Chevy 350 won't start-ideas?
Discussion
Hello chaps, wondering if you can help as I'm currently racking my brains.
My Dad has a 1964 Chevy C10 with a 350 small block in, I would guess the engine itself is mid to late 80s. It's always run well, but over the last year has needed a drop of brake cleaner etc to catch when starting as the accelerator pumps appeared to have stopped working.
Anyway he has replaced the carburettor with a replacement, new gasket etc and it started instantly and ran perfectly, up to temp for about 5 minutes as the idle speed was adjusted down etc.
2 days later having changed nothing, we tried to start it and it absolutely would not have it, it doesn't even try to fire. We have plenty of fuel going into the manifold on pumping the throttle, a fat blue spark at all the plugs, and good compression (on the 3 pots I've tested so far). I've tried starting fluid and again nothing. I tried having the exhaust downpipes off to ensure no heater flap stuck closed etc, with the rocker covers off all valves appear to be moving up and down nicely.
I've double checked the firing order too and that's correct. As of yet I haven't had the distributor cap off which I think is worth it. Interestingly every single plug I've taken out has been bone dry after cranking, and the exhaust doesn't smell at all 'fuelly' after trying to start it, despite fuel literally pooling in the inlet manifold trying to start it.
Any further ideas would be much appreciated, I also wondered has it possibly slipped its timing chain.
Many thanks, Lew
My Dad has a 1964 Chevy C10 with a 350 small block in, I would guess the engine itself is mid to late 80s. It's always run well, but over the last year has needed a drop of brake cleaner etc to catch when starting as the accelerator pumps appeared to have stopped working.
Anyway he has replaced the carburettor with a replacement, new gasket etc and it started instantly and ran perfectly, up to temp for about 5 minutes as the idle speed was adjusted down etc.
2 days later having changed nothing, we tried to start it and it absolutely would not have it, it doesn't even try to fire. We have plenty of fuel going into the manifold on pumping the throttle, a fat blue spark at all the plugs, and good compression (on the 3 pots I've tested so far). I've tried starting fluid and again nothing. I tried having the exhaust downpipes off to ensure no heater flap stuck closed etc, with the rocker covers off all valves appear to be moving up and down nicely.
I've double checked the firing order too and that's correct. As of yet I haven't had the distributor cap off which I think is worth it. Interestingly every single plug I've taken out has been bone dry after cranking, and the exhaust doesn't smell at all 'fuelly' after trying to start it, despite fuel literally pooling in the inlet manifold trying to start it.
Any further ideas would be much appreciated, I also wondered has it possibly slipped its timing chain.
Many thanks, Lew
Has the car got a mechanical fuel pump? - the ethanol content of our fuel on existing carb and fuel can/will damage some of the components (reduced flow from pump diaphragm). If you'd have stripped the old carb apart I'm sure you'd have found loads of sediment etc. Holley's supposedly re-usable 'blue' gaskets at one time would break-up causing all sorts of havoc in the carb.
Morning all, thanks for your replies, I should have mentioned that it's running electric fuel pump, and was originally on a Rochester Quadrajet. With the new carb it is absolutely squirting fuel into the intake on a couple of pumps of the pedal before cranking. I cannot fathom why every plug seems dry, I would have thought even if say the timing was somehow out it'd still cough and splutter. I'd say across 8 cranking attempts it fired maybe once or twice. Really bizarre considering they'll normally run no matter what
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