Triumph Repair: engine, empty gas tank, fire ignition

Question
i have a 1975 spitfire and it wont star every thing electrical is good it terns over its getting gas but it just wont start i dont no whats wrong, my grandfather has been a mechanic for 30 years and he doesnt even no please help joe

Answer
Joe,

Keep in that for ANY gas powered engine you need to have 4 things to get it to work:

1) Fuel
2) Air
3) Fire (ignition spark)
4) timing

Typically the problems are with either fuel (bad fuel pump, clogged fuel line, empty gas tank, etc) or "fire" ie bad points, failed electronic ignition, cruddy contacts in the distributor cap, etc.

So the first test is to figure if there is fuel.  A quick way is to get a can of starting fluid (starting ether) and remove the air cleaner.  Squirt a shot of ether into the carb and replace the air filter.  If the car tries to kick, it's a fuel issue.

If not... time to check the fire.  Get a spare spark plug and hook it to one of the spark plug leads.  Ground the body of the "spare" spark plug against the engine and have your grandfather try to start the car.  If you don't see spark then it's an ignition issue.

From there, you need to start tracing wires.  If the car still has it's Lucas electronic igntion unit, it could easily be the problem.  If the car has been retrofitted to points or has an aftermarket ignition sytem there are other things to check.  Details in the archives.


Cheers,

Jim