H won't start with spark

I parked my H last year, shut off the fuel and treated the fuel with stablilzer. Tried to start it yesterday, and I got nothing. It didn"t even sputter or fire once. Not one cylinder. I pulled a plug and it is sparking well, now that I have subseqently replaced the coil, and the wires. I have good spark, but it won"t fire once even with quick start spray directly into the carb. Last year I had the carb professionally rebuilt and it ran very well. I can only guess that the carb is somehow stopped up and not letting any passage into the intake manifold. I can"t beleive that even quik start doesn"t even get a sputter! I don"t want to tear down the carb after just having it rebuilt just last year. I"ll likely make it run crappy like it did before the rebuild.

I have the worst luck.
Advice appreciated.
Dan G in PA

i know, stupid question, but did you turn fuel on? BTDT myself, also disconnect fuel line at carb and check for good flow. it's possible line is plugged

pulled fuel line...poured out. I'm guessing it should fire a bit even with NO fuel with quick start spray, but yes, It is confirmed that gas is pouring out of fuel line. It is pouring out bottom of carb after trying to start it too. It quit doing that when it was running....but it's doing it again. I'm convinced that it's a carb prob, but I'm not sure why.

Might be a simple as dry rings causing low compression and thus no fire. (My Super H will do this if it sits longer than about 6 months without being started...)

Remove the plugs and squirt a teaspoon or so of motor oil into each jug. Now crank the engine several revolutions with the plugs out to spread the oil/lube the rings. Then replace the plugs and see if it now starts.

----

Nice looking H and buzz saw!

Im going to take a stab at it and say if you have fuel at the carb, youve tried ether and you have spark....the timing somehow might be off or you have low compression somehow....check the timing and try the oil trick someone mentioned

I would tried to pull start it, you might have spark but not quite hot enough when you are turning a dry engine over. I've had better luck pull starting them after they have been sitting like that.

Nate

I have a compression tester. What should be the compression psi? I will try the "oil trick" today , hopefully.

Hold your hand over the throat of the carburetor and see if there's good suction while someone makes an attempt to start the engine. If there's low suction that's an indication of low intake manifold vacuum. You need good manifold vacuum to suck that fuel into the engine. Pull the sparkplugs and pour oil on top of the pistons then bump the engine over. I would pour more oil on top of the pistons and let it soak over night. Then bump the engine over again and reinstall the plugs and see if the engine will start. Hal
PS: If it starts it will smoke until it burns off that oil.

I compression tested cyl 1, and it quickly went to 80 psi....sounds like good pressure to me?

I still think that my carb is somehow plugged up and not letting anything past it. It pukes gas each time I stop pushing the start button from a crank up/try to start/

Gas seems to be getting to it, but not past it. It sucks my hand pretty good at carb intake while cranking.

never easy, right?

(quoted from post at 04:04:13 04/13/10) I have a compression tester. What should be the compression psi? I will try the "oil trick" today , hopefully.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking anything over 80PSI will start fairly well. 100PSI is good. 125PSI is great. When you start getting down into the 60-70 range it's time for a rebuild.

How is it cranking over? If it's just barely rolling over, it may not start after sitting for so long.

Are you using the choke? Too much or not enough can cause a tractor to not start, but each tractor is different.

Are the plugs wet when you pull them after cranking for a while?

How long has it been since the valve clearances were adjusted? My H got so it had to be towed over 1/4 mile to start. I was ready to get rid of it cheap when I saw the tip of the day about valve adjustment. After setting the clearances, the old girl fires on the first or second revolution.

If you choke the snot out of it, you should get gas running out of the carb. If not, I'd bet that the float/needle is stuck - try rapping on the side of the carb with the handle of a screw driver and hit the starter to see what happens. I've worked with the same H for about 58 years and once in a while the float/needle will stick, even a short time since a re-build after its sets for a month or two. (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

Yes, it should at least try to run with the spray. Did you check for spark at the plugs?

You've fouled the plugs with too much choke if gas is running out of the carb. Replace the spark plugs. even if they were new last year.

Plugs are dry when pulled. I have spark on them with them pulled and grounded to block.

I'm going to pull the carb tomorrow. It's like the gas isn't getting into the intake. I'm also gonna dump some gas into the cyls thru the plug holes to see if I get a glimmer of ignition.

The weird thing is that this tractor has always been an easy start, with minimal choke. Now, it won't fire even once. Not one cylinder. I think what someone suggested about the float being stuck, or a needle is right. I did rap on it tonight just before dark, but I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

It won't even fire with quick start spray, and it pukes out gas after I stop cranking the engine. The battery is good, I just keep the charger on it while I'm messing with it.

I can't guess what else it could be but a stuck thing inside the carb not letting anything thru.

Would spray direct into the intake manifold without the carb on it fire the engine?

It's like there's a mouse nest there blocking it's passage!
If the plug is giving me good spark that rules out electrical/timing/condenser/points/etc, right? Even if the timing was off (which it wasn't when I parked it last year) it might run a little off, but not not at all, right?