Petrol engine won't run / start?

Great thread....hope it has a happy ending.
CLUNK......CHUG.......CHUG....... VRROOOOOOM!
Just to remind you of what it will sound like!
 
SHUG said:
Great thread....hope it has a happy ending.
CLUNK......CHUG.......CHUG....... VRROOOOOOM!
Just to remind you of what it will sound like!
Click to expand...

After the day of it today, I'm sure that I'll be deaf first!
Tomorrow, I should be able to put the brush springs into the starter motor when they arrive, and refit it. Today however, I just don't get it? The sparks are 'big and blue', at around about the right time in the cycle to cause 'a good effect', (any effect really). The fuel does get there, the carb's been apart again and no fault found. I even renewed the gasket to ensure that no air was getting in behind the carb.
At present I'm revising my logic process and drinking some (a lot of) good red wine to lubricate the grey matter.
Nothing can go wrong now!
Cheers also for the suggestions and tacit support during this issue. :encouragement:
 
I gave up trying to buy ignition stuff in a face to face situation.
Try this lot http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Green-Spark-Plug-Co?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

When you say the carb is OK, have you considered an air leak? I had a Harley with the original brass carb which was a nightmare to start. I suspected the spindle bushes were knackered. I made a new manifold and fitted an SU carb. What a transformation!
 
Cheers for the info. On Tuesday I made a new manifold gasket actually and checked for any possible leaks, but to no avail on the hand cranking efforts. Yesterday, I received some replacement brush springs for the starter motor, and have fitted those. The starter appears to 'buzz out' OK, but I'll find out for sure when I fit it later on today.
A guy who has the boat next to mine at Inverness marina was telling me that with such a low compression engine, it would take relatively high revs to get it to start. I've only ever had 2 stroke, or fairly high compression motor cycle engines, thus have no direct knowledge of a low compression, side valve engine. Indeed, I suspect that I'd have to find a fairly geriatric, domino player at a local bar to get the full drift!
 
Last edited:
I told you the other week put some oil in both cylinders to give it false compression it is likely the rings wont be able to give a decent compression but once running they might
after that consider adding two stroke oil to the fuel which will help, after a while the rings should wear in
their just ( LAZY RINGS )
 
Yup, indeed you did and I'll certainly do that once I've got the starter refitted. I'm quite cautious about doing that for some reason, and want to have the engine turning over in the normal way off of a switch. By the end of today, it'll either be running or not. If it's not trying to start fairly swiftly after the starter's refitted, I'll do the oil thing into the cylinders. If the starter doesn't work, then I'll do the oil thing immediately.
Many thanks.
 
"A guy on the boat next to me" always raises alarm bells. Like any advice, assess it for bullshit.
Cars often relied on starting handles and motor bikes used kickstarts for years when sidevalve engines and low compression ratios were common.
 
I agree on all of the above! In fact, with your trials cars, did they have a starter motor, or was it removed for weight?
 
Oooo no. It was a Suzuki 1600 OHC engine and we started and stopped the engine probably .... 100 times per event. Couldn't manage without a starter. Did have a lightweight alternator though.
 
jamie N said:
Yup, indeed you did and I'll certainly do that once I've got the starter refitted. I'm quite cautious about doing that for some reason, and want to have the engine turning over in the normal way off of a switch. By the end of today, it'll either be running or not. If it's not trying to start fairly swiftly after the starter's refitted, I'll do the oil thing into the cylinders. If the starter doesn't work, then I'll do the oil thing immediately.
Many thanks.
Click to expand...

It might well be worth having a compression test, particularly on the back cylinder. The exhaust valves are prone to sticking or rusting partly because the water injection (at least on the Albin I worked on) is too close to the exhaust manifold. When that engine was running well it started instantly with the Dynastart or by hand.
 
Thanks for the info. Did fit the starter motor, engine didn't start and I had to stop there and then, as I'm on my way for a quick trip over to Germany. I'll get it running on my return though.

Probably.
 
