electrical and ignition non starting M10 engine

[Robberrick]

Really starting to get annoyed now.

I recently rebuilt an M10 engine with an E12 head.

Rebored block, oversize piano top pistons and rings(.5mm), new bearings, oil pump. water pump, machined head, polished combustion chambers, ground valve seats, replaced valve seals, pressure tested head.

Originally installed 40DCOE Webers but could not get engine to idle at all.

Changed back to original Solex 40 PDSI carb and now the engine will not start at all.

Checked that cam mark aligns with sprocket and that no 1 piston is at TDC, both camshaft lobes point down and inlet and exhaust are shut.

Mark on flywheel and pointer on front of engine lines up with pulley.

Set dizzy so that at TDC rotor points to no 1 plug lead on cap, points are open and plug leads are positioned for 1342 firing order.

Checked fuel supply.

Will crank but not fire.

Any ideas please.

[Mike Self]

Sounds like you have everything set correctly.  Did you check for spark?  Start at the plugs and work back towards the distributor.  

 

mike

[Buckeye]

From what I can see in your picture, I think plug leads on the cap that are marked 1,2, 3 & 4  are retard by one position in clockwise direction. The notch in the lip of dizzy body, which rotor pointed when engine is at #1 TDC is to the left of advance vacuum. That is my 2 cents, but I also like to see picture posted with dizzy cap off and seeing that notch on the dizzy and the the rotor at #1 @ TDC

[Robberrick]

Thanks Guys,

Just to verify my timing settings I have added some photo's:

 

1. TDC Front pulley mark in line with pointer on engine- piston at TDC no 1

2. TDC mark on flywheel shown in inspection hole in transmission housing - piston at TDC no 1

 

3. rotor position in line with mark on distributor housing at TDC and in line with dizzy cap no 1 terminal - points open and plug leads set for firing order 1342. Cap fits in position as shown with no 1 in line with rotor

 

.

other info:

distributor Bosch PN 0231180005

battery CCA 500 RC 90 charged to 13 Volts - seems to labour but could be because engine is still tight

Do you think I need to advance or retard? I can tune with timing light once I get the beast started.

[Stevenc22]

Move the distributor 5, 10 15 degrees one direction, if nothing happens. move it back to 0 and then move it -5, -10, -15 degrees the other way. a few degrees on a distributor can make a world of difference.

[achman]

How new is the battery? What amps are you getting when you crank the engine?

 

If that checks out, I would have a friend crank it while you turn the dizzy slightly and see if you can get it to sputter.

[Buckeye]

Check and verify yours with rev limiting rotor picture (3rd pic) in the following link.

 

Edited April 13, 2016 by Buckeye

[Robberrick]

OK I have established that there is spark at plugs.

Waiting now for my son to visit on the weekend so that I can get him to help me activate the starter while I play with the dizzy adjustment.

I have ordered Pirtronix ignition and coil and new leads to boost spark.

Failing this I am going to slit my wrists.

 

 

[Robberrick]

The engine started after turning distributor clockwise so that ball on flywheel centralizes in window in transmission tunnel. Engine ran for 5 mins and stopped.

Now it will not start again. No spark now at plugs. So I am checking all parts now.

Bosch Distributor P/N is 0231 180 005

Distributor cap P/N is 1235 522 058 - this is a new cap, the old cap had P/N 1235 522 107 (distributor caps look exactly the same)

Could it be the condensor that has failed?

[Robberrick]

On 4/13/2016 at 1:03 PM, achman said:

How new is the battery? What amps are you getting when you crank the engine?

 

If that checks out, I would have a friend crank it while you turn the dizzy slightly and see if you can get it to sputter.

I put 2 x 12V batteries in series allowing the engine to crank rapidly and moved the dizzy clockwise about 10 degrees and it fired, ran for 5 mins and then died.

Now it will not start again. Checked that electric fuel pump was working and that there was plenty of fuel in the carburettor. It appears that I now have no spark.

Could it be an ignition switch problem? 

[Beaner7102]

Roberrick, I would not series 2 batteries, you will fry your 45yo electrics with 24v.

Yes you could have killed the condenser, you can run without one, the points will just get eaten quicker, but not this side of Christmas.

What is your spark plug gap? Are they clean (all the fuel and cranking I'm sure they are fouled). Check and recheck the basics, you will get there.

Beaner7102

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Robberrick said:

I put 2 x 12V batteries in series

Wow that's brave, not necessarily smart. Could have fried coil too. And certainly the Pertronix but gladly you didn't have that connected yet.

But it sounds that your engine is mechanically good if it ran ok for that 5 mins. So that's good news. Just get the ignition sorted and then the Webers dialed in by someone qualified. 

[Robberrick]

Ok Guys i used the wrong terminology. I should have said 2 x 12V batteries in paralell.

 

Anyway I solved the no start problem by:

renewing plugs with NGK BP 6ES

replacing standard points and condenser with Pertronix ignitor and 40,000V coil

This gave me a good spark and she fired first time once I had reset timing again.

Quite happy to run it with the standard Solex carb for awhile before uprating engine to fast street and refitting Weber carbs.

[Hans]

be careful qaboutr changing too many things before establishing problem. You can rough in timing using the test lamp method to get it started and then set properly.. Do you have a timing light?