cjmspartans
New Member
Hello everyone,
As the thread title suggests, my 1968 Newport (383) isn't starting. It fired up every single time with no issues for the past 7 years I've owned it, but one day it just randomly decided it'll no longer start. When I turn the ignition to start, it will crank... but after pumping the gas and trying multiple times it will not start.
What I did to verify that I am getting spark is I pulled the plug wire and held it close to the terminal on the distributor while someone else cranked the engine. I saw and heard a consistent spark, so I know that I am getting something there. I then had someone crank the engine and I slowly adjusted the timing by loosening the distributor and turning it both directions to advance and retard the timing. Still nothing.
I also pulled the spark plugs and cleaned them up as they were fouled from the engine running rich. I'll probably wind up replacing this 2bbl Carter for a Holley that I need to rebuild; the Carter has always been nothing but constant headaches even after rebuilding that one.
After cleaning the plugs and still not getting it to start, I jumped the ballast resistor temporarily to see if it'd go... still wouldn't start. Ideally, I'll need to find my missing voltmeter to verify that the ballast resistor is 1.2 ohms lol. I replaced the condenser in early 2015 as well as the rotor, and the distributor cap was replaced in 2013 which is still very low mileage.
I'm at a loss since it started just fine about a week ago when I pulled it into the garage. Then bamo... crank but no start. Any ideas? I'm incredibly strapped on money so I don't have the luxury of throwing parts at it and hoping for the best. This really hasn't been a good year for the Newport lol...
Edit: I saw a thread saying that old fuel pumps seem to fail when running gas with ethanol in it. I'll pump it up with a 10% ethanol blend but it makes me wonder. I do smell gas from the front end when I try starting it but that doesn't mean much, so maybe I'll disconnect the fuel filter and see if any fuel winds up in a gas can.
As the thread title suggests, my 1968 Newport (383) isn't starting. It fired up every single time with no issues for the past 7 years I've owned it, but one day it just randomly decided it'll no longer start. When I turn the ignition to start, it will crank... but after pumping the gas and trying multiple times it will not start.
What I did to verify that I am getting spark is I pulled the plug wire and held it close to the terminal on the distributor while someone else cranked the engine. I saw and heard a consistent spark, so I know that I am getting something there. I then had someone crank the engine and I slowly adjusted the timing by loosening the distributor and turning it both directions to advance and retard the timing. Still nothing.
I also pulled the spark plugs and cleaned them up as they were fouled from the engine running rich. I'll probably wind up replacing this 2bbl Carter for a Holley that I need to rebuild; the Carter has always been nothing but constant headaches even after rebuilding that one.
After cleaning the plugs and still not getting it to start, I jumped the ballast resistor temporarily to see if it'd go... still wouldn't start. Ideally, I'll need to find my missing voltmeter to verify that the ballast resistor is 1.2 ohms lol. I replaced the condenser in early 2015 as well as the rotor, and the distributor cap was replaced in 2013 which is still very low mileage.
I'm at a loss since it started just fine about a week ago when I pulled it into the garage. Then bamo... crank but no start. Any ideas? I'm incredibly strapped on money so I don't have the luxury of throwing parts at it and hoping for the best. This really hasn't been a good year for the Newport lol...
Edit: I saw a thread saying that old fuel pumps seem to fail when running gas with ethanol in it. I'll pump it up with a 10% ethanol blend but it makes me wonder. I do smell gas from the front end when I try starting it but that doesn't mean much, so maybe I'll disconnect the fuel filter and see if any fuel winds up in a gas can.