Q: Carburetor is getting gas but will not fire. New fuel pump and cleaned the carburetor twice. It will start on starter fluid but dies.

Engines that won’t run are frustrating. Lets start by assuming you are getting fuel to pass through the carburetor. Next you will want to look into spark and compression. The spark may be the easiest to look into. You need to check the condition and gap on the spark plugs. The ignition cables need to be clean, dry, and tight. You also need to verify that your are receiving a strong enough current to each spark plug from the distributor.

If these aspects check out, you will need to look into the possibility of poor compression. Due to the age of the vehicle, this may be a problem. There are compression tests that you can perform on the engine, and they will take a special gauge set up.

The other abstract issue you may have is poor fuel quality. This is rare these days, but if the fuel is older, it may be bad. You will want to clean and drain not only the fuel tank, but the fuel lines as well.

To avoid any unnecessary repairs, I suggest having your car’s starting issue inspected at your home by one of our certified technicians.