Hello everyone, I am new to the group and have recently bought a 1968 elan plus 2 which ran after I bought it but had a bad cyclinder head gasket leak.
I replaced the head gasket this week. After reading old posts about this and the workshop manual I aligned the cam sprockets and set cylinder to TDC and removed the head.
I tried to keep the cam chain tensioned but on replacing the sprockets the chain did not align with the my paint marks on sprockets. As the head was removed I dont think this is an issue (am i right or wrong on this?). Sprocket marks and TDC mark were aligned.
After replacing chain on sprockets and adjusting the tensioner, I rotated the crank a couple of cycles to check valves and cylinders were clear. No issues.
After replacing radiator, etc I tried to start the engine. The engine turned over but would not start. I did tried to start the engine four separate times with choke, accelerator, easy start etc. The engine turned over ok but did not start. On the fifth go at starting the engine, it turned over a couple of times and then there was a clunk and now the starter and engine will not turn over.
Did i miss something on reinstallation?
Has the starter motor freezed up? (it doesnt look too old).
What should do next to investigate?
That is very odd Scott I really feel your pain
Maybe use a restriction is there a gas station nearby can you get fuel did you put in?
Maybe you dropped a wrench into the starter motor possibly we could be a Nother problem with air not getting into the entrance Scott
Scot, First check that the starter has not jammed, put the car in 3rd or 4th gear and rock the car back and forth, if it is the starter this usually frees off the starter. When rocking the car check that the crank pulley is moving a little…there may be a metallic clunk as the starter unjams. Also make sure the battery is fully charged as low battery voltage can cause starter symptons similar to what you are describing.
Brian.
Did you check the distributor rotor location before pulling the head? Most likely the distributor turned when fooling with the chain. Pull the plugs and using a 5/8 socket or box end wrench, put the engine back to tdc (if it will turn) and check the timing. Rotor should point, roughly to the #1 spark plug wire.
Hello Brian,
Good call, i charged up the battery and rocked the car to disengage the starter. The engine is turning freely just need to sort out the timing. Regards Scot
Thanks for your comment. I think you are right about the distributor. I set to the 10% TDC timing mark. The rotor was way off from No1 cylinder contact pillar. I have loosened the collar and had just enough rotation on the distributor but the collar was not locking back.
I suspect i will need to pull the distributor out of its gear and reinsert rotated into a better position and then fine tune by rotating before clamping the collar. Regards Scot