the same thing, but it never snapped out of it. In fact, it got worse, and it eventually died. After that is when I couldn't get it to start at all.

Tonight I'm gonna go over her with a fine tooth comb. I'm not a real mechanic, so there's only so much I can do. Hey, you wanna hop on a jet and come out here and take a look at her for me?!? Okay, so I got a little carried away there.
:) I'll look her over and let you know what I find. Thanks for your help, Dennis.
Will, From Colorado.
 
Will, Start with the power supply to the HEI. Look for all the obvious stuff, loose connectors at both ends, frayed wire, etc. The HEI needs a full 12 volts going into the "BAT" connection on the coil. This one-day-on, one-day-off stuff will make you nuts, but it sounds like HEI power supply problems.
My panel had the HEI power supplied by the fuse panel. It was intermittantly giving me trouble. Two weeks ago I wired it into the ignition switch for a guarentee of 12 volts.

Good luck with it, If it turns out to be the HEI, it will be an easy one.

Dennis
 
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-02 AT 06:43 PM (CST)]You also might want to check your distributor cap for cracks. I had a '72 chevy several years ago that had these same symptoms. Turned out to be the cap. Even if you don't see any cracks, if you have another cap handy, try the other one and see if it helps.
good luck,
Daryl
 
Dennis and Daryl,
thanks! you've given me some new avenues for exploration. I'll look at the ignition system more closely and let you know what I find.

Will, From Colorado :)
 
You've gotten some good advice and I'll throw my two cents in as well.

The HEI's I've had have been almost trouble free. Had a nephew swap around my plug wires as a gag. (Some years later he asked me for bail money, guess who spent the night in jail?) Once when I had a similar problem I sprayed a little starting fluid into the carb (it doesn't take much) and it fired up (that stuff is very potent) it wouldn't start on it's own, only with the starting fluid but once it was started I found my timing was WAY off. Not sure how it happened but it had.

Good luck.
 
bk65,
thanks for the suggestion. maybe one of the guys in my shop is playing a trick on ME! My timing was fine the other day, but like you said, maybe it has changed somehow. I'll try the starting fluid and see if I can get it running long enough to recheck the timing.

Hope your nephew learned his lesson.;)

Will, From Colorado
 
hi all,
got my truck running. my plugs were sparking, but apparently the fire wasn't hot enough to fire through my DIRTY plugs. I figured since they were sparking, they were okay, but after putting in new plugs, it started right up. well, I learned 2 new things: first, plugs can still spark outside the combustion chamber while not being able to ignite the fuel mixture when screwed in. Second: I am a dumb ass. However, I learned a valuable lesson that I won't soon forget. So, thanks for all the help and suggestions that I got from everybody!!!

Will, From Colorado :)
 
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