No start mystery

[vandermeter]

Last night my series iii left me stranded after a twelve hour shift. It was only the second time and in all fairness it was almost zero degrees here in the northeast.Towed her home and 1.charged the battery 2. pulled intake off of carb and sprayed starter fluid..no start but cranks over fine. 3. checked coil with meter...power in and power out. 4. pulled plug wire and tried to arc test for spark during start..no spark. 5. pulled dist cap looked clean dry ..sprayed it down(was thinking moisture) replaced it..no start.

Mystery...new wire set. She is a daily driver starts every time..can the cold affect the points? any ideas? love this truck.

[vandermeter]

RUNNING! On the advice of a retired aircraft mechanic, I cleaned all the conacts in the cap by scrape and brush, had sprayed over some carbon deposits in my haste this morning. Also ran a tiny bastard file betwween the points...and she fired right up.

feel great that she started so readily,but a little sheepish about forgetting the basics..."clean them even if you THINK they look clean"

even a tiny bastard has his day.

cheers!

[stomper]

I'd also make sure you don't have any water in your gas, as the temps start dipping. Glad you got it running

[vandermeter]

You bet I already poured in the drygas the night she quit...will get a case from the auto mart asap.
Stomper,my guess is you know cold up there better than most,thanks for the sound advice.

[Jim-ME]

Be careful with the use of Dry Gas. It is Ethanol and there is already Ethanol in our fuel. Too much Ethanol has never been a good thing for a gas engine with a carb.
Jim

[stomper]

As I recal from my snowmobiling days, there are two types of dry gas. one comes in a yellow bottle, and one in a red. I don't know the differences, as it has been some time since I purchased any. Anyways, the red bottle was the only thing safe for the snowmobiles, as there was something in it that worked better for carburator engines.

Does anyone know the specifics on this?