SIII not starting.

You can test the engine using gravity feed to see it it'll run. Which pump do you have, electric or mechanical? The mechanical one is on the side of the engine, below and to the left of the dizzy. It has a little lever on it to pump fuel manually, so remove the hose from the carb and see if you can lift fuel with the lever.

If not, then you may well have a blockage somewhere, unscrew the sedimenter bowl next to the fuel pump and clean it out. Unscrew the fuel pipe union where it goes into the sedimenter bowl, and blow down it, whilst listening to the bubbling in the tank. If this pipe is clear, reconnect it to the fuel pump, and operate the lever. The sedimenter bowl should fill with fuel (eventually) if you don't get any fuel up, assume the diaphram is perished on the fuel pump.

Alex

I had similar symptoms a few years ago and it turned out to be a small hole in the fueld pump diaphragm. The repair kit cost more than a new pump though!

James

Cheers. I'll have a look at both of those things.

Um. I guess this is going to make me sound like a total novice (which I am, mind) but doesn't anyone ever come a cropper blowing down fuel lines and so on? I always understood petrol to incredibly toxic ...

I don't think it is "incredibly" toxic - especially since the demise of leaded fuel. It is certainly not something you want to drink, but I have had the odd mouthful - sucking, not blowing, with no apparent long term effects. And you definitely want to avoid getting it in your lungs! I think it is best described as toxic, but not in very small, occasional doses - try to avoid it, but don't be paranoid about it. Similarly, on the skin it is an irritant, and don't leave it on. However, if you manage to splash petrol about and then set it on fire with a spark ....... it is worth being paranoid about the fire risk! JD

And don't get it into your ear. It happened to a mechanic friend and it dissolved the wax in his ear and did various other bits of damage - basically meaning he had no sense of balance whatsoever for about 3 days. D

Ah. Cheers.

I must say that I'm not terribly comfortable around petrol other than when it's in a decent fuel tank - the fire risk element in particular.

A mechanic that I used to use would make me very nervous by working on my carburretor (open) with a lit dogend in his mouth. As far as I can recall he still has his eyebrows, but all the same I think it's something I'll avoid doing myself.

sounds a cheaper way than a bottle of Jack Daniels :-))

Andy