Tricia,
IF you have spark and IF you know the battery is good (how are you
testing it, btw?) but the engine is not "turning over", the starter
is shot, the starter is not engaging the flywheel ring correctly
(could be jammed on), or the wiring to the starter is not complete
anymore. The first thing I'd do is try rocking the car back and forth
in gear in case the starter is stuck. If that doesn't work, then I'd
take out all 4 spark plugs, put the transmission in neutral, then try
spinning the starter either by using the ignition key or by using the
button switch that sits just in front of the passenger side of the
heater box (assuming your car has one of these). If the starter does
not whir away AND you know the battery is fully charged (again, how
are you testing this?), then there is a problem as noted above.
Now, since you tell me that you get spark, I assume that in fact the
engine is turning over, else how would you test for spark? So there's
a little confusion here. Please detail to us how you're checking for
spark and how you know the battery is good. Also, please describe
exaclty what you mean when you say that:
>It sounded earlier like it was going to... Now ...it's... colder
>it's just not turning over.
IF you have spark AND the starter is spinning merrily AND the battery
is fully charged, then there's only two other things that can be
wrong - no fuel or bad timing of the spark.
For fuel, unscrew the cover the float bowls and look inside. They
should have fuel in them. If not, you either are out of gas (it
happens to us all), there is blockage of the fuel line, or the fuel
pump is kaput and/or not getting power (do you have a mechanical or
electric fuel pump? Mechanical is stock on the Bugeye, I think).
You potentially have time to get this fixed tonight, but we'll need
more info. More info may help us help you. What is the history of
this car? Was it running yesterday but not today? When it last ran,
how was it running? Get back to us asap and maybe we can get you to
over the hill and through the woods to Grandmother's house on time.
Or nearly so.
Jeff
>HELP!!!
>
>I'm supposed to leave tomorrow for a weekend trip in the mountains, providing
>it doesn't snow too much. I'm taking the Honda (sorry Frank) but I've
>promised my Grandmother a ride in the Sprite on Christmas, but I can't get it
>to turn over. It sounded earlier like it was going to, but I didn't have the
>time to try and try, as I was almost late to work. Now that I'm home and it's
>dark, and colder it's just not turning over. I spent about 20 minutes trying,
>and checking everything I know to do, check the battery, which is fine, check
>the spark, which is fine. Well that's about all I know how to do. What else
>can I do? I'd like to get it started before I leave (tomorrow morning) so
>that it doesn't have to sit for 3 more days (she hasn't been started in 2)
>without being started.
>
>TIA
>
>Patricia
>'59 Bugeye
--
__________________________________________________
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Assistant Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
<http://www.molvis.org/molvis>
<mailto: jboatri@emory.edu>
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