[DeTomaso] Pantera Won't Start but has fuel, spark, good timing etc. Baffled and need Advice

Dave Londry davel at trguys.com
Sat May 16 21:51:06 EDT 2020


Yes, if not spark or fuel or air, then timing.
And per Sean, pin in distributor gear, timing gear or timing chain gone 
past by a few links.
Dave

On 2020-05-16 4:43 p.m., Sean Korb wrote:
>     Oh! Without taking the pump and cover off you can check the chain slack
>     from the fuel pump hole.A  Reach in before the eccentric and see if
>     itas loose.A  Itas going to have some play but it will feel really
>     slack if the teeth have started to decay.
>
>     On Sat, May 16, 2020 at 7:39 PM Sean Korb <[1]spkorb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     A timing light will show how close your timing is.A  I worry the pin is
>     sheared but binding on the shaft.A  It should still be checkable by
>     sight which sounds like what you have done.A  The other thing to check,
>     since you have a stock timing set, is the nylon gear on the cam.A
>     These can crack and fall into your oil pan. A compression check can
>     help verify it but if itas that far off youall hear it draw as well as
>     compress without even having to put a gauge on it.
>
>     Iam hoping itas just the ballast resistor but if you have stock 50 year
>     old nylon gears, put replacing them on the list.
>
>     Sean
>
>     On Sat, May 16, 2020 at 2:06 PM Mike Reilly <[2]reillyms at live.com>
>     wrote:
>
>       A  A Hi all. I'm having a starting issue with my Pantera that has me
>       A  A baffled.A  I've had the car since 1992 and it's never left me
>       stranded.
>       A  A It's been running strong and starting immediately including
>       right
>       A  A before this situation.A  Last weekend I started a drive with a
>       planned
>       A  A stop at a pet supply store near my house on my way out.A  So,
>       the car
>       A  A started just fine at home, warmed up a bit and then drove
>       perfectly the
>       A  A 1/2 mile to the pet supply store.A  I turned the car off,
>       bought dog
>       A  A food and then got back in to continue my drive.A  Well, the car
>       would
>       A  A not start.A  It turned over fine, the battery was strong, the
>       starter
>       A  A was cranking but it would not start seemly like it couldn't get
>       a
>       A  A spark.A  I pulled the air cleaner and could see that it was
>       getting fuel
>       A  A as the fuel would squirt in the carb when I gave it throttle.A
>       I
>       A  A thought I may have flooded it so I let it sit 15-20 mins and
>       tried
>       A  A again.A  Same issue.A  I pulled the driver side rear most plug
>       wire and
>       A  A hooked up my spark tester.A  It showed spark just fine.A  I let
>       it sit
>       A  A for an hour.A  Same issue.A  It cranked fine, would sound like
>       it wanted
>       A  A to fire but would not.A  Even when I floored the gas pedal
>       while
>       A  A cranking it (like for a flooded engine) it would rev up very
>       high like
>       A  A it was running but would not catch to keep running.A  I then
>       pulled all
>       A  A the plugs and cleaned them with parts cleaner I had with me.A
>       They
>       A  A looked dry but black indicating they were carbon fouled which
>       was
>       A  A probably from me trying to start it over and over creating a
>       rich
>       A  A condition.A  So I ended up getting it towed the 1/2 mile back
>       to my
>       A  A house on a flatbed.A  : (A  The next day when home I did the
>       following
>       A  A (stats on my car listed at bottom of mail):
>       A  A  A * Checked fuel coming into the carb.A  It was fine
>       A  A  A * Changed to all new spark plugs. I checked for spark and it
>       was
>       A  A  A  A getting spark at the plug just fine.A  I gapped the new
>       plugs at
>       A  A  A  A .054 based on research on this forum and other Ford
>       sources for a
>       A  A  A  A 1974 351c in stock condition with an electronic
>       ignition.A  The one
>       A  A  A  A I tested showed good strong spark.
>       A  A  A * Pulled distributor cap and it looked fine as did the
>       rotor.A  They
>       A  A  A  A are both about a year old.
>       A  A  A * Turned rotor to see if it spun freely (e.g. roll pin may
>       have
>       A  A  A  A sheared).A  Rotor would not turn by hand so I assume it
>       was still
>       A  A  A  A connected through the shear pin (did check it later
>       though)
>       A  A  A * Changed carburetor to the new Summit Racing carb I had
>       recently
>       A  A  A  A purchased since I did notice my really old Holley 600 was
>       leaking
>       A  A  A  A fuel at the base plate area.A  However it was running
>       fine and
>       A  A  A  A strong before I pulled it but it may have been running
>       rich based
>       A  A  A  A on reading the plugs. The new carb had fuel squirting so
>       looked
>       A  A  A  A good.A  Figured since I had spark, that maybe there was
>       some issue
>       A  A  A  A with the Holley.A  Same symptoms with the new
>       carb....didn't start
>       A  A  A  A in the same manner.
>       A  A  A * Pulled front engine cover to check static timing.A
>       Cranked the
>       A  A  A  A engine by hand via the crank pulley and moved it to show
>       the timing
>       A  A  A  A mark (16 deg BTDC) on the timing marker that I had set
>       last year.
>       A  A  A  A The distributor rotor moved just fine to point to the #1
