383 won't start. It cranks, I have spark & fuel - could it be the battery

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1967CudaMan

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I'm new to this forum - maybe someone can help me out?
I have had problems getting my 67 Cuda to start cold in the past, but now it won't start at all. I thought I fixed the problem once when I adjusted the choke, and she started, but now I can't get her to start at all.
The engine cranks, I have spark, I have fuel - but I was wondering if it could be the battery?
Here's why I am thinking this: She sat all winter and I thought I would try to get her going, but the battery was almost dead - she cranked for about 30 seconds and then just click, click, click, from a dead/low battery. I charged the battery overnight, and tried again this morning. I tried cranking on & off for about 10 minutes total while I tried adjusting the carb, choke, etc. and the battery was dead already! It only lasted about 10 minutes!
So here's my question: Even though the battery (when charged) has enough power to turn the engine (with seemingly enough power), could a battery that is old (not enough cold cranking amps) be my problem?
Any advice is appreciated...
 
you need to have a full 12 volts to the ignition system. The coil can and does operate on lowered voltage, only after the engine is running. Wont start on that lowered voltage, thus why they are wired the way they are ( ign' 1 and ign' 2 ).
We have very large wires going directly to the starter so it can draw the lions share of whatever voltage is there.
The rest of the vehicle operates vis separate much smaller wires with a crowd of connections offering additional voltage drop. The disconnect at fusible link and bulkhead terminals are the most common places to find weak connections.
 
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you need to have a full 12 volts to the ignition system. The coil can and does operate on lowered voltage, only after the engine is running. Wont start on that lowered voltage, thus why they are wired the way they are ( ign' 1 and ign' 2 ).
We have very large wires going directly to the starter so it can draw the lions share of whatever voltage is there.
The rest of the vehicle operates vis separate much smaller wires with a crowd of connections offering additional voltage drop. The disconnect at fusible link and bulkhead terminals are the most common places to find weak connections.

So even if the engine is cranking fine it still could be the battery?
 
So even if the engine is cranking fine it still could be the battery?
Yep it takes very little voltage through the ignition switch to close the starter relay and send lots of battery power to the starter. When you don't have enough voltage to hold that relay closed ( click click click ) every click is the starter taking away the power that was holding the relay closed briefly.
At the beginning you said you had spark. A weak spark wont start it as explained above. And that was the case back when we had real gasoline. Even more true today and here where fuel quality is questionable. I can't know if you already have spark plugs soaked in aged pizz poor fuel.
good fuel + good hot spark = varoom LOL
ignition 1 is a blue wire, hot in start, and found on the ballast resistor. Use a volt meter to see if you have 12 volts there during start.
 
Ok, I will check and go from there. Regardless however I think I am going to replace the battery first. I will do this probably tomorrow and post my results.
 
Its possible that you fouled the plugs from cranking it and trying to start it with a weak battery.
 
Its possible that you fouled the plugs from cranking it and trying to start it with a weak battery.

I didn't realize that cranking it with a weak battery would do that. Although a pain to get at all the plugs in this beast (I may need to disconnect the exhaust manifolds to get at them because it is a tight fit under the hood with that beast in there), I guess I should look at all of them.
 
I did the plugs on my old 383 GTS, from under the car.
 
What he's saying is the plugs may have gotten fuel fouled because of raw fuel not firing. They should be dry by tomorrow . Just give it a shot or two of fuel when you try to start it with the new battery. Don't flood it out
 
News Plugs and a shot of Started Fluid with either a freshly charged Battery or honestly save your money and jump it.... Fuel, fire, compression. You are missing one of the 3. The ether can show either a Fuel problem or a Firing Problem short of something mechanical going on...

JW
 
Plugs got wet with gas, and spark was too weak.
When starting a carb engine with old gas especially when it's cold, you need a bunch of gas squirted in before cranking.
Then wait up to 2 minutes for some gas to vaporize..then crank.
The problem with many vehicles is that the throttle cable or carb are not coordinated so that full wide open throttle unloads the choke. As important as a choke is, it's equally important that you can open the choke while cranking, to clear out excess gas, and stop "flooding it" if it's not firing.
Anything you can do to warm the block up will help...
Modern gas does not vaporize well.
Once you get it going, have a good look at a few plugs... Clean plugs will fire avoid engine much better than fouled plugs.
 