Back in the UK on Friday, having fleeced the German Wind industry out of a heavily subsidised amount. I'm now going into the issue with a far better understanding of what I'm going to do, and why it needs to be done. Nothing too complicated either, after all, it's just getting the fuel and air and spark in the same place at the same time with compression.
Plan B though, is to not bu88er around past Tuesday, as if it's not working then, we'll be fitting a small outboard bracket from the Folkboat,...er, folks, and running a borrowed Seagull.
I do hasten to add that it's for marina ingress-egress only, and the Seagull is a reliable item rebuilt by an engineering pedant.
After one of these 2 plans has proven successful, then it's any amount of beer etc.etc...!
 
In your position, at this stage, I would chuck a bottle cap of neat petrol in the carb throat and see if it starts and runs for a few seconds.
If it does, concentrate on the fuel supply as it would seem the ignition side is doing it's bit. Yes it may be breaking down after a while, but until you know you have your fuel supply working you can't eliminate one issue.
 
The magneto has an impulse mechanism which is a spring loaded device to accelerate the spark which makes the timing more complex.ie done whilst turning the engine backwards
The valves are subject to sticking so neat redex squirted down the guides is essential to adjust the valves it requires grinding the stems
As a bit of lateral thinking try the albin owners association
There is also albinmotor.com
 
Last edited:
Niander said:
Hi Jamie you got the starter motor fixed yet?
Click to expand...
Yup, I've nearly fixed it! Daftly, I fitted the 'retractor' which withdraws the motor poorly, so I've got to redo that, but the motor itself is fine.
scottie said:
The magneto has an impulse mechanism which is a spring loaded device to accelerate the spark which makes the timing more complex.ie done whilst turning the engine backwards
The valves are subject to sticking so neat redex squirted down the guides is essential to adjust the valves it requires grinding the stems
As a bit of lateral thinking try the albin owners association
There is also albinmotor.com
Click to expand...
The valve move well, and there appears to be good compression to indicate that the valves aren't sticking. The Albin association does have lots of spares and info indeed!

Lakesailor said:
In your position, at this stage, I would chuck a bottle cap of neat petrol in the carb throat and see if it starts and runs for a few seconds.
If it does, concentrate on the fuel supply as it would seem the ignition side is doing it's bit. Yes it may be breaking down after a while, but until you know you have your fuel supply working you can't eliminate one issue.
Click to expand...
There's been fuel there certainly during the process thus far, and the float's working. The fact that the fuel's been there does lead me to still believe that I've been setting the timing incorrectly. There don't appear to be any timing marks per-se for the magneto, only on the flywheel, which does match what the manual says. I'm almost certain that it's the magneto units position that I've made a nonsense of, and will concentrate on that, as well as putting some oil down to possibly froo the rings.
As a contingency though, I've (even) warned my wife that we may have an extra motor in the family. This with the bravery of being on a ship in Germany though!
 
jamie N said:
There's been fuel there certainly during the process thus far, and the float's working. The fact that the fuel's been there does lead me to still believe that I've been setting the timing incorrectly. There don't appear to be any timing marks per-se for the magneto, only on the flywheel, which does match what the manual says. I'm almost certain that it's the magneto units position that I've made a nonsense of, and will concentrate on that, as well as putting some oil down to possibly froo the rings.
As a contingency though, I've (even) warned my wife that we may have an extra motor in the family. This with the bravery of being on a ship in Germany though!
Click to expand...
Takes a moment. Could save hours.
 
Over the last 50 off years of messing about in boats (or should that be boating around in a mess) the one lesson I learned very early on was that to start a stubborn engine you should adopt the following.

1 Get a pair of heat resistant gloves

2 Heat spark plugs gaps over the cooker flame

3 Put a small teaspoon of petrol in each cylinder

4 Bang in the plugs asap

5 Try to start immediately

Always worked for me on outboards, lawnmowers, inboards, generators, 2 strokes, 4 strokes. Just watch any safety issues of having neat petrol in the cockpit and naked flames in the galley. I use a syringe to squirt the petrol into the cylinder thereby minimizing the total quantity of petrol sloshing about.

Good luck.
 
Hi, heating the head/cylinder area with a hot air gun was also part of the plan actually, great minds and all of that!
I'll resume later, cheers,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top