>       sparkplug
>       A  A  A  A wire location at this timing.A  This tells me that the
>       distributor
>       A  A  A  A shear pin was probably fine and the timing chain is still
>       keeping
>       A  A  A  A things lined up
>       A  A  A * Still had the same issue of not starting with the same
>       symptoms
>       A  A  A * Pulled the distributor to check to see if the roll pin
>       sheared or
>       A  A  A  A partially sheared.A  It looked perfectly fine.A  I did
>       notice the
>       A  A  A  A inside of the distributor where the magnetic signal is
>       captured and
>       A  A  A  A the metal wheel that rotates with the rotor to align to
>       the sender
>       A  A  A  A from the ignition box was had some light surface rust.A
>       But since I
>       A  A  A  A had spark at the plugs it must still be working fine.A  I
>       cleaned it
>       A  A  A  A up anyway while I had it out
>       A  A Stats on my Pantera:
>       A  A  A * Late model 74
>       A  A  A * Stock basic 1974 engine with 32K miles and never rebuilt
>       A  A  A * Stock oil pump and fuel pump
>       A  A  A * Edelbrock performer aluminum intake manifold installed
>       nearly 30
>       A  A  A  A years ago
>       A  A  A * 600 CFM Summit Carb with electric choke and vacuum
>       secondary (same
>       A  A  A  A as the Holley set up I just took off)
>       A  A  A * Duraspark 2 electronic ignition/distributor (bought from
>       Hall in
>       A  A  A  A 1993). Mine has the green plastic colored wire support
>       coming from
>       A  A  A  A the control box.A  I wonder if this has failed?
>       A  A  A * New MSD coil (not the oil can type).A  Bought this about 4
>       months
>       A  A  A  A ago and it was working great.A  This is MSD, P/N: 8207
>       that is one
>       A  A  A  A of the coils Jon Haas (Pantera Electronics) recommends
>       for his
>       A  A  A  A system.A  I did have a oil filled coil fail in the past
>       and that was
>       A  A  A  A easy to diagnose and replace.A  This new MSD coil made
>       the engine
>       A  A  A  A really run nice!
>       A  A  A * Stock starter which cranks just fine
>       A  A  A * New battery (about one year old) which is strong, charged
>       and
>       A  A  A  A cranks fine
>       A  A  A * Standard stock grounds throughout the car. I did clean up
>       the
>       A  A  A  A braided ground by the end of the transaxle as part of
>       general
>       A  A  A  A maintenance a few years ago
>       A  A So I've been going through the normal FASTEC approach.A  Fuel,
>       Air,
>       A  A Spark, Timing, Exhaust, Compression.A  It has fuel, air, spark,
>       and
>       A  A timing.A  Compression hasn't been checked yet but it's a low
>       mile engine
>       A  A which was running super strong.A  I think a compression issue
>       would have
>       A  A shown up with some symptoms rather than running great one
>       minute and
>       A  A not starting the next.A  As far as exhaust that is working and
>       not
>       A  A clogged up in anyway.A  I'm at a loss here as to what it could
>       be and
>       A  A why it ran great one minute and wouldn't start the next.A  Next
>       I'm
>       A  A thinking the Duraspark 2 box may have failed.A  Not sure if
>       those fail
>       A  A in a mode where you get spark at the plug but the timing of the
>       spark
>       A  A is off due to the box failing? Any suggestions are appreciated.
>       A  A Thanks, Mike
>       A  A P.S.A  I will post this on the Forum as well to get additional
>       input.A  I
>       A  A really want to get driving again : )
>       _______________________________________________
>       Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
>       Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
>       DeTomaso mailing list
>       [3]DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
>       [4]http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
>       To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe,
>       etc.) use the links above.
>       Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward
>       any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of
>       the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an
>       archive or approve the archiving of list messages.
>
>       --
>
>     Sean Korb [5]spkorb at gmail.com [6]http://spkorb.org (est 1994)
>     "Computers are useless.A  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso
>
>     --
>
>     Sean Korb [7]spkorb at gmail.com [8]http://spkorb.org (est 1994)
>     "Computers are useless.A  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso
>
> References
>
>     1. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
>     2. mailto:reillyms at live.com
>     3. mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
>     4. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
>     5. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
>     6. http://spkorb.org/
>     7. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
>     8. http://spkorb.org/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
> Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
> Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
> DeTomaso mailing list
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>
> To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the links above.
>
> Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of list messages.

