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Goddamn dizzy

I have a question I would love for someone to have a stab at before I tear this motor out.

I have recently transplanted a running engine into my 72 mini, and now when I try and fire it up I get nothing. The trouble is, when I first started cranking it, I forgot that I had drained the oil. So after a minute or two of cranking I put in the required amount of oil. But, as it did before I put the oil in, the engine seems to turn over very fast, much faster than usual, almost like there is no compression going on. All cylinders read 120 psi compression. When I do the compression test, with all plugs out, the engine spins at a slower speed on the starter motor than it does with all plugs in and trying to start...

The dizzy is an old one I have, worked in the past but with a new set of leads and a new cap and rotor. Bought from the local guys, not a hundred percent sure they have sold me the right stuff. There is a spark going on but I would describe it as small and yellow, not blue. The battery is new, and holding 12.8 volts sweetly. What colour should the sparks be, and can you have a dizzycap/leads that will kill the power of a spark even though you still get some spark at the plug?

I am a little worried about the oil.

Reply to
misc_dump
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Are the leads in the right order?

There is a distributor drive gear beneath the distributor. It can be lifted out with a long 5/16unf bolt and replaced in any of 9 different positions, since it has nine gear teeth. Obviously if it's moved 4 or 5 positions, then the distributor will sit at a slightly different angle to get the car to run right and the leads will be moved 2 places around the cap. Other "wrong" positions result in other wrong lead positions.

If you've got the cap that was fitted to the new motor before you got at it, check the lead positions.

Reply to
Graham W

Don't worry about the oil. There would have been enough left on the bearings to give protection at cranking speeds. As for starting, check the timing as Graham says. It's easy to get it wrong. Make sure the distributor is trying to fire a cylinder on it's compression stroke not the exhaust. The higher cranking speed could be explained by poor timing only allowing the cylinders to develop a small amount of power.

John

Reply to
John Manders

Thanks guys, appreciate the replies. Unfortunately, there is a large amount of oil coming from the clutch housing now after cranking, so I think lack of oil has glazed the crankshaft seal. Motor has been removed, and will get a bunch of new seals and also a new head gasket.

Reply to
misc_dump

Just for future reference, Lack of oil while cranking shouldn't glaze a seal. The seal was probably in very bad shape to begin with. More likely is that the sludge that was helping crank seal to seal, dried a bit and shifted due to lack of oil and the cranking. Old oil sludge and carbon build up are very effective engine sealants.

Generally, you will burn up a starter or a starter solenoid before you cause any engine damage by cranking a freshly drained engine.

Good luck,

Kelley

Reply to
Kelley Mascher

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