Greg:
I will pull the dizzy today and reset everything. 1A at TDC, distributor in with rotor at 1A and timing adjuster in correct position. Anything else to check for? Pickup ohms? Star gap?

 

Pickup should be 2.2 to 4.8 ohms

Air gap .008"-.014"

After watching the videos, though, my gut feeling is that you have a fueling problem of some sort.

What's the history of the car?

When was the last time it ran properly?

Has the car been in storage for a long time?

What does the gasoline smell like?

Cheers
DD

 

Yeah, tough call. It's on the low side. Suspicious...but it's hard to definitively say if it's so low that it would cause the problem at hand.

Cheers
dd

 

The car was originally owned by a car dealership owner locally, at some point it was lost in a bet to another local dealership owner (who's name is on my title as previous owner) from there it was purchased by the younger gentleman that i purchased it from. He drove it for a few years without much problem (other than electric windows, antenna, etc.) until the water pump seal blew one day. He stated that he or his mechanic could not find a replacement, so he decided to sell it. The car was garage for the majority of the 1-1/2 years it sat, while it did spend some of that time parked outside at the mechanics shop. He must have tried to start the car when he decided to sell it, which is when he put new rotor, cap, and plugs on, to no avail.
When I took possession, there was no fuel in the car, and it smelled pretty heavy of varnished fuel in the trunk. I have not replaced the filter yet, or cleaned the sump tank/screen, as i was trying to determine if pressure was sufficient before doing that..

 

According to a recent thread fuel pressure for an HE should run ~28.25 psi at idle. ~36.25 psi at WOT.

 

There are many approaches to tackling a problem.

*Personally* I'd postpone some of the other checks/paths and pull the fuel filter. Empty the contents into a clean jar. What you see will determine your next steps.

Cheers
DD

 

Just got an update from the PO, it appears he attempted to start the car a few weeks after the water pump went out in order diagnose where the leak was coming from, it was then that he noticed it would not stay running. Could these events be related in any way? or is it pure coincidence that the "no-run" situation started the same time the water pump went out?

 

I'm hard pressed to make a connection between the the pump and the running problem but...who knows? Strange things can happen.

OTOH....In rooting around to diagnose a problem on a V12 it's quite possible to inadvertently disturb something.



Cheers
DD

 

I'm with Doug, check the fuel system starting from the swirl pot under the battery. It will almost certainly be full of crud.

Pull the swirl pot and clean it including the strainer and replace the fuel filter. A dirty fuel filter will drop fuel pressure. Drain the tank and replace the fuel with new. I know from having a boat that stale fuel will cause running/starting issues.

 

Here is what the sump looked like. Fuel filter was dumping out a little crud, not bad, but I am replacing today.

 

Looks clean ! Good ! Often they're grossly mucked-up.

Add fresh gas and the filter as mentioned, then move on.

Hope you don't think this was a wild goose chase. It was a possibility that had to be marked off the list.

Cheers
DD

 

Nothing is a wild goose chase if I can cross it off the list! But unfortunately, that did not solve any problems.

 

UPDATE:

- Cleaned sump tank and changed fuel filter.
- Checked each injector with stethoscope, all are firing with rotation of throttle capstan.
- Replaced GM ignition module inside the ignition amplifier (Parts store said it tested bad)
- Pulled distributor (see picture) nothing was frozen up, all looked very good.
- Air gap measured .009 and pickup ohms were 3.375
- fixed eccentric advance
- Set 1A at TDC of compression, set distributor lining up the rotor with the 1A plug, disconnected vacuum line and plugged it. Connected all plug wires in proper order. Turned the key, fired right up. Isles around 500 for about 20 sec, then died. Turned key again, fired right up, gave it throttle to 2000 rpm, ran 30 sec, then died. Turned the key again, fired up, a little harder this time, gave it throttle, died right away. Now it will not even attempt to start....

While I was starting, I had a charger on the battery at 40 amp. When I went to take it off, the negative lead was smoking! Would a bad cell in the battery cause the issues I’m having? I’m at a complete loss now.

 

40 amps is a bit of an aggressive charge. If there was any residue on it I wouldn't be surprised to see it smoking off.

After starting and have it run then stall on accel, have you pulled a plug to see if its dry or wet with fuel? While its out, how good does the spark look when starting?

Did it run smoothly when it ran for 30 sec?

 

I placed it on 40 amp just as I was trying to start it, it melted the plastic on the handles on the clamp and the insulation on the wire.

plugs have always looked dry. Black sooted.

It ran just as well as it did in the previous videos, seems smooth, then just dies. Spark to me doesn’t look very impressive, but it’s only a .025 gap, so I’m not really sure, I will make a video of that tomorrow.

 

Another piece of information that may be important,...
I’m not sure what the flow should be out of the fuel pump, but while draining the tank I timed the fuel pump and it would fill a 1 gallon bucket in just over 1 minute (1:03).
Is this sufficient flow?

 

Just a long distance "feeling" but l still lean toward fuelling even though sump tank has been cleared.
I would probably pull the return hose off at the engine bay bulkhead and position that hose in container and then jump pump to move a reasonable amount of fuel, this would rule out crud being mobile in the pipework.

 

I have done this once already, but I did not do it after the filter replacement today. I did blow air through the supple line in the trunk and pushed out what fuel remained in the main tank.
In did notice however that after all of my fuel system repairs were completed and after trying to start, when I took the gas cap off, there wasn’t any pressure. Where as before there was?

 

l see that you have done it. I think we were typing at the same time on last reply. I don't think you should have any pressure in tank but your vent system may differ from ours.

 

I think the best course of action is to definitively find out if it is fuel pressure or spark that is causing it to die. A fuel pressure meter in the fuel line going to the rail is the best way.
Another less reliable way is to squirt some starter fluid (ether) into the intakes immediately after it has died and will not start. Then see if it starts.
If it does NOT [edited correction] start on ether, you have a spark problem. If it does, you have a fuel problem.
Greg