Technical 53 Bel Air won’t start

My 53 bel air with a 235 died while driving awhile back. I initially thought I lost spark since it had the Pertronix igniter installed. Replaced the electronic ignition module and still won’t start.

Put a spark tester in line with a plug wire and it indicates there’s spark. Poured fuel down the throat of the carburetor and it will back fire a little out of the carb but not start.

I’m guess it’s something to do with ignition since it didn’t run with fuel poured into carburetor.

Any suggestions for my next steps?

thanks,
Kyle

 

Is the distributor tight? Can you turn it by hand? Sounds like it may have ended up out of time maybe?

Otherwise, maybe issue with fuel delivery if it has spark?

 

Does it have fibre timing gears ?

they have a tendency to get chewed up .
Check your engine timing

and see if you have fuel coming out of the fuel pump and pushing up to the carb .

what kind of carb are you running ? Fuel pump ? Fuel filter ? Age of fuel system ?

 

Well you need spark, fuel and compression (and everything timed right). You know you have spark and fuel, do you have compression? Could it have jumped time? That would give you low compression across the board.

 

And you need exhaust. Was it running poorly a bit before? I wonder if the muffler came apart inside.

 

The distributor seemed to be tight but I haven’t checked by hand yet.

I have checked for fuel delivery and it is getting fuel from the fuel pump.

 

I’m not sure about the type of timing gears, but I’m ***uming whatever type are stock.

it has a Rochester B carb with the stock mechanical fuel pump. Fuel filter is a gl*** bowl style filter that’s only about a year old. As far as age of fuel system the fuel tank is about 5 years old. Carb has been rebuilt in the last 4 years. Fuel pump has been replaced at least once but not sure when.

 

Yes, the car ran well before this happened. Went to a car show and grocery store before heading back home. Was at a stop light and it idled fine then when starting to move after the light change the engine abruptly shut off. No spit or sputter. Pulled off the road and tried to start and it only backfired out of carb once and then never started after that.

 

How long ago is a while back? Has it been sitting since then? Is it a powerglide car? There are a mul***ude of things it can be. I think you need to give more info and how it ran before it died. Any other changes besides the ignition?

 

So it stopped running at the end of May and has sit since then. I tried troubleshooting a week after it died and then I stepped away from it until now.

Before it died I would drive the car 2 to 3 times a week and it would drive just fine. Yes it’s a power glide car. No other changes besides the ignition.

 

I would start at the beginning. Pull the plugs and see what they look like. Get number one cylinder up on top dead center. Check your rotor and be sure it is pointing to number one wire. You say Pertronics, is it the same distributor or was it swapped out? When you introduce fuel into the carb, don't just pour it in. Use a small amount at a time. Does it have a choke?

 

I pulled the #1 spark plug and it didn’t looked fouled or wet. I haven’t checked at top dead center on the #1 cylinder to see if the rotor points to that spark plug.

When putting fuel into the carburetor I should have worded it differently I used small amounts at a time about an ounce or so.

 

Take a look here....https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/235-cam-gear-fix.1015751/

 

Is the rotor turning when you crank it?

 

I hope it's not this but it happened to my friend in his 52 chevy. Was on the way to Vegas driving about 60 and it just died. Turned out the timing gear broke a bunch of teeth off. Being that you have spark perhaps it broke a tooth or two and is out of time but that's why it's backfiring through the carbon won't start, just thinking out loud

 

My ‘67 ‘Vette did the same thing once. Cruising at 55 mph, stopped at a light and it died. Timing gear was gone.

 

Yes, I checked the rotor and it’s turning.

 

Yeah sounds pretty similar to what happened to me. I wasn’t driving fast but it was very sudden. Sounds like the timing gears to break teeth is more common that I would have imagined.

 

If they're anything like Holden Grey six cylinder engines of similar vintage they had a habit of breaking the fibre cam gear. If it happens at speed it can be disastrous as the pistons go up and down and the valves can still be open on several cylinders so they get punched by the pistons.

 

1. Perform compression test.

2. Perform cranking vacuum test.

There's plenty of online sources that will describe the correct procedures for both tests.

 

I’ll add another vote for timing gear - common on those engines

 

You check timing on a 235 by looking at the BBon the flywheel . There is an inspection hole above the starter .

you could have a stuck valve and no compression on a couple cylinders, would have the same symptoms .

spark at the plugs ?
Fuel getting to the carb ?
Engine timing ?
Ignition timing ?
Compression ?

All this can be checked in under 2 hours and you will know what your issue is and a general health check of your engine .

 

A quick compression test is really going to help. Agree that it might be the timing gear lost some teeth and it is now out of time on both distributor and cam.

The fact that you can turn the engine over is good, sounds like no major collisions between parts. Although you probably should check the pushrods just to make sure none got bent.

 

I’m betting on timing gear. Do what Moriarty said to verify.

 

Having spark vs. having good spark could be the difference between it running or not. I'd check voltage to the ballast resistor and out of it also. I've seen them fail and the spark will be a dull yellow when checked with a screwdriver in the plug wire close to a ground. Some checked very low and still showed as having spark, but wouldn't fire.
I'd also check the coil if the ballast resistor shows as good in and out for voltage.

 

Is it still a 6 volt? Has the engine been rebuilt? 100% of rebuilders I know would have put in an aluminum cam gear.
I’d look to spark and Pertronix if compression is good.

 

When my '53 lost a few cam gear teeth, I verified it by removing the distributor cap and turning the engine over...the rotor just sat there.