Help, please. Engine problem.

[Galwaylotus]

Ok. Here's the deal. I finally got my Elan insured and road taxed two weeks after a successful 500 mile trip home. I went for a short drive yesterday and got caught in a downpour. I don't know if that's relevant or not. As I got near home, the car seemed to run out of fuel and died. After a little wait, it fired and limped around the corner to a safer spot before dying again. I ran home through the rain, got 4.5 litres of petrol and dumped it in the tank. Got it to run again and made it home (approx 0.3 miles). I thought I'd drive the couple of miles to get a fill of fuel today but made it less than a mile when it went sick again and died. After about five minutes I got it running but not cleanly and made it a couple of 10ths back toward home. Eventually between waiting, restarting - each time worse than the previous - and some pushing, my "pride and joy" is back in front of my house but definitely not well. The fuel gauge is showing slightly over 1/4 full and I think that's fairly accurate.I know the problem must be electrical or fuel related but I'd like input from anyone who may have experienced something similar.

[oldokie]

My first guess is something got wet, dizzy, coil; try blow drying it, wipe out the cap. Some owners won't go out in the rain for just that reason, I love sliding about in the wet but it took me a while to find and seal all the problem areas!

[rcraven]

If drying out doesn't help, maybe it's the fuel pump.

[enskr]

Sounds like a fuel supply problem to me. Maybe you've got some rain water in the fuel tank somehow. Fuel and water won't mix at all - have a look in the glass fuel pump bowl or the float chambers and you might see two distinct fluid layers, with the water being the bottom one
Kevin

[elansprint]

Could be the coil braking down when it gets hot. A friend had a similar problem going a mile down the road & then cut out after weeks of investigation it turned out to be needle valves which were new sticking shut so when he had used the fuel in the float chambers it cut out. Only found it by taking carb apart by the side of the road
Good luck
Ian

[richardcox_lotus]

Happened to me a few years ago. Coil. Replace component - job done.

[Galwaylotus]

That's what I love about this forum. I'd say if you had a laptop and were stuck by the side of the road you'd have a good chance of getting a diagnosis to get you going again!

Thanks, guys. There's a lot to chew on and when I get some dry weather I'll get stuck in. I'll post the results when I get it resolved.

[Rob_LaMoreaux]

It is easy to check if it is junk in the tank. Just remove the hose to the tank and then add an extension that can be dropped into a portable gas can. If it is a tank problem this works great.

Or at least it did last month when my fuel pickup pipe was clogged.

Also water sinks in gasoline, so if you had a major leak the water will pickup first. You should be able to see water mixed with fuel in a glass topped fuel pump if this is the case.

Rob

[rodbean]

My guess is that you may have rust in the gas tank. Pieces of it can randomly break off and end up in the fuel pump and/or the carbs. Some gas gets through but at a rate too low to run the car continuously for very long.

If you check the fuel pump and find rust packed into it, I would go through the tank, pump and carbs as well as cleaning out all the lines before running it again.

I had this happen to me years ago. I looked at all the standard problems before someone suggested this to me.

Good luck.

Rod Bean
SoCal

Ok. Here's the deal. I finally got my Elan insured and road taxed two weeks after a successful 500 mile trip home. I went for a short drive yesterday and got caught in a downpour. I don't know if that's relevant or not. As I got near home, the car seemed to run out of fuel and died. After a little wait, it fired and limped around the corner to a safer spot before dying again. I ran home through the rain, got 4.5 litres of petrol and dumped it in the tank. Got it to run again and made it home (approx 0.3 miles). I thought I'd drive the couple of miles to get a fill of fuel today but made it less than a mile when it went sick again and died. After about five minutes I got it running but not cleanly and made it a couple of 10ths back toward home. Eventually between waiting, restarting - each time worse than the previous - and some pushing, my "pride and joy" is back in front of my house but definitely not well. The fuel gauge is showing slightly over 1/4 full and I think that's fairly accurate.I know the problem must be electrical or fuel related but I'd like input from anyone who may have experienced something similar.

[Lincoln62]

As this happened after you ran out of fuel it's likely a bit of dirt/rust/water has been picked up and affected the fuel supply.

Water is the most likely culprit as Webers have filters inside the inlets which should stop most crud getting through. You could take the tops off the carbies and check for water in the float bowl.

Pete

[jkatthehelm]

You say "seemed to run out of fuel", so if we assume that this was the symptom only and it's not water, possible culprits, chepest and most likely first, are:

Condenser
Coil
Fuel Pump

Since all tank pick ups are at the bottom of the tank (obvious really..) "crud pick" could occur pretty much any time. If none of the above are the cause, check the carb fuel filters, and anyway fit a separate inline filter before the carbs, this is good practice anyway and they only cost a couple of quid.
JK

[Galwaylotus]

That's correct. It was a symptom only as I think there's over a quarter tank of fuel now. When I got home from work, I pulled the dist cap - one clip was already loose - and it seemed dry inside. Then it started raining again so I wiped it with a paper towel, sprayed some CRC into the cap and onto the open distributor before putting it all back together. Tried it again and it won't even fire now. As this has been getting progressively worse, I suspect coil or condenser. I'll try to get one of each tomorrow and pray for a dry evening so I can replace them! Any suggestions on brand (if I have a choice!!!). I suspect I'll just be able to get a standard 12V coil and condenser and count myself lucky!

Where do I find the fuel pump and what do I need to remove the Weber float bowl covers - is it the four screws on top of each sidedraft?

I really appreciate the help, guys. Thanks again.

[Lincoln62]

Where do I find the fuel pump and what do I need to remove the Weber float bowl covers - is it the four screws on top of each sidedraft?

If you have a mechanical pump it is under the carbs at the rear of the engine. Not that easy to get to.

Assujming you have Webers, the carb tops are held on with 5 screws. You will need to disconnect the fuel lines first. You also need to be careful pulling the cover off as it has the float bowl attached and it is fragile and with mishandling can lose your float level setting. If the bowls have water in them you should see it as bubbles that sit at the bottom.

Pete

[smokey73]

I had a similar problem years ago. Just a thought, but you may want to check the ground behind the coil. Mine was loose and when cleaned and tightened it worked just fine. My first thoughts when something seems electrical is to check the ground.

Smokey73

[Apollo13]

Hi there,

We could be having similar problems. Will update when mine is running, but check the "Can't fire engine after rebuild" thread for sound advice with electrical issues of a similar nature:

My thread is titled "Heeeeeeelp!!"

How are you getting on solving your problems?

Cheers,
George