Help! 6 Banger will not start!
 

Man I am frustrated. Been having problems with my 1949 Ford F1 226 Flat 6, It will not fire up/start. Problem started about a few weeks ago. I noticed it taking longer and longer for it to finally fire up. The truck does turn over, it has spark, its getting gas, over the last year I have replaced the coil, rebuilt gas pump, rebuilt carb, new plugs and wires, and had it timed by a buddy, also has an electronic ignition.

My buddy came over last week, moved and reset the dizzy, and the truck started soon after that. Been a week, attempted to start it today and it will just not fire up. Breaks my heart, I need it some therapy today (taking truck for drive) and now I am just fed up.

May just have to fork out some cash and have a shop look it over.

But before I do that I am hoping to try and fix it my self (1 more time)!

Not a pro just a monkey wrencher.

Is the dizzy suppose to be able to be moved even after its been locked down by its bolt?

Once the timing is set, the distributor should not move externally. You have a slot and bolt that locks the distributor to the block and a horizontal screw and nut to lock the distributor in place.

One thing lately that seems to be pretty common, the modern replacement condensers aren't any good and causing a lot of head scratching. Threw that out just because. If you can eliminate that as a possibility.

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I will check the horizontal screw and nut and make sure its locked down.

Condenser, I have not replaced that, or does it have one since I have the 6 volt + Grnd Pertronix?

Condenser not a player with the Pertronix.

Considering the age of this puppy, I would start looking at things that could be worn out. Start with a compression check, both dry and wet. If all looks even reasonably good there, pull the distributor out, the gear may be badly worn. It may even have some teeth missing. If you can see down the hole to the drive gear on the cam, it may be worn as well. After that, consider a badly worn cam gear. Also, pull the valve cover off and check to be sure the valves are opening and closing properly. Worn lobes never help. That should keep you busy for a while. Good luck

First plan of attack is a compression test.

If the distributor is loose, the timing isn't likely correct any more. Give it a handful of advance and see if it kicks.

We're dealing with a flathead, L head, side valve 226 CID six here. Access to the valve covers is nearly impossible without pulling the manifolds. Not the way to evaluate this particular engine.

In about 1 hour I am going to try and advance the timing and see what happens.

thanks for all the tips, want to try the easy stuff first.

I see you've updated your post to indicate electronic ignition, so no, a condenser is not in the mix. Hm.

The six volt Pertronix, (versus twelve volt) have read some folks have had problems with that, fwiw. It's tough for me to say anything bad about the Ignitor, but that's what I have read.

A compression tester is a good idea - but a vacuum gauge will indicate this just as well (maybe better in practice) and any number of other possible problems a whole lot easier, quicker and saves wear and tear on starter and battery. 'Course if it won't start at all... Then that's a problem, a vac gauge isn't much help.

What's the cranking RPM, btw? Check everything, don't take anything for granted.

Here's how I'd attack the problem.
1. Pull a plug wire and using a screwdriver in the plug wire have a helper turn over the engine and see if you get a nice blue spark between the screwdriver and a head bold. (Don't get zapped)
2. If no spark or weak look at the coil/distributor system for a problem. Is there power to the coil? If so then the issue most probably lies with the distributor (Pertronix). If no power to the coil investigate the ignition switch and wiring to the switch. If there's power check that the #1 Cylinder is on the compression stroke and that the distributor is close to the #1 position on the cap.
3. If you get a good spark and so far so good then investigate the gas. Is the fuel filter plugged. (mine was and I finally got tired of replacing it so I replaced the old gas tank and solved my problem). If you aren't sure then have a helper with you and dump a VERY SMALL amount of gas into the carb and try to start the engine. If it fires and dies the problem is in the fuel system. Change the filter and try again. If this doesn't fix it then I'd make sure that you are getting fuel out of the tank, the shutoff my be plugged. If that all works then I would look at the fuel pump.
I hope this helps.

Thanks for the tips.

I did check for spark earlier today using a spark tester that my buddy left.

Is the spark in these things suppose to be bright white or blue??

Because the spark color is faint ornage/red.

Sometimes its a little brighter and sometimes weaker.

To me the spark looks very weak?

Did you reset the timing? Like said above, if that distributor was moving around, it's probably way off now.

Orange/red spark = Not Good

Remember, that's in the open air, too. It's under compression and load that an ignition has to perform. What you want to see is a nice fat bluish spark with an audible "snap" to it. You could try cleaning up your grounding points and connections, and the little jumper wire on the dizzy breaker plate. Hot rodders run a dedicated ground strap on the dizzy itself iirc.

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