-- 
Dave Londry
TRGuys.com

davel at trguys.com
Cell     604-721-2278
Landline 604-589-9183
Skype    embeddedspaces

-------------- next part --------------
   Yes, if not spark or fuel or air, then timing.
   And per Sean, pin in distributor gear, timing gear or timing chain gone
   past by a few links.
   Dave

   On 2020-05-16 4:43 p.m., Sean Korb wrote:

   Oh! Without taking the pump and cover off you can check the chain slack
   from the fuel pump hole.A  Reach in before the eccentric and see if
   itas loose.A  Itas going to have some play but it will feel really
   slack if the teeth have started to decay.

   On Sat, May 16, 2020 at 7:39 PM Sean Korb [1]<[1]spkorb at gmail.com> wrote:

   A timing light will show how close your timing is.A  I worry the pin is
   sheared but binding on the shaft.A  It should still be checkable by
   sight which sounds like what you have done.A  The other thing to check,
   since you have a stock timing set, is the nylon gear on the cam.A
   These can crack and fall into your oil pan. A compression check can
   help verify it but if itas that far off youall hear it draw as well as
   compress without even having to put a gauge on it.

   Iam hoping itas just the ballast resistor but if you have stock 50 year
   old nylon gears, put replacing them on the list.

   Sean

   On Sat, May 16, 2020 at 2:06 PM Mike Reilly [2]<[2]reillyms at live.com>
   wrote:

