Hood Slammed! Car stalled and wont start...

[Pavel AK]

had something of the sort...my accelerator cable had rubbed a little hole in top of distributor...and so distributor was shorting out...the support for the accelerator had been bent so the cable was sitting right on top of distributor....and couple ten thousand or maybe many, many ten thousand miles later it rubbed through the dist. cap...would be easy to check

[Logbear]

It sparks and has fuel. Maybe the hood falling didn't really do anything and it just decided that it was time to break a timing belt.
Check for compression.

[marklar]

Ok am going out to check the sensor on the bottom of the radiator.. i dont think i hav seen a sensor down there so am gona check the manual first.

also when the accelerater is pressed there is a little jet from the top of the carb, can open the thing (a flap right down inside the carb) can see into the float bowl i assume it is and the is a good 'puddle' of fuel in there. So im thinking unless its not getting from the there to the cylinders, fuel delivery is fine, except maybe this flooding theory. (How would i know if it is being flooded).

there also appears to be pressure in the cylinders as it 'chugs' when trying to start.

appreciating the help thanks

[marklar]

Ok the fan thing is solved the temp sensor on the bottom of the radiator had popped off a tiny bit. I assume this wouldnt affect it starting though, I have checked all other plugs I think, although now I think about it the handbrake light was sometimes staying on before the hood dropping incident, which incidently was only up to top up water check oil etc I was preparing to drive home for the uni holidays which is only 200km away.

"I assume this wouldnt affect it starting though" <-- Right or Wrong

[Typrus]

Shouldn't.
Ummmmmmmm.... The float bowl is not visible staring down the carburetor barrel.... That would be the intake manifold you are seeing... A good puddle of fuel is not a good thing in the intake mannie...

[kamiphloj]

AAAAAhhhh,Hmmmmmm.It appears we are close.As Typrus said,fuel puddle in the bottom of the manifold is good info,bad condition.The engine breathes misty mixture.Raw ,wet fuel washes all oil off rings,lowers compression.Harder to start.Also gets spark plugs all wet and unhappy.They don't fire so good.The chug chug chug sounds like a flooded engine trying to come to life,but drowning as little..
A carb is a lot like a toilet.The float bowl is the box on the front with the little glass window.See the manual.See the new newby info on how to download your very own manual.The float bowl is like the tank on the toilet.The float rises with the fuel and shuts the fuel off at the right level.Some toilets you have to jiggle to get them to shut off.Maybe your carb is like that.Maybe a chunk of fuel pump diaphram in the needle valve.Sometimes floats sink.Too much pumping or a stucky choke are possible.
Golly gosh,isn't it fun.Carry on.kamiphloj

[Paul]

A quick blast with starting fluid might wake her up. Too much fuel could also be a leaky diaphragm on the auxiliary accelerator pump. Might try pulling and plugging the vacuum line to the AAP temporarily (round thing on front passenger side of carb). Good luck!

[Typrus]

At this point I'd suggest pulling all your spark plugs and cranking the engine for a bit. Bursts of maybe 10 seconds of pumping. Throttle none, then full, then none. Will help to blast some of the solid fuel out of the spark plug holes. If you are concerned about the distributor making an unnecessary spark and igniting it, pull the supply plug to the distributor (which could also have come loose)
This is what we have to do in flooded model engines that run on Nitro-Methane, but I'm sure the concept is the same.

Liquid fuel won't explode. Vaporized fuel, or even gaseous fuel will explode.

BTW, check your oil. Smell it. I'm serious! Smell the oil! That doesn't mean shove the dipstick up your nose, but take a good whiff, then let us know what you smell.

[takza]

If you are pushing the accel pump a lot, you'll see liquid gas in the intake.

[xirdneh]

Hey first thing to say is great site!!! I have a problem with my '84 Tercel is an AL25 3a/c, its was running fine when I had the hood up but then hood dropped and the car stalled, there still seems to be a good kick from the distributor. Any ideas on what may have happened?

after reading the reply's to this i'm thinking it's terribly flooded. one of my tercels does this every now and then. not sure why. i end up towing it to a big hill and use the hill to compression start it. has worked every time.

[Typrus]

That might be very hard on it though... I'd personally try pulling the plugs and cranking it to blow the fuel out. Just don't stomp the pedal repeatedly while you do it, or else you'll just keep pumping too much fuel in.

[takza]

I can tell you one thing about liquid gas in the engine.

That is...if you have say a leaking carb that allows gas to overflow into the intake on shudown...and you don't fix it....it will possibly and eventually....trash your rings.

The oil washes off them and the cylinder wall....they can seize and will break. Not to mention wear over time.

So if you have a hard time starting the car and see lots of black smoke when it does start....fix it!

[Typrus]

In that case, may I suggest this- try what I said, then get a teaspoon of oil and inject it into the cylinders, if you have a syringe, try to use it. The point is to get it on the walls. Not in the dish in the center of the piston. Its the same theory as doing a wet compression test.
So theres one thought. Maybe you flooded out, all the oil came off the rings, and now you have so much blowby that she won't start.

SMELL YOUR OIL!

[marklar]

Thanks for the correction on the floatbowl thing, I really was confused for awhile... and hence I have found the little window (didnt realize how dirty she was, will see that she gets a clean when i get life back in to her).

About smelling the oil, I have actually been doing that as over the last couple of weeks, as I figue if it smelt like fuel something was seriously wrong ... but it appears fairly normal, in consistency and smell.

When I turn it over with the spark plugs out should I look for vapor coming out of the holes? or anything. Is the puddle in the intake manifold meant to clear?

A friend has suggested 'the coil may be shot' but couldnt really tell me why he thought, it sounded like he was trying to say that it is just a capacitor and it may not be charging/discharging sufficiently for the engine to run.
What is 'the coil' and what does it do?

[Typrus]

The coil is a big capacitorial device that stores ignition energy and ramps it up several thousand volts. Like, 40,000 Volts discharge typically. Thats why getting shocked by an ignition cable knocks you on your ass and is capable of stopping your heart.

It is meant to clear out, so long as you (or the carb) are not allowing the dumping of tons more. Pumping the pedal dumps fuel. Stuff like that.
Unless its really bad, I doubt you'll see anything. But come to think of it, do disconnect the distributor's power supply. Thats the one connection to it. If you really are flooded, you could see a big boom if you don't disconnect that.