Back from the UK and the MJ is DEAD

[californla]

Hi all,

 

As many of you know, I moved to the UK for work and left my beloved 86 MJ behind.

 

Well, I am back for holiday and went to drive the MJ and it won't start.

 

The battery is good so it cranks but it won't fire. Its the 86 with the carb, so cold starting always required some pumpage and some feathering of the gas to keep it going until warmed but I stopped cranking after about 6 tries because I didn't want to burn out the starter.

 

Any suggestions as to how to get this thing going? I normally pump it twice, crank it with the gas half down and give it a little pump here and there if it is sluggishly started.

 

I guess I could pop the clutch but not sure if that would work (I am sadly not mechanically inclined).

 

Thanks!

[dasbulliwagen]

Did those have a mechanical fuel pump? If so, go get a can of starting fluid, spray a little in the carb, and start it. Its possible you lost fuel prime, and the slow cranking isnt enough to pull fuel up fast enough to get gas in the carb. Once you have it running a little on the starting fluid, the engine will turn over faster, and the fuel should be pulled up and into the carb where it SHOULD then run on its own. It might take a few tries to get to the point it will run by itself. Good luck, let us know what happens.

[Harper]

Don't know how long you were out of country, but if it sat for a long time with fuel in the carb bowl (and gas tank), good chance that the gas went bad. Any time you have to leave something sit for months, you either need to use an additive like Sta-bil, or drain the system (at least the carburetor bowl). But even such additives don't preserve the fuel forever, but usually keep the fuel viable for 9 months to two years, depending on other environmental factors.

[Pete M]

last time my 86 wouldn't start it turned out to be corrosion build up at the power wire leading into the coil. :(

 

but fuel issues are more common after sitting.

[Eagle]

An internal combustion engine requires three things in order to fire and run: fuel (gasoline), air, and spark. We'll assume that you have air, so you need to verify that you are getting spark and gasoline. Gasoline can be introduced as simply as dribbling gas into the carb opening, so first you need to find out if you have spark.