Re: Cylinder Compression Questions

Posted by Fish'n Jim On 2014/11/16 16:05:20

I'm assuming it turns by hand and the pistons are going up and down.
If it's cranking fast enough to give good spark on the outside and you dump a little gas down the intake and it doesn't try to fire, you're not getting spark (or air) in the cylinders. Plugs got wet, grounding issue, etc. or timing is way off.
Your list didn't say new plugs, but that's a good cheap place to start and wires too.
Check they're no stoppage in the intake/exhaust. I had mice plug off the air cleaner on my motorhome one winter. Had it towed in when it wouldn't start got laughed at by the mechanics. Vermin or rust partly plugged the exhaust pipe on this Packard and we blew out the muffler when we got it fired. Take an air hose and blow everything out.
Sounds like what I call old-guy-itis, (even though I'm one) he's screwed around with it, couldn't get it going, so he quit on it and eventually sold it - like my Cad.
Sounds like carb rebuild time also if no squirt. But it should start on the bottle just die out when the gas goes, if carb doesn't take over. The accel plunger seal is leather and dries out.
Take your time you'll find many more faults going forward.
ps:I was reading my Cad V8 diag manual for another problem and there's a test where you run it on two cylinders at a time, so they'll "run" with just two cylinders firing even unevenly, maybe less.