If you question that enough fuel is getting into/through the carbs then you can
try spraying starter fluid into the carb while someone else turns it over. If
you have spark at the right time and compression (which you should because you
did a month ago) then the ether will ignite. If it does fire up then you do
have some sort of fuel delivery problem, or it is butt stinking cold and your
car doesn't want to start some coaxing with the starter fluid should get it
warm enough to run. Don't forget that the '71 has a manual choke... My '70
won't start when it is cold without the choke.
If it won't start with the ether, then you don't have any compression
(shouldn't take much with the "fire in a can.") or your spark is really off
(even a then with ether you would expect a sputter or two) or you have no spark.
It only take three things for these cars to start when it is warm: fuel/air
mixture, spark and compression.
For my car, when it is cold I have to choke as well.
You mentioned -20 degrees earlier, if you meant it then you will probably need
starter fluid to get it to fire at all.
On my B a DPO put the distributor on 180 out, I took all the wires off and
replaced them with new ones according to the book. (That didn't work, and I
had not moved the distributor.)
On Sat, 22 Jan 2000, Craig D. Niederst wrote:
> Just wanted to thank everyone on the list for all of their responses with
> BTDT's and items to check. A couple of listers did mention correctly that
> the car did run as late as the end of December (when I took it for a short
> little test run). Now a timing question. If the car was running a month ago
> (meaning the timing had to be OK), and nothing was done to the car since,
> how could the timing change? I'd think the distributor itself would need to
> be moved for the timing to be thrown off a lot. I replaced the plugs (even
> though the old ones did show spark and looked OK but a little black) and
> also the fuel filter (preventative maintenance just in case more crap from
> the tank gets into the fuel line). When I crank the car, oil pressure does
> build up fine (according to the gauge). Inside of the distributor cap is
> clean and does not show signs of cracking or excessive wear (but I will be
> replacing that too when the parts arrive). Plug wires also look OK for now
> (will be replaced too). But I am starting to think my problem maybe not
> ignition related (I did confirm spark at all 4 cylinders). Any way to check
> easily if the carbs are clogged with gas tank debris? I do have a Haynes
> manual, but there is not a good description or diagram on how to do this. I
> know I have fuel to the carbs, and have smelled fuel on the plugs when I
> pulled them (new and old plugs). So basically I am still stumped. BTW, if
> anyone out there has a unusable old distributor lying around and would like
> to sell me one of those 2 clips that hold the cap on, please let me know (my
> cap is missing one, and a wire tie is not a long term solution!). TIA.
>
> Craig
> '71 B
> http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/niederst/71MGB/71MGB.htm
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Craig D. Niederst <niederst@telerama.com>
> To: MG List <mgs@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2000 6:13 PM
> Subject: '71 B, still no start
>
>
> > Well, still cannot get the B started. I thought before that It may have
> been
> > something in the distributor (only had spark at #2), but after a little
> > cleaning I now have spark at all cylinders. One thing I did notice about
> the
> > distributor is that the lower of the 2 clips that hold the cap on is gone
> > (thus why there was a wire tie holding the assembly together put there by
> > the DPO). Any way to fix this (without buying a whole new distributor)? I
> > have already verified that I get fuel to the carbs. I am currently at a
> loss
> > on why the car will not turn over. It cranks fine, just will not start,
> > sputter, etc. I was thinking that the carbs could possibly be dirty and
> > blocked from old gas, etc. I did pull the fuel line from the carbs and
> > allowed the fuel pump to pump about 1 liter of gas out of the system
> before
> > trying to start the car. The first few squirts were a bit dirty, but it
> was
> > clean after that. But who knows if the DPO tried to start the car and may
> > have let some of the dirty gas into the carbs. When I pulled the plugs
> after
> > a little cranking, they all did smell of gas (so it looks like gas is
> > getting to the combustion chambers). Any ideas on where to look next? TIA.
> >
> > Craig
> > '71 B (still in the street and covered in snow)
> >
>
>
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