     A  A Hi all. I'm having a starting issue with my Pantera that has me
     A  A baffled.A  I've had the car since 1992 and it's never left me
     stranded.
     A  A It's been running strong and starting immediately including
     right
     A  A before this situation.A  Last weekend I started a drive with a
     planned
     A  A stop at a pet supply store near my house on my way out.A  So,
     the car
     A  A started just fine at home, warmed up a bit and then drove
     perfectly the
     A  A 1/2 mile to the pet supply store.A  I turned the car off,
     bought dog
     A  A food and then got back in to continue my drive.A  Well, the car
     would
     A  A not start.A  It turned over fine, the battery was strong, the
     starter
     A  A was cranking but it would not start seemly like it couldn't get
     a
     A  A spark.A  I pulled the air cleaner and could see that it was
     getting fuel
     A  A as the fuel would squirt in the carb when I gave it throttle.A
     I
     A  A thought I may have flooded it so I let it sit 15-20 mins and
     tried
     A  A again.A  Same issue.A  I pulled the driver side rear most plug
     wire and
     A  A hooked up my spark tester.A  It showed spark just fine.A  I let
     it sit
     A  A for an hour.A  Same issue.A  It cranked fine, would sound like
     it wanted
     A  A to fire but would not.A  Even when I floored the gas pedal
     while
     A  A cranking it (like for a flooded engine) it would rev up very
     high like
     A  A it was running but would not catch to keep running.A  I then
     pulled all
     A  A the plugs and cleaned them with parts cleaner I had with me.A
     They
     A  A looked dry but black indicating they were carbon fouled which
     was
     A  A probably from me trying to start it over and over creating a
     rich
     A  A condition.A  So I ended up getting it towed the 1/2 mile back
     to my
     A  A house on a flatbed.A  : (A  The next day when home I did the
     following
     A  A (stats on my car listed at bottom of mail):
     A  A  A * Checked fuel coming into the carb.A  It was fine
     A  A  A * Changed to all new spark plugs. I checked for spark and it
     was
     A  A  A  A getting spark at the plug just fine.A  I gapped the new
     plugs at
     A  A  A  A .054 based on research on this forum and other Ford
     sources for a
     A  A  A  A 1974 351c in stock condition with an electronic
     ignition.A  The one
     A  A  A  A I tested showed good strong spark.
     A  A  A * Pulled distributor cap and it looked fine as did the
     rotor.A  They
     A  A  A  A are both about a year old.
     A  A  A * Turned rotor to see if it spun freely (e.g. roll pin may
     have
     A  A  A  A sheared).A  Rotor would not turn by hand so I assume it
     was still
     A  A  A  A connected through the shear pin (did check it later
     though)
     A  A  A * Changed carburetor to the new Summit Racing carb I had
     recently
     A  A  A  A purchased since I did notice my really old Holley 600 was
     leaking
     A  A  A  A fuel at the base plate area.A  However it was running
     fine and
     A  A  A  A strong before I pulled it but it may have been running
     rich based
     A  A  A  A on reading the plugs. The new carb had fuel squirting so
     looked
     A  A  A  A good.A  Figured since I had spark, that maybe there was
     some issue
     A  A  A  A with the Holley.A  Same symptoms with the new
     carb....didn't start
     A  A  A  A in the same manner.
     A  A  A * Pulled front engine cover to check static timing.A
     Cranked the
     A  A  A  A engine by hand via the crank pulley and moved it to show
     the timing
     A  A  A  A mark (16 deg BTDC) on the timing marker that I had set
     last year.
     A  A  A  A The distributor rotor moved just fine to point to the #1
     sparkplug
     A  A  A  A wire location at this timing.A  This tells me that the
     distributor
     A  A  A  A shear pin was probably fine and the timing chain is still
     keeping
     A  A  A  A things lined up
     A  A  A * Still had the same issue of not starting with the same
     symptoms
     A  A  A * Pulled the distributor to check to see if the roll pin
     sheared or
     A  A  A  A partially sheared.A  It looked perfectly fine.A  I did
     notice the
     A  A  A  A inside of the distributor where the magnetic signal is
     captured and
     A  A  A  A the metal wheel that rotates with the rotor to align to
     the sender
     A  A  A  A from the ignition box was had some light surface rust.A
     But since I
     A  A  A  A had spark at the plugs it must still be working fine.A  I
     cleaned it
     A  A  A  A up anyway while I had it out
     A  A Stats on my Pantera:
     A  A  A * Late model 74
     A  A  A * Stock basic 1974 engine with 32K miles and never rebuilt
     A  A  A * Stock oil pump and fuel pump
     A  A  A * Edelbrock performer aluminum intake manifold installed
     nearly 30
     A  A  A  A years ago
     A  A  A * 600 CFM Summit Carb with electric choke and vacuum
     secondary (same
     A  A  A  A as the Holley set up I just took off)
     A  A  A * Duraspark 2 electronic ignition/distributor (bought from
     Hall in
     A  A  A  A 1993). Mine has the green plastic colored wire support
     coming from
     A  A  A  A the control box.A  I wonder if this has failed?
     A  A  A * New MSD coil (not the oil can type).A  Bought this about 4
     months
     A  A  A  A ago and it was working great.A  This is MSD, P/N: 8207
     that is one
     A  A  A  A of the coils Jon Haas (Pantera Electronics) recommends
     for his
     A  A  A  A system.A  I did have a oil filled coil fail in the past
     and that was
     A  A  A  A easy to diagnose and replace.A  This new MSD coil made
     the engine
     A  A  A  A really run nice!
     A  A  A * Stock starter which cranks just fine
     A  A  A * New battery (about one year old) which is strong, charged
     and
     A  A  A  A cranks fine
     A  A  A * Standard stock grounds throughout the car. I did clean up
     the
     A  A  A  A braided ground by the end of the transaxle as part of
     general
     A  A  A  A maintenance a few years ago
     A  A So I've been going through the normal FASTEC approach.A  Fuel,
     Air,
     A  A Spark, Timing, Exhaust, Compression.A  It has fuel, air, spark,
     and
     A  A timing.A  Compression hasn't been checked yet but it's a low
     mile engine
     A  A which was running super strong.A  I think a compression issue
     would have
     A  A shown up with some symptoms rather than running great one
     minute and
     A  A not starting the next.A  As far as exhaust that is working and
     not
     A  A clogged up in anyway.A  I'm at a loss here as to what it could
     be and
     A  A why it ran great one minute and wouldn't start the next.A  Next
     I'm
     A  A thinking the Duraspark 2 box may have failed.A  Not sure if
     those fail
     A  A in a mode where you get spark at the plug but the timing of the
     spark
     A  A is off due to the box failing? Any suggestions are appreciated.
     A  A Thanks, Mike
     A  A P.S.A  I will post this on the Forum as well to get additional
     input.A  I
     A  A really want to get driving again : )
     _______________________________________________
     Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
     Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
     DeTomaso mailing list
     [[3]3]DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
     [4][4]http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
     To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe,
     etc.) use the links above.
     Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward
     any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of
     the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an
     archive or approve the archiving of list messages.