Plugs got wet with gas, and spark was too weak.
When starting a carb engine with old gas especially when it's cold, you need a bunch of gas squirted in before cranking.
Then wait up to 2 minutes for some gas to vaporize..then crank.
The problem with many vehicles is that the throttle cable or carb are not coordinated so that full wide open throttle unloads the choke. As important as a choke is, it's equally important that you can open the choke while cranking, to clear out excess gas, and stop "flooding it" if it's not firing.
Anything you can do to warm the block up will help...
Modern gas does not vaporize well.
Once you get it going, have a good look at a few plugs... Clean plugs will fire avoid engine much better than fouled plugs.

I have put it's in a toaster oven lol... You are right about new fuel. That's why I try to light it off with ether...

Jw
 
And once the cranking speed is slowing down after considerable cranking, you are done...until you wait a long time, charge the battery again, etc...remove and dry plugs....
But while the battery is charging, get a 5 gallon bucket, fill it with HOT water.
Spend 2 minutes pouring that hot water on the HEADS of the engine.
If it's below zero, you'd need 3 buckets of hot water.....
By this time the battery has enough to try again.
Be sure to give time for the gas to vaporize, or just use ether alone..... if you have a paper element filter, give it a 15 sec starter fluid soaking, put it back in the housing, make sure the choke is off, and see if it fires on clean ether.

Slow cranking won't do...
The main thing is to get the heads warm.
Gotta hope your valley pan seal is good.......
 
Meant to say that you can avoid pulling plugs on a cold day by the hot water method.....if I got too eager on a 10 below morning I'd have to do this on my slantys.
 
I would never spin an engine for 30 straight seconds. I can only imagine how much your starter hates you.
 
I would never spin an engine for 30 straight seconds. I can only imagine how much your starter hates you.
It hurts to imagine.
Reminds me of the day I wired up plugs on on small block distributor and the brain was following big block rotation.
Heard a few backfires that day.
Poor starter..
 
I don't know about BC gas, but here in Manitoba, oxygenated gas will not start well after 1 week stored in a vented container, IN SUMMER, never mind at temperatures at or below freezing.
Your fuel tank is vented, and depending on where you are in BC, temperature swings can be frequent.Temperature swings can drive a vented tank into "breathing".
So unless your fuel was fresh and stabilized when you parked it,and if your garage is un-heated, the temperature swings,and time, can be driving all the lighter, more volatile components into the atmosphere, and the fuel may be sucking up moisture out of the atmosphere, and the fuel may be turning into syrup.
So the first thing I would do is drain some of that gas into a clear glass jar.If the gas is clear to very light yellow,it's ok. If it is dark yellow, it is past it's best-before date but may power up your lawnmower. If it orange to reddish it is not even good for making fire-starter,and I would get rid of it.
Either your battery did not receive a proper re-charge, or the fluid level in it is very low, or there is/are very high-resistance connections in the circuit somewhere or it is toast. Depending on the rate of charge that you were using, and the temperature of the environment in which the battery sits, it can take up to a week or more to bring her back to life.You really need a battery tender to overwinter a lead-acid battery.I have seen some batteries require a month of charging on a trickle charger,at 1.5 to 2.0 amps, before they recovered.
 
Wow, thanks for all the input and advice everyone! She fired up last night. The last time I checked I had spark, so I just assumed I still did... I know, I know, never assume. Turns out it was just the cool wire that was loose! Smoking a bit though, so I guess that is from all the raw fuel in there. Today I will clean the plugs and adjust my carb.
 
If you flood the engine, all you need to do is hold the gas pedal to the floor and crank the engine until it starts... The extra fuel will blow out while cranking...

To cold start an old carburated engine; pump the gas pedal twice, let off the pedal, and crank it...
 
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