Car stalls - can't restart

[rdefabri]

Had my car out for a drive today - everything was great, beautiful weather!

Anyway, while driving, my car suddenly stalled and I could not restart it. I pushed it into a parking space and tried, in vain, to get it running again. I sprayed starter fluid into the carbs, it coughs, but doesn't catch once the ether is burned off.

As I had a similar issue last year (never identified), I have checked the following:

Getting spark? - YES

Fuel pump working? - YES

Carbs getting gas? - YES

In fact, as I said, when I spray ether into the carbs, the ether ignites and the car will turn over, but for some reason it doesn't stay running.

I never checked the fuel filter, but the carbs ARE getting fuel - quite a bit, honestly. I thought it possible it was flooded, but since I was driving around and it was running fine, I don't think that's the case.

Ultimately, I had to get towed home...car still won't start.

Any ideas????

[xray]

Good battery voltage? Alternator working correctly? Any loose grounds? Blown fuses?

What was happening when it stalled? Hard acceleration, sharp turn, sudden braking, idling?

[rdefabri]

Battery is good, still charged nicely and the car's starter turns fine. I was decelerating when the car died.

I thought at first I ran out of gas - that's what it felt like, and my tank was low. However, I did have an emergency tank (my wife brought) and put some 2 gallons in, so I know it's not empty. Yet still, after many turns, no dice.

It's now been sitting in front of my house for about 5 hours, I just tried to start, and I had no luck.

[JimmyZ]

If you have the early SU's you can always take the float bowl covers off and put some gas in them. This will give you about 45 seconds of run time which is enough to prime the system if everything is working OK.

2c

Jim

[DeesZ]

Long shot here, but I've seen it happen.... check to assure that your distributor has not slipped out of position (loose, in other words)......

[MikeW]

Does it run at all with the starting fluid or does it just sputter. Back when I was resurrecting my car from years of non-use it would actually run as long as I kept spraying in the starting fluid. I would die a few seconds after I stopped. In my case it was gas that had gone bad and fresh fuel got it going.

If it won't even run with starting fluid then I'd suspect that it's not getting a spark - at least not at the right time.

[rdefabri]

Mike,

It will run if I keep spraying starter fluid. My guess is that I ran out of gas and whatever was being pulled through the fuel lines is the culprit. I do have gas in the float bowls, so I know delivery is happening, it's just not igniting. My car has always been a hard starter.

Assuming that's not the case - is it possible anything is causing compression to drop? That's a long shot I suppose, as the car normally runs fine, but I am perplexed....I'll try to continue to spray starter fluid until it goes.

[EScanlon]

If it runs with the starting fluid, it says you're getting spark, air and compression. Or at least in my thoughts.

Have you checked that the fuel is actually making it to the venturi from the float bowl? Could be as simple as a stuck float valve, to some grit. I'm not an SU expert by any means but if it runs with the starter fluid but not on the gas in the SU's, that to me would be the first place to check.

2¢

E

[rdefabri]

Enrique,

No - I haven't checked that. I just checked again, I had the car running as long as I kept spraying the starter fluid, so even my thought of loss compression is debunked by that.

So if fuel is getting all the way to the float bowls, then I suppose it's possible it's not actually getting to the venturi/combustion chamber. I can actually lift the piston, so I am assuming that if fuel is getting through, it should be getting to the venturi - could it be a clogged jet?

[MikeW]

It's odd to me that both carbs would get clogged at exactly the same time. The engine will actually run (terribly) on only 3 cylinders. My vote is something upstream. By far the most likely candidate is a clogged fuel filter. Mine gets clogged frequently due to rust debris in the tank. I know you said that the carbs are getting plenty of fuel but unless you took the float bowl covers off I'm not sure how you know that.

[rdefabri]

Took the float bowl covers off - there's fuel there. I've checked the fuel filter, looks clear, although that's just a visual. I did not take the fuel filter off.

Since it's definitely not getting fuel, and there's fuel in the float bowls, it must be something related to the carbs. I am not an SU expert, but they are similar to the CV carbs I had on my Harleys, and I rebuilt quite a few of those. Since there's fuel in the bowl, then it would mean that the needle wasn't lifting from the jet to let fuel in or there's a clog somewhere.

I do agree with you though, the likelihood that both are clogged is slim, and since I could only spray ether into one carb at a time (and the car STILL ran), it would support what your comment about running on 3 cylinders - it may be crap, but it should still run (or at least cough/sputter when starting.

Very frustrating, I can't pinpoint it and I am sure everything up through the carbs is fine. I've got spark, I've got gas in the bowls, I can turn it over on ether, there's full charge to the battery. Same thing happened to me last year, and I couldn't start the car for the rest of the summer....

[MikeW]

Ok, if there's fuel in the bowls then that hopefully eliminates the filter, the banjo filters on the carbs themselves, and the check valves that the floats operate.

I'd next carefully remove the rubber hoses from the bottom of the bowls and make sure they're not clogged/cracked/disintegrating.