641 ford won't fire

rogerru

New member
can't get it to fire much less run. here's what i've done:
all new items are: plugs, points, cond, cap, rotor, plug wires, coil, coil to dist wire, items from that wire to points, dust cover. also i have good spark when the points break. i don't have the old items to compare to the new items, such as the rotor. but, i'll admit, the new items are not "genuine ford". i'm not close to a dealer. parts were purchased on line from various suppliers like yesterday tractors, ssb, reliable, etc. worked on it several times several hours this weekend. timing is approx 4 before tdc. compression is 120 on all cylinders. rechecked everything spark/fire related. has good spark everywhere. have the valve cover off to watch the valves (overkill since compression is good). i choke it till fuel runs out the carb but plugs don't seem to be wet. i've had each plug out, held against the head and shows good spark. just in case my timing check was flawed, i lifted dist and rotated 90 then 180 degrees. didn't help, put it back correct. it won't attempt to fire. i just need to get it to try, running right would come later. battery is charging now. i definitely have fuel to the carb. some time back, i put a kit in it. when i did that, soaked it over night in carb cleaner. i had the carb off as recently as yesterday. it was full of fuel. i'm more than willing to do it again and again. i thought fuel was not getting to the plugs since fuel was running out of the carb but the plugs were not wet. that's also why i poured fuel in one plug hole but still no fire. i put my hand over the carb air intake and it has,what i believe to be, good suction. i'll re-examine the carb and use the canned carb cleaner and brake cleaner to blow it out. also, i sprayed starting fluid in the carb while cranking but no attempt to fire. suggestions please.
 

bczoom

Senior Member
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Welcome to the forum!

You definitely covered most bases.
The dry spark plugs makes me think it's a fuel issue.

Based on what you said, the first 2 things that come to mind:
1. Make sure the carb float isn't stuck. (based on your carb work, I'm assuming you've already checked this at least a couple times).
2. (My best guess) You have a air leak between the carb and intake manifold (or a crack or bad gasket on the intake manifold itself). The fuel is getting to the carb but when cranking, the air is being sucking from the path of least resistance which is from some sort of crack/leak some place other than the carb.
 
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