Engine Starting Problems 1500 Cortina Mk1 Engine

[pezohebo]

The engine cranks, though I think not fast enough, but wont start. The battery shows fully charged on the battery charger, though it is about 3 years old and has been discharged a few times. There is compression, Fuel and a yellow weak spark at all HT Leads. On removal of the spark plug, the plug smells of petrol. Is it flooding?? Recently put in new spark plugs, contact points and distributor cap and rotor arm. Any ideas of where to look next???

[tonyav]

try changing the coil,and check that the tiiming is ok also try cranking the engine with a known good battery.

[BRAVO1]

Has it been standing for a longtime ?..

Is it firing and banging ? - Are the leads in the right firing order ?.

Coil's a good start - Weak spark ? - You want a nice strong spark.

Try a better if not newer battery.

When you put in the points, did you ensure that the plastic washer was fitted correctly ? - The points can earth themselves out and become useless.

Could be : Water in fuel, a sticking float in the carb, have you had the carb apart, and looked for sticking floats,or blocked jets ?.

With the air filter off, try turning it over whilst giving it a quick squirt of easy start see if it fires up like this.

If it fires up then this normally points to dodgy fuel or carb.

[chas2008]

even new points (and cap/rotor)sometimes need a clean first, quite possible they have been on a shelf for a while , one of the tricks of the trade was to flick over the surfaces with a pencil..To be honest compared with modern vehicles this should be a doddle to sort out...
I should think it only appears to be flooding as its not firing..

[david1702198]

if the petrol is 3 years old more than likely its off

[bigboots]

I would check points/ condensor, even new ones can be faulty,once you get a decent apark check the state of the petrol. Petrol has a life span of about 13 weeks so it will wet the plugs and smell but not fire