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Gnarlykatt

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  • Location
    Portland, OR
  • Cars
    68 Roadster 2000

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  1. Okay time to rein this back in. Sorry for the delayed response, been busy and finally got a chance to work on the roadster again this weekend. I finally got the roadster started! I decided I'd try re-wiring the cap 180 degrees and sure enough, when I did that I fired up. (Not sure when/where along the way it got flipped around). Now I'm onto a new problem. I can get it to run, but I can't keep it running. It'll fire up and run really rough for about 15-20 seconds and then die out. I've tried feathering the gas and it helps a little, but if I try giving it more gas than just a feather of the pedal it bogs down and then dies. (Usually a small cloud of white smoke shoots out of the top of the carb as soon as it dies). Previous to getting this thing running, I loosed up both adjustment screws on the points distributor, (I know, stupid me) thinking maybe the ignition timing had moved and was keeping it from starting. I've tried adjusting both adjustments every which way and nothing seems to help the engine hold a better idle. Anyone have any ideas? I thought maybe the carb/idle jets are gunked up. But I had the top part of the carb off last summer and cleaned the bowl and the jets (which non of it was very dirty at all). The gas tank had some crap in it that kept clogging the fuel line and keeping the car from running. But I removed the tank and had it cleaned at the end of this past summer and after I reconnected it, the car was running great.
  2. I picked up a screw in type compression tester today and checked the compression. Here's what I got: cylinder #1 - 180 cylinder #2 - 178 cylinder #3 - 185 cylinder #4 - 179
  3. Due to the limited history I have of the engine, it's possible it could be a different firing order, but I'm almost certain its 1, 3, 4, 2. I didn't get a chance to make it to auto parts store today, but I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have a chance to pick up a compression tester and see what kind of numbers I get from each cylinder.
  4. Thanks for the input so far everyone. So I bought new plugs today and installed them. I checked spark at the plug and it's a nice blue color now. I tried starting it up and still nothing. I checked the wires, they seem to still be in fairly good shape. I check the points and they're clean. The dizzy is dry inside as well. The car turns over really strong, but doesn't make the slightest sound of trying to run. I tried using a shot of starter fluid into the carb as well and still nothing. I haven't checked the valve lash yet. However, how likely is it that the valves could now be gapped incorrectly to the point of it not starting if it was firing right up just a few months ago. Engine wise the car hadn't been touched since it last ran. Could it have jumped timing? I thought I read somewhere timing jumps are pretty uncommon on the L16?
  5. Thanks Datzenmike! I just checked the coil. I'm getting between 1.2-1.3 ohms from the primary side of the coil and 7,800 ohms from the secondary (tower) side of the coil. I wasn't able to check the ballast. The way the wires are connected is something strange. The connection almost looks like a pop rivet. The connection appears factory. I believe new wires and plugs were installed about 10-12 years ago, but for much of that time the car just sat. I'm assuming the dizzy and cap are original. However, I pulled a spark plug and the end was pretty dark and fouled looking. I tried cleaning it up and reconnected it to the plug wire and then grounded the spark plug while turning the car over and got a pretty weak looking yellow/orange spark. When I tested spark from the wires I wasn't able to get a 3/4" spark.
  6. These forums have been a huge help, but now I'm at a loss. So here's the backstory. I have a 1968 Datsun Roadster 2000 that at some point prior to me getting the car had the stock U20 swapped out for a L16. The L16 has been in the car since the 80's. This past summer I started working on the car. It had problems galore, but I had it running and driving and it would fire up with the turn of a key. The roadster sat outside under a tarp up until about 2 months ago when I tired starting it to move it inside the garage. It fired up and ran with some help of starter fluid for about 5 mins then died and wouldn't start again. It would turn over, but wouldn't start. I checked for fuel (it has an inline fuel pump installed) and it's getting fuel to the carb. I checked for spark and I'm getting a white spark from the dizzy to the plugs. When I first started working on the car this past summer the coil was dead. It would turn over but wouldn't start (like it's doing now) so I recently bought a new coil and tried swapping it out and nothing changed. I rotated the crankshaft to TDC (compression stroke) and checked the timing. The dizzy rotor was pointing to #1 cylinder and plug wires from the cap are wired 1,3,4,2 (counterclockwise). I also ran a new wire from the neg. side of the coil to the dizzy where the tach connects. However, I just recently noticed that I'm getting 12 volts from the ballast resistor to the coil when the key is turned to the ON position. From what I've read I should be getting 6v at the ON position and only 12v when the key's turned to START position. I know continuous 12v to the dizzy can cause the points to burn out (I believe what's installed is the original distributor). However, I'm not sure how long this setup has been this way. I'm assuming since I got the car, cause I haven't re-wired anything from the ballast resistor to dizzy (except installing a new coil twice). I'm running out of ideas of how to get this thing running. I'm hoping someone on here might be able to help. Thanks in advance.
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