Thread: Chasing a demon, D1 v8 won't start

Sounds like it's well flooded. Have you tried flooring the accelerator pedal while cranking? I've done that a few times over the years following a weepy phone call about failure to start. Ten seconds or less of full throttle cranking and away it went.

Also worth using a hair dryer to thoroughly blow dry the distributor, perhaps then blow it up the air intake while cranking it.

And don't forget to set TDC by first principles, remove no.1 plug, feel for the piston crown, check the timing marks, then blow into the plug hole with a short length of rubber hose. Either side of TDC on the firing stroke the valves will be closed and no air will be able to be blown in by mouth. Fit the distributor so that the rotor button points to no.1 lead and the pickup in the dissy is aligned with one of the teeth of the star rotor.

Hey bee thanks for your response!

I did floor it but not for 10 seconds I will definitely try that next. If it's that flooded I'm assuming I won't get any sort of pop out it. I had a sniff of the exhaust and it smells of unburnt fuel.

Currently the dissy is on my dining table waiting to be drilled out. Like I said the circlip was still intact but I removed it anyway so I could get to the weights and give it all a good clean and do the screw mod to avoid any future problems.

One thing I noticed is the dissy cap is missing it's O ring and sits slightly loose. It never had it before but could it affect it's operation other than allowing water to get in?

It's absolutely bucketing down in vic so looks like it's just a day of research and modding the dissy. If it clears for an hour I'll definitely refit and try.

Will post an update when I get out there

Cheers

The dissy cap doesn't run an o-ring, and a loose cap is what happens when every part manufacturer sources the same low grade crap. Back in the day when V8's were regular visitors to my place, I used to buy genuine Lucas dissy caps. Then one day the newly supplied green Lucas box changed shape and the cap in it was a very loose fit. Never fitted any Lucas boxed ones after that.

Isn't part number 603446 an O ring for the distributor housing? As per the RAVE booklet? Step 10 sec 86 page 6 I was gonna upload a photo but it won't let me.

Or is it the little O ring inside the distributor under the washer?
Cheers

Nope it's for the shaft I looked a few other places online my bad. I always thought the Lucas dizzy had an o ring to stop the water getting in. I'll get out soon hopfully and put the dissy back in having crazy hail and all today.

Originally Posted by bee utey

The dissy cap doesn't run an o-ring, and a loose cap is what happens when every part manufacturer sources the same low grade crap. Back in the day when V8's were regular visitors to my place, I used to buy genuine Lucas dissy caps. Then one day the newly supplied green Lucas box changed shape and the cap in it was a very loose fit. Never fitted any Lucas boxed ones after that.

Hey bee when I reassemble the dissy should I put a couple of drops of oil on the weights? Your circlip tutorial is great the only thing I done was put a couple of flexible fridge magnets inside to catch all the swarf from dropping in.
Cheers

Originally Posted by LRJim

Hey bee when I reassemble the dissy should I put a couple of drops of oil on the weights? Your circlip tutorial is great the only thing I done was put a couple of flexible fridge magnets inside to catch all the swarf from dropping in.
Cheers

A dab of grease on the various weight contact points, then a couple of drops of oil on the shaft before you refit the advance mechanism. Oil on the various pivots should be OK too as the oil from the shaft should slowly migrate there. Two drops of oil under the rotor button is part of your annual maintenance.

Originally Posted by bee utey

A dab of grease on the various weight contact points, then a couple of drops of oil on the shaft before you refit the advance mechanism. Oil on the various pivots should be OK too as the oil from the shaft should slowly migrate there. Two drops of oil under the rotor button is part of your annual maintenance.

Much appreciated still havnt put the dissy in. I've rebuilt it but it's been too wet to reinstall. Will have to wait until tommorow now.