Stuttering under load

[swampy42]

Hoping someone out there might be able to shed some light on my problem

Just dusted the old girl off after the winter, and for the first few miles she ran well, then started stuttering, finally coming to a halt when I hit a hill and she refused to start again. Breakdown guy cleaned the float chamber needle, and points and suggested condenser needed replacing. Anyway, I replaced coil, leads, condenser, rotor arm, contacts and plugs and its still doing the same thing. Seems fine when ticking over but as soon as accelerator is pressed to any degree, it just starts stuttering. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

[PSL184]

Timing sounds to be way to retarded....

[bmcecosse]

It's 'never' the coil...... Piston stuck in carb ? Vacuum advance not working ? And as above - has the ignition timing been optimised (after checking the vac advance of course)?

[swampy42]

Thanks for your replys
Time to go and check what you’ve suggested.
What would cause the timing to become retarded? if one minute it seems to be working fine, and then the next . . .
Just learning about this stuff, so apologies if its a dumb question.
Many thanks again

[aupickup]

the secret is ust keep using them

i run mine all year round snow ice wet and sunny and do not have the problems many seem to have on here after a lay up

[bmcecosse]

Changing the points can make a significant change to the timing ........

[Neil MG]

Sounds like it may well be the mechanical advance (and vacuum) that is sticking or stuck. Is the base plate free to rotate, sometimes after standing they can stick and sometimes the screw for the points (or condenser?) can be too long fouling underneath and preventing movement. As BMC points out changing the points gap will affect timing.

[swampy42]

Hi again and thanks for your comments.
I’m unsure it would be the timing that’s too retarded as nothing was altered since it was running perfectly - can it just untime itself? Obviously I’m happy to fiddle about with it if it can untime itself.
I’ve stripped the distributor down and everything seems to be free and moving correctly. Unsure if the vacuum is still functioning correctly though - is there an easy way to tell?

[chrisryder]

remove the vac pipe from the carb end and, with the cap removed, suck on the pipe. you should see the baseplate in the dizzy move.

prepare yourself for the faint taste of petrol too...

[DaisyMayFozz]

on mine the little bit of rubber pipe that held the vacuum advance copper pipe to the carb had rotted away........ a new piece of pipe and its been fine ever since.

[swampy42]

Thanks to all who replied.
It was indeed the vacuum pipe that had come adrift from the carb housing. It had sheered off would you believe it
Russ

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Strewth, it took you a long time to sort that one out!

[bmcecosse]

1 year 5 months!!

[swampy42]

is it really. Doesn’t time fly