wel my 79 rex still isnt starting, not sure why now, i thoughti had it all figured. Heres what i have done so far:

removed carb and cleaned up
tested fuel pump
replaced plugs and plug wires
tested for spark, got spark
set timing

It has both gas and spark, turns over nicely but just wont crank. I blew out the fuel lines with an air hose, replaced fuel filter, i took the pump off and tested its pumping capacity, all checked out ok. The car will not start on starting fluid even.

Any ideas?

 

this may sound stupid ...make sure you have gas....is gas being pumped to the carb?? always try the "stupid" things first... If I can think of anything else, I will will comment..good luck.....cjf

 

Hmm, you've got fuel, you've got spark.

Other things to check:

1. Timing. Is the spark happening at the right time? Has your dizzy been off or anything?
2. Compression: when you crank, do you get strong, even, alternating, pulses from each rotor? If one rotor is missing a pulse, you've got rebuild...
3. Vacuum leaks. This is a potential cause, but if it won't start on fluid, I doubt it.

 

gas is being pumped into the carb yes, also it doesnt start on starting fluid, this should make the car run, or at least start regardless of gas, right?

 

the distributer has been off yes, and i replaced the points myself, gapping it. I followed the haynes setup of reinstalling the distributer and setting the timing. When the car turns over, there are equal pulses, and with the plugs out makes the correct "whoosh whoosh" sounds, although i have not had a compression tester on it, but it does sound solid, and even.

 

I think Feds probably had it right. Go back to the beginning and double check everything starting with the points and finishing with the timing. I've seen a lot of threads on timing issues, so I get the impression that once you mess it up it can be tricky to get it right again.

Do a search for top dead center (or tdc) and make sure that everything is lining up correctly when you are at tdc... Good luck.

 

if you spray starter fluid, it should start....hmmmm this is a tough on for sure. The only other thing I would check is the compression. I think you said it was good ..you sure??

 

Welp, if he didn't get it fired right off the bat, it sounds like he has flooded the beast....pull the plugs to see if they're soaked...if they are, you need to pull all the threads on starting a flooded rotary...my favorite is Gumout Carb Cleaner in lieu of starting fluid....

 

You sound experienced, so I know that you have the battery fully charged. Push starting is one other thing you can try. All the batteries power is availiable for ignition, and the rotors are spinning fast enough that centrifical is pressing the seals against the housing. Never tried it though.

I never had luck with ether starting fluid either. It did make me feel better though. What worked for me was pouring dry gas (menthanol or ethanol at least 97%) straight down the carb for about two seconds. Disconnect the OMP lines and the fuel lines (prevent flooding) and electricity to the fuel pump temporarily (remove fuel pump fuse).

Check it is actuall the spark plugs that are firing by laying the plugs still attached to the distributor across the body and crank. Red insulator ceramic means gas starvation. Plugs fouling can be a factor (despite their firing). This really threw me off. I found this out by replacing the leading 6 month old fouled plugs with some old plugs that had 100,000 miles on them.

If you lost the timing mark (like me) try finding it buy trying to start , but have only 0ne plug attached. It healthiest response points to the finding the TDC location on the distributor for THAT rotor. This lessens the risk of damaging a rotor or seal.

 

Well if you have spark and even if you have set your points incorrectly it would still
fire but run rough. Just pour a small amount of fuel into the carb, pull your choke out and crank it seeif it fires then report.

 

Check for flooding.... and try to push start it.

 

Update? "Orin" is he searching for a cheap V8 now??