     --

   Sean Korb [[5]5]spkorb at gmail.com [6][6]http://spkorb.org (est 1994)
   "Computers are useless.A  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso

   --

   Sean Korb [[7]7]spkorb at gmail.com [8][8]http://spkorb.org (est 1994)
   "Computers are useless.A  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso

References

   1. [9]mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
   2. [10]mailto:reillyms at live.com
   3. [11]mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   4. [12]http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
   5. [13]mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
   6. [14]http://spkorb.org/
   7. [15]mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
   8. [16]http://spkorb.org/


_______________________________________________


Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
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To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the li
nks above.

Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message p
osted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant
the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of lis
t messages.

--
Dave Londry
TRGuys.com

[19]davel at trguys.com
Cell     604-721-2278
Landline 604-589-9183
Skype    embeddedspaces

References

   1. mailto:[1]spkorb at gmail.com
   2. mailto:[2]reillyms at live.com
   3. mailto:3]DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   4. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
   5. mailto:5]spkorb at gmail.com
   6. http://spkorb.org/
   7. mailto:7]spkorb at gmail.com
   8. http://spkorb.org/
   9. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
  10. mailto:reillyms at live.com
  11. mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
  12. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
  13. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
  14. http://spkorb.org/
  15. mailto:spkorb at gmail.com
  16. http://spkorb.org/
  17. mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
  18. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
  19. mailto:davel at trguys.com


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