car's died :'(

[Matt Tomkins]

got home 6 hours late last night on the back of a relay truck :'( i need some advice as to what might be the problem :/

when driving up a hill she coughed and died - the symptoms, i thought, of a broken fuel pump (been there before!) when the old trick of hitting it failed, a friendly policeman pushed me to the side of the road (onto double yellows it must be said! :p)
i checked feed to the su, and the pump's working. the float's all free to move etc as well.
there was a spark from the king lead, but not from the ht leads.
the AA man (who i was instructing, it seemed!) cleaned the dizzy components and the hts then were sparking.
still, though, shge refused to fire. with the float removed, the float chamber had a large amount of s**t in the bottom (i had let it get v low on petrol), so we removed and cleaned and reassembled the carb, but still no.
also did the points.

she has been stood for a week, but i don't see how that would make such a difference?

does anyone have any suggestions? - all welcomed and appreciated!

[MarkyB]

Rotor arm?
Make sure the isn't silt in the tube to the jet too, out of sight, out of mind!

[mogbob]

Matt
What state is the distributer cap in generally ? Plenty of spring in the carbon brush in the top...it's still there isn't it and a decent length ? The four contacts all clean and no cracks in the cap itself ?

"Did the points "

as in replaced them and reset the gap correctly ?
The distributer is firmly clamped to the engine, i.e not loose and able to rotate, affecting the timing ?

The low tension side of ignition.The wire from the coil to distributer is sound, no breaks and connectors good and strong.The small earth tag on the side of the distributer/ to the points spring connection all sound ?
If you are getting a spark from the HT King lead ,it means the coil should be OK.
The condenser...cheap to replace, would be my next go at a fix ...if everything else checks out, including MarkyB's suggestion of the rotor arm

Good luck with the hunt.
Bob

[bmcecosse]

Are the plugs wet? If so - it's not a fuel problem. If dry - it could be a fuel problem - tip some fuel down the carb and crank Bit - does it run for a few seconds. based on your comment that it is sparking - it's obviously NOT the coil ( ) - nor the points/condenser/LT wire - so it must be the dizzy cap or rotor arm. Just fit your spares - and it should go.

[Matt Tomkins]

SHE'S RUNNING (JUST!)

Are the plugs wet?

they weren't - hense the assumption that it was a fuel problem.
the AA man and i stripped down, cleaned, and reassembled the carb (fuel pump and float chamber had already been checked) to no avail.

tip some fuel down the carb and crank Bit - does it run for a few seconds.

nope :p -- stubborn as ever :/

so i reset the points, cleamned up the dizzy cap etc, and re-checked the spark

"Did the points "
as in replaced them and reset the gap correctly ?

-- no, just leaned them and re-set the gap (didn't have spares)
it was sometimes there, sometimes not, and weak when it was there (though there was a spark when the aa man checked it, it obviously was too weak to ignite any fuel)

so it must be the dizzy cap or rotor arm.

-- indeed, replacing the rotar arm, along with cleaning the rest up and it fired - just.

Rotor arm?

-- markyb, you legend!

with all the fiddling around the aa man and i did with the carb, it's way out of adjustment :/
30-50 takes a mile!

i'm just off to see a friend who's going to help me re-tune it

thanks all for your help and support.

cheers, matt

[ASL642]

That's what this site is for.

[bmcecosse]

Take the lesson - and start carrying a few spares.. A complete spare known to be working dizzy with cap/HT leads and rotor arm is a good start......

[Matt Tomkins]

The carb is also causing problems now,
the piston was sticking, and so the jet had to be re-set.
the mixture is still way out, but after 8 solid hours at it today we gave up and i drove home, running very rich!
roll on tomorrow... :/

Take the lesson - and start carrying a few spares.. A complete spare known to be working dizzy with cap/HT leads and rotor arm is a good start......

i will, my boot's already full, but those sort of useful things were in the shed! :p
rest assured whatever i carry in future won't be needed, and the one thing i leave at home will be!

cheers again for all your help. watch this space if i can't get it properly tuned tomorrow.
it'll be back out with the colour tune!

[bmcecosse]

Colour tune ?? Oh dear.......

And by 'known to be working' - I mean parts that have been running well on the car - and are removed complete. put in a good thick sealed poly bag - and carried in the car ready to be fitted if required. Dizzy/carb/fuel pump are good starting points.....maybe even a coil! Weigh little and take up little room. Invaluable when the engine stops...

[Matt Tomkins]

Colour tune ?? Oh dear.......

what would you recommend? i'm open for suggestions!

And by 'known to be working' - I mean parts that have been running well on the car - and are removed complete. put in a good thick sealed poly bag - and carried in the car ready to be fitted if required. Dizzy/carb/fuel pump are good starting points.....maybe even a coil! Weigh little and take up little room. Invaluable when the engine stops...

i've got a fuel pump in a poly bag, wrapped in a padded envelope, and i'll get the rest of the bits together.
as a student, though, i tend to only buy new parts when they're broken! :p

[bmcecosse]

Best to buy new parts that are NOT broken.......... No need for colour tune - just use the lift pin.