Engine Trouble Diagnosis

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Trouble shooting is only a process of elimination and provided the procedure is carried out correctly and systematically an accurate diagnosis of the trouble can be made in the minimum amount of time.

For an internal combustion engine to run there are three basis requirements, these are ignition, fuel and compression. There are other factors of course, but as a rule an engines failure to start can be attributed to a fault in one or more of these three systems.

The most likely cause of an engine wont start issue is an ignition or electrical failure first followed by fuel, with mechanical or compression failure the least common.

Before getting into ignition troubleshooting it is worth checking, is there fuel in the fuel tank? If yes begin the ignition/electrical diagnosis.

To see other Diagnoses pages (Electrical, fuel, etc) search for Diagnoses.

Engine Will Not Start

but cranks normally

possible cause -remedy

(a)dirty or corroded distributor points. -clean or renew and adjust points

(b)carburettor flooding -check needle valve and float, clean out fuel system

(c)moisture on high tension wire and/or inside distributer cap. -dry out high tension wires and cap

(d)dirt or water in carburettor or fuel system. -clean out carburettor and fuel system

(e)incorrectly set spark plug gaps. -reset spark plug gaps to specification

Verify spark is strong enough to jump in the cylinder. Rare failures will produce a spark when the plug is grounded outside the engine, but won't jump under higher cylinder pressures.

(f)faulty coil or capicitor. -test and renew faulty components.

(g)faulty high or low tension wires. -test and renew faulty wires.

(h)fuel vapor lock. -check source of vapor lock and insulate against heat.

(i)faulty fuel pump. -test and overhaul fuel pump.

(j)incorrectly set ignition timing. -check and retime ignition.

(k)broken or short-cicuited low tension lead to distributer points. -test and renew lead.

weak or erratic cranking

(a)weak or faulty battery. -recharge or renew battery.

(b)fault in starter lead or solenoid. -test and renew faulty components.

(c)faulty starter. -test and overhaul starter.

Engine Stalls

(a)idling speed set to low -readjustidling speed stop screw

(b)idling mixture to rich or lean -readjust idling mixture screw and idling speed screw