J.Fuller
30th November 2009, 21:16
Hi All,
The Rat recently made an Epic trip up to Lancaster on the M6, my first motorway driving, and very good fun. The fun continued upon arrival in 'town, where the 1.3 A+ series engine decided to fail me, for the first time ever!
So, here's some throughts from before and after the events, and an experssion of my confusion, I hope someone can suggest what might have gone wrong.
Pre Flight Checks:
Before departing to Lancaster, I filled up with fuel (BP unleaded, 95 Octane), and also added just under half a botle of Reddex to the tank for a clean out en-route. I topped up the carburettor damper with oil, which had fallen below the specified level. I made attempts to check the condition of vacuum pipes (as had allready replaced one perished hoze). I was particularly keen to test the pipe to the distributor, as I have been having some issues with the engine kicking back when I switch off). I was unable to do this without risking breaking a pipe, and so made the decision to go.
The car performed flawlessly all the way to Lancaster. It idled at lights and sustained 70 on the M6, all in order.
What happened?
The engine cut out in rush hour traffic, at speeds mostly below 20mph. (My first chance to use the hazard lights and push the car to safety on afew occasions). The engine refused to start upon stalling, for several minutes in each instance (happened 5 times total!). But: the engine would start after a pause of maybe 4-5 minutes, and would then run for a variable amount of time before cutting out again (usually a few minutes later).
When the engine lost power, the momentum of the car/engine would often keep it moving, but once it had began to struggle, it would always die. I started to practice left foot braking when out of gear in traffic, in an attempt to keep the revs up!
What I did:
Eventally, I consulted the Haynes manual and then did the following.
1) Inserted a length or rubber tube into the tank breather pipe (in the filler neck) and blew the pipe through in case of obstruction. - Possible cause No.2 fuel starvation caused by vacuum in the fuel system.
2) Got the bonnet up, and noticed that the vacuum hoze to the distributor had either fractured or melted through (not sure here, perhaps i weakened it, or disturbed it while trying to do my test). So i repaired the broken hoze. - Possible cause No.2, fueling issue relating to leaking vac system (unlikely as it ran before with a perished hoze, for a few hundered miles).
3) Examined the ignition coil low voltage connections, and found one of the spades to be a little loosed than i would have liked, so tightened up the connector with my pliers. ;) Possible cause No.3 - Ignition fault.
After these 'remedies' the car ran flawlessly, and has done ever since. I tested the delivery of the fuel pump and looked at the guts of the filler cap the next day, and saw nothing out of order. I have not been able to identify a fuel filter before the gauze on the jet (shown in Haynes), and have not looked into this yet.
The only other things to note are that the car still kicks back occasionally when I switch off. The engine actually tries to run backwards, as stalling in first makes the car move back a little!
Anyways, if you managed to read this far, well done! Has anyone got any suggestions as to what might have been the problem , and what i could investigate next?
With Many Thanks,
Joe
The Rat recently made an Epic trip up to Lancaster on the M6, my first motorway driving, and very good fun. The fun continued upon arrival in 'town, where the 1.3 A+ series engine decided to fail me, for the first time ever!
So, here's some throughts from before and after the events, and an experssion of my confusion, I hope someone can suggest what might have gone wrong.
Pre Flight Checks:
Before departing to Lancaster, I filled up with fuel (BP unleaded, 95 Octane), and also added just under half a botle of Reddex to the tank for a clean out en-route. I topped up the carburettor damper with oil, which had fallen below the specified level. I made attempts to check the condition of vacuum pipes (as had allready replaced one perished hoze). I was particularly keen to test the pipe to the distributor, as I have been having some issues with the engine kicking back when I switch off). I was unable to do this without risking breaking a pipe, and so made the decision to go.
The car performed flawlessly all the way to Lancaster. It idled at lights and sustained 70 on the M6, all in order.
What happened?
The engine cut out in rush hour traffic, at speeds mostly below 20mph. (My first chance to use the hazard lights and push the car to safety on afew occasions). The engine refused to start upon stalling, for several minutes in each instance (happened 5 times total!). But: the engine would start after a pause of maybe 4-5 minutes, and would then run for a variable amount of time before cutting out again (usually a few minutes later).
When the engine lost power, the momentum of the car/engine would often keep it moving, but once it had began to struggle, it would always die. I started to practice left foot braking when out of gear in traffic, in an attempt to keep the revs up!
What I did:
Eventally, I consulted the Haynes manual and then did the following.
1) Inserted a length or rubber tube into the tank breather pipe (in the filler neck) and blew the pipe through in case of obstruction. - Possible cause No.2 fuel starvation caused by vacuum in the fuel system.
2) Got the bonnet up, and noticed that the vacuum hoze to the distributor had either fractured or melted through (not sure here, perhaps i weakened it, or disturbed it while trying to do my test). So i repaired the broken hoze. - Possible cause No.2, fueling issue relating to leaking vac system (unlikely as it ran before with a perished hoze, for a few hundered miles).
3) Examined the ignition coil low voltage connections, and found one of the spades to be a little loosed than i would have liked, so tightened up the connector with my pliers. ;) Possible cause No.3 - Ignition fault.
After these 'remedies' the car ran flawlessly, and has done ever since. I tested the delivery of the fuel pump and looked at the guts of the filler cap the next day, and saw nothing out of order. I have not been able to identify a fuel filter before the gauze on the jet (shown in Haynes), and have not looked into this yet.
The only other things to note are that the car still kicks back occasionally when I switch off. The engine actually tries to run backwards, as stalling in first makes the car move back a little!
Anyways, if you managed to read this far, well done! Has anyone got any suggestions as to what might have been the problem , and what i could investigate next?
With Many Thanks,
Joe