How to diagnose a no-start problem.
The car has been on the driveway all night, you go to start it up, and nothing. The engine spins over, but doesn't fire up.

The first thing to check is the ignition system, Take a lead off of a spark plug, holding it with a cloth or glove, to prevent a nasty jolt, hold it about a quarter of an inch from the top of the spark plug connector. Turn the ignition, as the engine turns over, you should see an occasional spark between the lead and plug. If there is no spark, replace lead and in the distributor, check the contact-breakers gap, generally it should be about the thickness of a cigarette packet. Adjust as required. When you are certain there is a correct gap, again turn engine, check if there is a spark at the contact-breakers point.

Other non-start places to check are the high tension ignition leads, are they secure. If you can say that the ignition side is working OK, then move on to the fuel system. There is fuel in the car, isn't there ! When you were turning the engine over to check for sparks, did you notice a smell of gasoline ? There should have been. Another fuel check is to remove a spark-plug, and look at it to see if it is wet with gasoline, you must check all of the other plugs, to rule out a carburettor fault.

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