Running getting worse

[VDB 50K]

Interesting.. maybe there's a connection (excuse the pun) either way it would be good to sort that at the same time.

No, not yet Neil. Haven't had chance to do anything with the car for over a week now - hopefully this weekend though. I'll report back with findings when I do.

Cheers

Robbie

Had a similar prob with my Srint,turned out that the hose to the brake servo was perished,letting in air to No1 pot via the take off point.Prove this by replacing takeoff with a bolt.
regards ...Bill

[Robbie693]

Right - here we go again.

First off I checked the fuel pump was delivering - 10 seconds or so of cranking resulted in a consistent squirt of petrol so I think this is ok.

Re-adjusted the float levels to 15mm with 25mm of droop - no change.

I sprayed WD40 around the vacuum take-off for the servo and the headlights (thanks Bill) but there was no variation in engine speed so I don't think I have a vacuum leak, also I would have thought the plugs would show this as a lean running condition?

Then I went to see Brian, who is a complete star, and fitted his carbs. Still exactly the same problem. We then bypassed the ignition with a wire from the solenoid to the coil - still no change. I think Brian was more disappointed than I was (!) but at least we have ruled out the carbs. Thanks again Brian, you were a massive help.

Today, after I had fixed the door lock which had locked me out of the car on Saturday , I changed the wire from the distributor to the coil but this didn't help. I even disconnected the breather from the airbox but this didn't help either.

It is still temperature related - whilst cool I managed to pull to the red line with a bit of stuttering but when hot it cut out at 5500 again. It seems that the hotter it gets the less revs I have as I was stuck in traffic on the second run and when I got some open road it gave up at 5000 but after cruising a bit and the temp dropped it pulled 5500 but no more. Before it stops revving there are a couple of stutters/hesitations then it hits what feels like a rev limiter.

The only other thing I can think to try is putting the old, leaky fuel pump on but both Brian and myself are unconvinced this is a problem.

Otherwise I guess I'll have to call in the expensive cavalry and either go back to Aldon and get them to analyse the ignition system or maybe I should give it to Paul Matty and say fix it please..

Can anyone advise on the next course of action because I'm now officially stumped and can see big bill looming which I can ill afford?

As ever, thanks for all the help and advice.

Cheers

Robbie

[gjz30075]

Robbie, are you sure the tank doesn't have crud in it? Maybe the crud is intermittantly blocking the pickup, although I'm not sure how that would relate to changing symptons with an increase in temp, but just a thought.

Greg Z

[robertverhey]

Hi
Way way back in this post I suggested the pigtail....did it get replaced at any point? If not my money's still on it....can look fine from outside but might be hanging by a thread inside. And can be exacerbated by heat

[Robbie693]

Hi Greg - I haven't checked the tank as it's full of fuel at the moment but the pump, carb filters and fuel bowls are spotless and as it always cuts out at the same rev's (depending on the temp) I thought it unlikely. If there was a blockage wouldn't the symptoms be intermittent and show up when I checked the pump flow?

Robert - by pigtail, do you mean the wire from distributor to coil? If so then yes I replaced that but no effect.

Thanks both

Robbie

[gjz30075]

Hi Greg - I haven't checked the tank as it's full of fuel at the moment but the pump, carb filters and fuel bowls are spotless and as it always cuts out at the same rev's (depending on the temp) I thought it unlikely. If there was a blockage wouldn't the symptoms be intermittent and show up when I checked the pump flow?

Robbie, you're right, of course but I'm just trying to think 'out of the box' here. There could be crud floating around in the tank that doesn't necessarily come through the lines. This happened to a friend of mind. He had a tank full of dandelions and they would swish around and occasionally stop the flow at the pickup. Most likely not your cause here but just thinking......

Greg Z

[pauljones]

Robbie,
Ill asume your not to far from Aldon,But If not just post the dizzy and get the same effect,that is get them to check the dizzy,fit the ignitor2 and coil.More spark than you know what to do with,trust me,by the way,Have you changed the coil yet?They do break down in the heat.

Paul

[robertverhey]

Hi by pigtail I mean the short wire inside the distributor that goes between nylon block on perimiter to points spring (and meets up with condenser wire)

[Robbie693]

Greg - See what you mean now, it'll have to wait till I run the tank down a bit though.

Paul - Yes Aldon are not too far away so I can call in to get the distributor checked. Best to get them to check the whole thing I suppose. I did change the coil last year as it was one of the first things that I thought could be the problem - it's a Lucas sport type.

Robert - Ok, now I understand. Yes the wire is new as it came with the points and condenser I bought.

Thanks all.

How about valve clearances? Would too loose or tight cause the problem?

Robbie

[bcmc33]

The reason I became involved is that Robbie has a new distributor, points, capacitor, coil, plugs and leads, plus replacing a suspect fuel pump, therefore, the only thing remaining is induction. So it seemed the easy option was to fit my known OK Dellortos.
The result was the same 'fluttering' at exactly the same rev range.

The 'fluttering' does seem, to me anyway, as ignition - so my recommendation was to take it back to Aldon for an in-depth diagnostic check on the rolling road.

[neilsjuke]

Change the capacitor for a old one that is known to work a lot of the new ones are of poor quality .
Neil

[Robbie693]

Neil - That's exactly what Aldon told me about condenser quality - most are useless. They apparently sourced some good ones - Bosch if I remember correctly - and presumably that is what they supplied me. The only spare I have is the same type as this so is an unknown as far as if it works ok. Is there a test one can do for a condenser on the bench?

Cheers

Robbie

[neilsjuke]

Depends on what your bench looks like
Neil

[pauljones]

Robbie,
If your coil is ok,then just get the standard ignitor,works just as well.Im sure Aldon will give you the advice and product you require.The reason I can say is I had a dizzy from them on the car when I got it but it had the points still in it,after all the hassle I had,and the associated problems of points ect,it was better just to take the hit and go electric.
No more problems for me.Im suprised so many still run points.

Paul

[Robbie693]

No progress to report so far - all work and no play.

I did get time for a chat with Paul Matty whilst doing my valuation though. He reckons it's either the fuel filter in the tank (I didn't know there was one...) or the coil. He said that if the rev counter fluctuates whilst it's doing the cutting out thing, which it does a bit, then that's a sign of a dodgy coil. I was planning to check the tank this weekend and then get another coil, maybe try a non-Lucas one, a Bosch Blue or something to see if it's just crap quality Lucas bits. Although I'd have thought having a new coil and the old one displaying the same symptoms to be unusual.

In the meantime I've developed a rattling noise from the front of the engine which I'll have to attend to first. I'm thinking timing chain but why it would need adjusting again after about a thousand miles I don't know. How often do they need adjusting and could the chain rattle be caused by something other than simply needing re-tensioning?

Robbie