I have a 1962 Mercury Comet with a 260 V-8. I have had the car a few days. She has been a one turn of the key starter. Today I was going for a quick drive around the block and after I stopped at a stop sign the car died. THe car will not start at all. She turns over and acts like she wants to start but no dice. I have fuel in the carb, I can see it when I throttle the carb. She has good spark. All the plugs were checked, wires etc. There are no loose wires. All I can figure is maybe the starter solenoid is dodgy. Or perhaps a bad coil. Both look so old they maybe original. The points look good and seem to be gapped right, THe plugs are gapped right as well. Any thing I might need to look at. I am going to replace both the coil and starter solenoid.
What would cause the timing to jump? Is there a way to avoid it in the future if that might be it? I have not had this happen before with my Ford Galaxie but with my luck it has happened with the Mercury. Thanks for your help and have a good week.
How old are the timing chain and gears?Chain could have stretched and jumped a tooth.Is the distributor tight?Check the hold down bolt.Also what color is the spark?Check the fuel pump.Lot of times what looks like the carb getting gas when you operate the throttle by hand is just fuel from the bowl(s) being squirted into the carb.
The timing can jump for two reasons, the timing chain and gear wearing out and stretching and skipping a tooth, or the distributor gear wearing out or the roll pin in the distributor gear can break and the distributor won't move, this happened to my dad Tbird. Also you say you have only had the car a few days? has it been sitting a while? Could have debris in the gas tank that is getting to the carb and plugging it up. You might see fuel when you throttle the carb but that fuel is being squirted by the accelerator pump, the jets and other passages in the carb can still be clogged.
If the engine spins fast...like it has no compression then it jumped timing. By your description it sounds more like a electrical problem. Have you tried to hot wire the ignition to see if it will run?
I am going to check the compression tomorrow when I am home from work. The fuel tank is new and also there is plenty of good clean looking gas in the in line fuel filter.
The spark is a bright white/yellowish color. The distributor is nice and snug. The spark plugs are a nice tannish color. I am also going to test the fuel pump just to make sure it is putting out a good volume.
