Hi guys,,,

Last night I went to check a possible buy.

As I told you before, down here in Argentina, sevens are rare and far between.

Anyways, this gold FB was in pretty good shape (outside).

Was sitting for a couple of months, the owner plugged the batery, cranked... nothing.
It turns, but does not start.

He takes out the filter and pours some gas on top of the carburator. After many tries, the car starts in a cloud of really white smoke (white as in "you can see through" white).

It runs for a couple of minutes at about 1500 rpm and it dies.

No start again...

We push it and it starts right away (weird). It idles the same way, but almost no smoke. He accelerates in first gear and white smoke again.

we drive around the block a couple of times, the car idles fine, but sometimes the needle jumps a little (why is that?).

We stop, and there´s no way to get it to start normally again.

What happens to this car???

The guy says previously worked fine (do you guys trust him?)

He said he will go to the mechanic and then will gimme a call.

Im so sad, I was about to be a 7 ownwer.



Any info would be great, as I said before, I have no first hand experience with sevens so...

Thanks in advance guys!

 

Be careful about the white smoke. It can mean a bad coolant seal. The fact it was sitting can be why it was hard to start. The carbs dont like to sit in old fuel for a long time, the floats tend to stick. Have a compression test done, and make sure the pressure isint going into the radiator.

 

I had a similar problem with mine, that a carb rebuild remedied...

 

too much oil in the mix?

 

There is no oil mix. The problem could be fuel pump or the carb, it sounds like its not getting enough gas.

 

around the block worked just fine, I have no idea how much gas it needs to start

why so much smoke???

 

The white smoke may be from running too rich. One symptom I encountered was a gas soaked spark plug. Another was a steady dripping of gas into the carb when you turned the ignition on...

Take RX7Carl's advice on the compression check.

Just some ideas, hope they help.

 

A question: When you revved the car, did it run well and hold the RPM's? If so - again it may be running too rich. When the car revs, it can burn the excess fuel...

 

Yes it did, it launched in first quite well....

Everything helps guys, really, thank you.

I feel I´ve read a lot.... but does not help when you have the car in front of you for the first time...

 

White smoke = water (coolant leak)
Blue smoke = oil
Smoke that smells like gas = too rich


Hope that helps.

 

Coolant leak might be the reason it does not start unless pushing it?

 

Thats a possibility. More probable is low compression.

 

apex seals? side seals?

or might be just coolant on the sparks?

 

Could be low from worn seals or a blown water seal. Whats the milage on the car?

 

I didnt checked at the moment.

I might get the car anyways....

 

Could also be a coolant o-ring problem in the intake manifold...

They circulate coolant in the intake to warm it up in cold temperatures. This makes sure fuel vapor doesn't condense on it.

Remove a spark plug and check for coolant. A compression test will tell whether it's coming from the water jacket or intake.

Also check the coolant at the radiator. Smell it and see if it smells like exhaust or fuel.

 

dammit.

I knew that one and forgot about it

Thanks man, I´ll do it

 

couldn't it just be moisture in the exhaust from sitting for so long? Mine sat for 2 years smoked bad after running for a bit it cleared right up and hasn't had any problem, it sits a week before i start it again to work on it and runs fine.