Engine tries to start, but doesnt
 

First problem was a bad igniter, replaced it, now have spark on all plugs. Now it will try to start, then right once you let off the ignition or a couple seconds after it dies. When I crank, the engine gets gas. Took off fuel lines, cranked and gas poured out. We caught the gas into a cup, and then poured the same amount into another cup, the gas from the line is quite a bit lighter than the fresh gas. I poured a bottle of water remover into the tank tonight. Any other ideas on what is keeping it from running right?

Well, if youre getting plenty of gas from the tank, good spark, and good compression, the only thing keeping the gas from getting into the engine is the carb. It may be dirty or clogged or something. Also check your vacuum lines. I had an 85 GSL that would do exactly what you are talking about, it turned out to be a bad vacuum line.

~T.J.

yeah, vacuum lines are a real pain in the @$$. i had the same problem with my 84 -se, replaced some vacuum lines, now it works. . . better. the tough part is finding the leak.

with the engine off, looking down the carb , can u see gas squirting when u press the accelerator?, i had a defective accelerator pump diaphram. did a carb rebuild which has that part , did not remove the carb, adjusted the floats,,,,and all is better now...also had some bad vacuum hoses and check valves.........good luck

Yuh need some magic juice, Buckaroo....
MMO into the plug holes. All that gas into the chambers has eliminated your compression.

Denny,
From the 'ol corncrib....:D

yea, i thought about doing the MMO treatment, but i didnt want to get into that unless someone recommended it as a fix for the problem. Doesnt seem too hard, probably will do it after i get home from soccer practice. Also, if it doesnt work, i'm off school on friday, so i'll have all day to mess with it, any other ideas on the problem?

just wondering, i'm not too good at diagnosis, so would it help you out if i posted a sound of me trying to start the engine?

It seems that the car is flooding itzself... There are two float bowls. There are two windows on the Carb one on the front and one on the back by the firewall. Wipe the front window off and see where the level is at after you have tried starting it. It should only sit about halfway or less. If MMO is Mavel Mystry Oil that will do nothing in you case, that just lubs the fuel system. I would suggest replacing you fuel filter if u have not done so. That does the car a HUGE favor. Keep us posted.

MIke

If its constantly hard to start, if all things are good, you may have fowled spark plugs. This is a annoying problem that many people overlook. Once they get flooded a couple times, they usually get fowled and never start the car easily again. One time I let the car sit all winter and the carb after a long winter of no use was full of sediment but the passages were clear, so it started right away, but then some of the gunk got loose and lodged into one or two of the venturi's. THen it would not start easily let alone run good.

So eventually I took the carb off, THROUGHLY cleaned it with it completely apart to get all gunk out. Then went to start it, and it still would start very hard, but ran fine once it started. Then finally! Changed the spark plugs and started on the first try every time...as long as you pumped the gas a few times and pulled the choke when cold to get it started.

If it was warm, it really doesn't require any thing more then a little gas while cranking it as normal....

I'm doing the MMO treatment right now, it does more than lube the fuel system, it't about the same as ATF, it cleans the engine of any carbon and loosens the springs on the apex seals to restore any compression loss. I'm going to drain it out of the engine tomorrow and try to start it up, i changed the spark plugs, still no start, so i put back in the old ones to do the MMO.