Please help 2.0 pinto won’t start

[Dwight]

I bought a gazelle kit car and it has the 2.0 pinto I’ve tried everything with it and it only wants to fire after I let off the starter 

i changed the timing belt and couldn’t find exactly what my tdc was so I took a compression reading while I knew it was close and moved it one notch clockwise to achieve maximum compression of 120 psi on all cylinders 

i ended up having a spark issue and had to spend $300 on a new distributor and coil from pertonix and got the cam gear lined up with its dot on head and installed it

it was running before the new distributor but suddenly stopped and lost spark and now will no longer start at all even with starting fluid

I'm all out of ideas please help

[Daveo]

Hi , Are you using the the ford amplifier usually a black plug with around 8 wires into it just pushes into it ... If so there's a brown wire that an earth make sure its in the plug  as mine did the same only has a spark then I let go of the key brown wire is an earth on most fords that might help you good luck.

 

 

try this link its in the form.    

 

Edited March 6 by Daveo

[Sparepart]

Paying that much for a distributor and coil, I am guessing the ignition module is built into the distributor. I was interested in the way that you set up the timing when you changed the belt, I would have never thought of that. Anyway, regardless of the current problem, it might be worth checking the timing in the way described in the workshop manual, just to check, because we are talking about a few degrees of miss timing making a big difference. It is quite simple to check the timing by first getting a spanner on the big bolt that keeps the crankshaft pulley on, use this to turn the engine (keep ignition off!). Turn the bolt/pulley clockwise until the timing grooves on the pulley reach the static marker on the engine block near the pulley LHS top as looked at from in front. Then look at the camshaft sprocket at the top of the engine to see if the little pointer thats visible between spokes of the sprocket is in line with the small static hole on the head. If pointer is no where near the hole then the engine is at TDC for the exhaust stroke at number 1 cylinder..... so continue to turn the engine until the grooves on the crankshaft pulley come round again, now you should see the camshaft pointer is close to the hole.Either way adjust the crankshaft until the camshaft pointer is exactly by the hole. Now look where the crankshaft sprocket markers are in relation to the static marker. At exact TDC for compression stroke on number one cylinder the pointer should be at the leftmost, biggest of the grooves. If it is not then you would need to remove the belt and turn the engine to the exact position and refit the belt.  Here below is a link to a YouTube  showing how to find the marks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5CPlM-G0t8

 

Oh,yes, you could remove the plugs to make turning easier.

Edited March 6 by Sparepart
Add PS

[Dwight]

The timing mark on my crank shaft pulley is lined up with the first notch and the cam gear is lined up with the dot any other ideas?

Im from the US and i can’t have parts shipped over seas for the pinto family and my distributor is a pertronix branded distributor with matching coil i have a wire coming from my ignition switch going to coil and the ground through distributor 

this is my first time ever having a car like this my great uncle bought it brand new in the 80s or 90s

I've worked on older trucks before but I've never had something not even fire off ether

if i cant get it running again i was going to put a 283 chevy and call it quits because i can’t find parts for it

[phaeton]

Using a multimeter or a bulb on the +/positive/hot connector on the coil, make sure it stays +/positive/hot whilst you're cranking, if it only fires when you come off crank.

[Dwight]

I used a spark tester and it’s getting good spark all the way through cranking

[phaeton]

13 hours ago, Dwight said:

I used a spark tester and it’s getting good spark all the way through cranking

In which case I suspect your timing is off, probably 180 degrees out you're firing on the wrong cylinder 

[Foz]

On the pinto engine the distributor is driven off the auxiliary shaft, (which is the pulley above and to the right of the crankshaft, driven by the cam belt) and seeing as you've had the belt off I would suspect that you've got this pulley a few teeth out so your ignition timing is out, as phaeton says.

[Foz]

Have a look at this info. on changing the cambelt - it tells you where everything should be when re-fitting.

Cambelt.pdf

[Sparepart]

So, you appear to have the belt fitted okay if the pointer on the cam is opposite the dot on the head when the crank pulley marker is opposite the big groove on the crank pulley. This is the almost the exact time that a spark is needed at number 1 cylinder. So next step is to get the alignments as above, then check where the rotor arm is at the distributor. It should be in a position right at the bottom of the HT lead that goes to number 1 cylinder. (No 1 as seen from front of engine) if this is not the case then you need to pull out the distributor (you say you already swapped it once) and turn the rotor arm to the right position (probably also coincides with the dot you mention) and reinsert the distributor. This might not be simple, because the gear at the end of the shaft is helical, so the rotor arm will turn as you insert it. You have to allow for this. Also its good to have the body of the distributor half way through its possible arc of motion, because if the car does fire up you will need to rotate the distributor body to complete the tuning. Then you need to check that the HT leads are in the correct order. Assuming the rotor arm is under HT lead to No 1 cylinder the next cylinder to need a spark is number 3 cylinder, the arm moves clockwise, this should be the next lead, etc, The firing order is 1,3,4,2. So with the distributor positioned as explained, with the crank and cam positioned as explained, and the HT leads in the order explained, you should have a fair chance of starting the engine, as long as there is fuel in the inlets and spark from the coil. When it fires up, your actions are not over, because it might refuse to run continuously, might back fire, might blow up through carb etc. In this case you will need to rotate the distributor body, usualy in an anti clockwise direction, to advance the spark a little. In any event probably shouldn't need to make wild rotations of the body, try one direction or another a little at a time to see if running sounds better. Good luck.

[Sparepart]

Apologies for this silly question, but it's something that I'd like to be sure about. I used good old Google and asked the AI the following question.

"what engines were fitted to cmc gazelle kit cars"

The result, that Ford Pinto cars were used as donors for the kit threw up the possibility that there might be confusion over the use of the word "Pinto". The Ford Pinto CAR as sold in the USA used a Ford "Lima" engine (2.3L) while in Europe we never saw a Ford Pinto car but did have Ford models equipped with a different SOHC engine which is known as a Ford Pinto engine (max 2.0L).... in the very first part of this thread you do say Ford Pinto 2.0L and also write about importing parts, so I guess we are all talking about the European engine, that is why this is a silly question....... but I ask just in case.

[Dwight]

I have a 2.0 pinto in this kit car I have another 2.3 Lima for the other kit car but that’s far from ready.

i had ignition timing a little off so I moved distribution to right spot but now it just pops out the exhaust and still will not fire off of starting fluid is not a loud backfire but more of a little popping 

[Dwight]

I bought 2 gazelle’s from my uncle one had the euro pinto motor and I recently went to local salvage yard and got a 2.3 Lima for the unbuilt car to make it more of a racer since we have lots of Lima parts over here but not many pinto 

[phaeton]

The answer is still the same, your timing is not correct

[Daveo]

1 hour ago, phaeton said:

The answer is still the same, your timing is not correct

 I agree needs setting up use a ford Cortina manual there really all the same.