Series IIa petrol 2.25 non starter...

Long time since I've been on here... hoping you guys could help me out again!

The girlfriends father has a Series IIa, it's been dropped off by the mechanic and it won't start since!

The mechanic has put a new dizzy cap in and by looks of it a new coil. He thinks it needs a new carb but isn't sure (I'm not sure he's confident around carbs).

The battery was absolutely shot anyway. Was reading 16v even though it wasn't holding charge and had no power behind it.

In goes a new battery and she actually fires up, albeit only for a few seconds, splutters and dies again. It does this a few times. This was with a little gas on the throttle and choke out.

We try to start it with no gas on the throttle and choke out. Starts up again, a bit smoother but then dies for the last time.

Hasn't even tried to fire since. Just keeps turning and turning. Throttle or no throttle now.

Petrol pressure is grand, plenty of pressure there. The main jet is fine, you can see it squirting when the throttle is manually operated.

Spark plugs are absolutely black, not quite sure what that means, I would have thought over-fuelling but we've hardly had it running.

I've adjusted the idle and mixture screws a few turns both ways just for a play to no avail.

I've a feeling the idle jet might be blocked (it's a weber single carb btw).

If anyone can add their two cents I'd be very grateful!

Air filter blocked? Old stale petrol? Float leaking?
Drain the the carb and see if there's anything unwelcome in the fuel.

Try getting running with fresh petrol directly in to the carb and see it it goes for more than a few seconds.

SpringDon said:

Air filter blocked? Old stale petrol? Float leaking?
Drain the the carb and see if there's anything unwelcome in the fuel.

Try getting running with fresh petrol directly in to the carb and see it it goes for more than a few seconds.

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Thanks for the reply,

Tried starting with air filter on and off, no luck either way.
Petrol is fresh.

Not had the float open yet, have to familiarise myself with the weber carb first.

I'm not too sure how much petrol you mean to put into the top of the carb, but I've given a few squirts from the top jet by the throttle and no luck. Do you mean trying a cap full or something?

Usually use a squirty bottle but if you're absolutely sure petrol is fresh then it probably won't help.
Are you sure the timing is right? (after new distributor) or even that there's a spark at all plugs?

as above, check the sparks. did he change the points and condenser when doing the cap an coil. new coil might have finished a worn set.

has he deffo wired the coil in correctly.

SpringDon said:

Usually use a squirty bottle but if you're absolutely sure petrol is fresh then it probably won't help.
Are you sure the timing is right? (after new distributor) or even that there's a spark at all plugs?

Click to expand...

If I'm honest I'm not sure how to check the timing... don't have a haynes manual for it or a timing light. All the 'how tos' I've seen online either have no pics or lose me a bit.

Mind you... if the timing was wrong it wouldn't have started and then cut out when we first got the new battery in?

I'm going to clean the plugs up (dry fouled) when I go back later on and see if that makes a difference.

trax said:

as above, check the sparks. did he change the points and condenser when doing the cap an coil. new coil might have finished a worn set.

has he deffo wired the coil in correctly.

Click to expand...

Not sure if points and condenser was changed, will take the dizzy cap off and investigate.

If the condenser was gone, that would stop voltage going to the HT leads? HT leads had a good voltage on the multimeter.

Yeah, check for spark - more non running engines come down to electrical issues than fuel or mechanics in my experience. Make sure the gap is correct then check the timing. The old petrol 2.25 will fire up over quite a range of timing but it won't happily run. There's plenty of links on this site to the official Land Rover manual and I'm sure there's some utube videos on setting up olde worlde dizzies.

freebiker said:

Not sure if points and condenser was changed, will take the dizzy cap off and investigate.

If the condenser was gone, that would stop voltage going to the HT leads? HT leads had a good voltage on the multimeter.

Click to expand...

it produces a stronger spark, also some other gubbuns i'm a bit vague on

Yes, condenser can stop spark. What function on the multimeter were you using? It's usually harder to measure ht on a standard multimeter.

Measured the HT's with multimeter set to DC with the engine cranking to check for the correct fluctuations.

Not an expert but I'm not sure that will tell you any thing of value. So it sounds like sparks might be good thing to check.

tbh, points and condenser are only a few quid, and wear. i'd just buy a set and test. if it doesn't fix it, then store em for when the current ones wear out.

or upgrade to leccy ones

SpringDon said:

Not an expert but I'm not sure that will tell you any thing of value. So it sounds like sparks might be good thing to check.

Click to expand...

Cleaned up the plugs all nice and shiny tonight, put them onto the HT leads and tested one by one for sparks... all were sparking nice and strong.

Tried a capfull of petrol directly into the carb and nothing. Not even a splutter.

I've taken the carb off, checked everything on it, no **** in the float and the float isn't sticking, neither is the other springy thing on top (above the float).

Sprayed a ton of GT85 through all channels and all seem to be blockage free (enough that I sprayed myself in the eye through one of the jets!).

Will refit the carb in the morning but I'm not sure if it will make any difference.

After cleaning the plugs and cranking the engine, was there petrol on the plugs?
If there's a good spark and petrol getting to the plug, pouring petrol direct into the inlet tract will get a splutter even if the timing is way out.

So...could the battery be weak meaning it might not spark under compression?
Can you check the compression? Seems unlikely but if theres a spark and fuel, something should be happening. It's not rocket surgery.

Running out of suggestions now. What was it given to the mechanic for? Odds are its related to that.
More improbably - could the valve timing have slipped? Do the tappets have clearance? Got to be something pretty fundemental.

(wouldn't use gt85 to clean a carb. Definitely wouldn't squirt it in my eye. What were you thinking? Use optrex like a normal person)

Would be worth finding out exactly what your mechanic did. Big fat spark is a good sign. Here's a thought - you've been checking the HT leads - are they back on in the right order? not forgetting the dizzy goes anticlockwise. Done that myself. The order I believe is cast into the manifold if you cant remember it (I can't).

So the carb goes back on this morning, same as before. Turns over but won't even attempt to fire.

Took a plug out an there's definitely petrol on it, so petrols getting to the plugs fine.

HT leads are in the right order anti clockwise.

Still not checked timing or the points but would have though with a spark points would be ok, and even if timing was out a little it'd still attempt?

Spark means pionts are opening and probably the condenser is ok but it doesn't tell you how strong the spark is or whether timing is ok.
However even if the timing was 180 out, you should get a pop occasionally.
As there is petrol on the plugs, I would perservere was the ignition side particularly as the mechanic was delving in there.

Afraid youve reached the swapping things out and see if any thing changes. Condenser, timing, points gap etc.
Still worth checking compression.
Can't really think of anything else.

I would mark your current distributor position then loosen clamp and try turning it a fraction each way and see if it improves.
Maybe the advance retard weights under the points are seizing and have stuck out, long time since I messed with a petrol but easy enough to rotate dizzy a little to check.
Could also be plugs failing under pressure do you have any others to try instead..