First off, apologies. This topic has been covered hundreds of times before, and I have heeded all advice that I have read so far, but I'm still no further on.
The History:
Aproximately 3 weeks ago, I managed to get my mini running well enough to get it to an MoT (and surprisingly it passed). It was uberpinking though, running very rich and was running pretty lumpily at idle. To get it through the Emissions part of the MoT, I did adjust the fuelling. So for the last 3 weeks, it's been at home waiting for my insurance policy to renew, so I could add the mini to it at minimal extra cost.
The Problem:
It now doesn't bleedin' start! In preparation for the L2B mini run, I thought it'd be a good idea to grab myself a timing light, and re-time the bugger. So, on Saturday, I set aside a morning to get it done. But would it start? Of course not!
What has been carried out so far:
- New Points
- Readjusted the points
- New HT Leads
- New Dizzy Cap
- New Plugs
- Adjusted the fuelling (was initially running a little rich), and then back again
- Checked the vacuum hose
- Adjusted the dizzy
I am definitely getting fuel to the cylinders, It's turning over and occasionally I do get a splutter that quickly dies.
The one think I am curious about, is to check the spark, I removed the plug from cylinder 1 and had the engine turned over. When looking at the plug, there was no spark across the gap. However, when holding the plug against an earth (the block) it sparks. My understanding was that the spark should be across the plug gap. I have since cleaned up the plugs with no avail.
I do have another Ignition Coil and Carb Needle on order (hopefully should be here by Saturday) as I understand the carb needle, if worn, can cause overfuelling throughout the rev range, and that a dying/dead Ignition Coil can cause the over fuelling/non-starting issue (even though I'm getting a spark).
Any advice or suggestions of things to try would be much appreciated. I really don't want to miss out on Sunday!!!
Cheers,
Devs