My son picked up a 62 New Yorker with an original 413, but we can't get the darned thing to run! We bought the car from the last guy, not running.

The starter cranks the motor over just fine. We pulled all the plugs (they looked OK, just old.) We have installed new Autolight plugs gaped at .035.

We have put about 3 shots of oil into 5 of the 8 cylinders (we couldn't get the oil can contorted enough to get to the other 3 cylinders. I have a hand held compression gauge, and we have a consistent 80 lbs compression on 4 bumps on the 5 cylinders we can get the compression checker in. The other cylinders have enough compression to blow your thumb off the hole by cranking the motor. We can also feel our finger being pulled into the cylinders as the motor is cranked over, just before compression.

The car still has the single point ignition. The points are high quality points (not china crap) and look like they are fairly new, and are properly set. We are getting a spark out of the coil by cranking the motor over, and we get a spark from the coil every time we manually open the points. With the cap and rotor on, we are getting spark at the plugs. I have an old plug we ground with a jumper lead, connect to a plug wire on the motor and visibly see spark across the gap on 3 of 3 different wires we have checked, we have no reason to believe the other 5 won't have the same result.

We bump several cylinders up on compression and the rotor points to the correct plug terminal on the cap. The dist is stuck in the block, it hasn't moved in a long time. With the combination of decent compression, the ability to feel our fingers being sucked into the cylinder as it is cranked over, and the non-movable dist pointing at the correct terminal every time, we believe the timing chain is OK. The odometer shows 98045 miles, which appears to be correct, there are oil change stickers on the door indicating oil changes at 92xxx miles and at what looks like 90xxx miles.

We have spark, at the cylinders, and at the time of compression.

We have dumped gas down the carb, but don't even get a pop. The gas is fresh, and will burn when splashed out and lit with a lighter. We pulled off the carb, (it originally had fuel in it that smelled a bit old) (carb is an AFB) and cleaned out all the passages. We have pulled the fuel tank, had it boiled out, and replaced the fuel filter and all the rubber hoses. We have fresh fuel in the tank, and again in the carb (this was what we did the burn test with).

Still not even a pop.

I advanced the plug wires around the cap, dumped some fuel down the carb, and cranked it over and it would kick back against the starter on about every cylinder, but when we returned the wires to the people location, just crank, nothing else. When I retarded the wires around the cap, it would pop through the carb. Wires in the proper location, nothing. Dump lots of gas down the carb and I have wet plugs that still will spark when pulled out of the motor, and grounded.

Its driving me nuts guys, what am I missing?

The car has a complete exhaust system on it, (looks like a new OEM style muffler and tail pipe, both shiny steel, with a very nice but small single exhaust.) Is it possible the exhaust is plugged up and not letting the motor run?
I'm pulling what little hair I have left out! Gene

I assume you mean by 4 "bumps that you are talking about 4 compressions cycles. If all you are getting is 80 PSI you have very poor compression, which may be primary reason for the non start. The compression may come back a bit if you can get it running.

The first thing I would do is get the distributor freed up so you can advance the timing a bit. Then I would check would be for potential vacuum leaks possibly at the brake booster or the other small vacuum lines.

Good luck

Been there got the t shirt etc...I found that same problem many times in the past,,,with that compression and a motor that hasn't run you have it get it to crank over faster..I simple got another good battery and hooked them up so that I was putting 24 volts to the starter,it WILL start first time,right away.. you will be surprised how good that works..If you don't know how to do that find some one that does..I actually forgot which wire goes where..but it's a simple thing to do,and you wont hurt anything..just make sure everything is turned off,. lights radio etc..if the car was stick, you could just pull,or push it down the road to get the motor turning faster,,it' works .. done it several times..and once it starts ,,only have to run it a minuet or so ,then it should start normally after that..

You might be able to pull start that one. I don't remember what year the transmission changed.

R.

Yep, '62 727 has the rear pump so it can be tow started.

Yes it does.....the motor will crank over twice as fast and that should make it start..,,or you can tow start it.. good luck.... first one I ever did was my new wife's 57 Plymouth.. .hadn't run in like 3 months..I checked everything just like you did,,an old tech showed me what to do..that sucker cranked right up.. ..drove that car another year,,no problems...did a few others like that .. last one was my 83 D150 with 175 K miles on it ,,drove it every day with no problem,,then parked it for bout 5 months.. Stick shift..pushed it with another truck.. started in about 30 feet.. sold it with 225 K miles on it running good..

is it possible the timing chain has jumped time?

Hi all, The 413 had reason to kick my butt. I borrowed a real compression gauge today and did a compression test across the entire motor. I am somewhat discouraged. I had 3 cylinders I couldn't get my hand held compression gauge into, and 2 of them are a problem. I believe 80-90 psi should be enough to start a motor, might not run great, but should start.
Compression readings are as follows.
#1 70 psi
#3 70 psi
#5 30 psi (couldn't check that one)
#7 60 psi (couldn't check this one)

#2 75 psi
#4 90 psi
#6 90 psi
#8 90 psi (couldn't check this one)

I pulled the valve cover off the left head. It was nasty in there, big chunks of caked and crumbly stuff. All the rockers and valves were moving, but one valve on #6 was definitely not closing completely and one of the valves on #1 was hanging up (delay in closing) as the motor turned over. There was a lot of slop between the valve and the push rods on those 2 valves, the rest of the rockers seemed about normal.
At this point, we have to at least pull the driver side head, and as nasty as it was under the valve cover, the whole motor needs cleaned up. Its probably coming out. Gene

Well crap Might be time for a fuel injected 360 or hemi

First thing that comes to mind is a bad fuel pump.Oil smell like gas? You should not have to pour the fuel in.I had a 62 w/361 that acted much the same.Fuel leak in pump caused the lifters to collapse and no start.Check position on #1 wire on the cap.You are sure the wires are connected in the right direction? Eng can be extremely dirty and run fine.Same with a low cyl or two it should still run.

Mike,
The fuel pump works good, the oil was fresh when we started, and still smells OK. We were pouring gas in to be assured we were getting good gas. After we had the tank boiled out,and put in fresh gas, we have good fuel coming through the carb's accelerator pump.

The original intention was to be a quick fire up and determine if we could use the motor this year before we pulled it. I have spent enough time on this. We will pull the motor, and probably pull it apart to determine its actual condition, but I don't believe it will be a good option to run it this year, in its current condition. Weather we rebuild this motor, or swap in a different big block, or swap in a new Hemi drive train, will be Biggie's decision, its his car. The more time we waist trying to get this one to run is less time we have for moving forward towards making the 62 a drivable ride for this summer.
Gene

Give it a couple of diesel baths and see if that helps. I've resurrected a couple engines using this method. Nothing to lose at this point.