Hi all,

im having heaps of trouble starting my escort. (Its a 1.6L)everytime i try to kick it over it just sputter's and backfires out the carby, what shout i do?

regards hugh

More info required - have you done anything on the engine since it last started OK?

i have pull the cap off, cleaned inside that. removed the points and cleaned them and put it all back on the dizzy. i have pull all the leads off and put them back on. i have also made the ground wire on the points abit longer( because it have broken off, i just made it abit longers with a bit of wire to give me alittle plan)

regards hugh

Check the folling in this order;

1. Check you refitted the leads in the correct firing order,
2. Check points gap,
3. Reset ign. timing

ok, how do i do each of those.

regards hugh

OK, firing order is 1-2-4-3.
Turn the engine over by hand until the marker on the harmonic balancer lines up with the o deg marker in the timing cover on the firing stroke (ie both inlet and exhaust valves closed on no 1 cyl).
Remove the distributor cap and you should see the rotor pointing to where the number one lead is - this is your starting point.
Make sure lead number one is in this position, then instal each lead in the order 1-2-4-3.

Set points -
dwell should be set at 50 deg.
if you don't have a dwell meter then the gap between the contacts should be .55-.70mm,
if you dont have feeler guages then a bit of thin cardboard from a manilla folder or tally-ho pack is close enough for this exercise.

To set timing if you don't have a timing light-
Set your crank at 8-10 deg before tdc on the no1 firing stroke,
pull dizzy cap, rotor off and loosen clamp
switch key on
turn the dizzy anti clockwise till points close. then back till points just open/ small spark at points,
tighten clamp, replace rotor and cap.

Have u got it started yet??