'85 Golf Won't start, carb spitback

A little background info is in order-- I bought this car about 2 months ago from a guy for $500 bucks. It's silver and the body is in great shape. However, whoever owned the car before him pulled all the fuel injection system out of the car and custom mounted a Motorcraft single barrel carb on the original intake manifold. Why? Damned if I know. Because of the custom mount, the carb sits so high that there's no room for an air filter.

Anyway, car was running fine and I was doing a bunch of little repairs. I plan to put a new Weber conversion kit on the car soon to replace the Motorcraft (which supplies the car with WAY too rich a mixture as I think it is from an early eighties ford ranger). The car stopped running recently and I can't get it started.

When I turn the ignition, the engine turns over, but won't start. If I give it any gas at all, the carburetor spits back and sometimes shoots flames. Just to be sure the electrical was ok (I was fairly sure, since it's spitting flames) I pulled the plug wires and had someone crank the engine so I could see if they'd arc. They did. One shocked the shit out of me.

The spark plugs I replaced 2 months ago are already covered in carbon. I cleaned them and re-installed them and nothing changed. The carburetor seems to be operating as usual, but I pulled it off and dissassembled it. Accellerator pump works ok, jet sprays, float is working and was full. The fuel pump is working.

I mean, I guess all of that should be obvious-- apparently the accellerator pump is flooding the intake manifold and the plugs are igniting the fuel.

*Should I be worried about low compression? I don't have a pressure checker. *Could this be a timing problem? Should I see if the timing belt broke?

Any other suggestions?

Reply to
Morris
Loading thread data ...

timing belt probably didn't break, but it may have slipped. I'd personally try to find all the CIS stuff because it's actually a decent, simple system.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Reply to
Morris

I have found that for some strange reason the 'modern' mixes they call gasoline has the effect of turning to varnish really easily which makes the carb float needle stick in the seat. This causes major flooding. I have to remove my needle and seat and clean them every couple years.

One other one is a dirty distributor cap. If dirty a weak spark happens which can cause flooding and no or hard starts. Worth a look...

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > I really don't have that kind of money. I mean, the thing ran fine
Reply to
Mike Romain

Float needle might be the issue.

Distributor cap seems to be work> I have found that for some strange reason the 'modern' mixes they call

slipped. I'd

Reply to
Morris

You might be able to get a partial idea if the timing is on by turning the engine to the timing mark and seeing if the rotor inside the distributor cap is pointing at the right spark plug wire post in the cap. On the timing mark it will either point at #1 or directly opposite.

Mike

Morris wrote:

slipped. I'd

Reply to
Mike Romain

slipped. I'd

Reply to
Morris

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.