St-t-t-t-t-tuttering 1.3LX

[aerosam99]

Hi guys, the LX has been great for a while, i think the threat of me ripping the engine out and dumping a VW unit in there scared it into playing nice for a while, but no more.

The engie has developed what i think is a misfire, all i know is it has gone from intermittent to virtually constant and it's making the car undriveable. It pulls off fine, but as soon as i put my foot down, it dies momentarily, then is ok, then dies, then it's ok. This cycle repeats rapidly for a few seconds or until i dip the clutch, give it a good rev and try again. It's shaking the hell out of the car (and me) and must be putting strain on everything.

I took the dizzy cap and rotor arm off and cleaned the deposits off them, but haven't had time to look any further. Any ideas?

I need the car running, so if i can't fix it soon, i'll be down the scrappies this weekend getting a VW engine to shoehorn in there.

[E_T_V]

Check the usual things for the A series.

Carefully check all of the vacuum pipes for splits especially at junctions and T pieces
Check/change all the HT leads plugs dostributer cap etc and
Check the oil level in the carburettor damper
95% of running problems in my opinion are due to these simple things.

If all of these are fine then come back and we'll see what else we can do for you!

[aerosam99]

Thanks E_T_V I'll have a check and get back to you guys soon!

[F690OTF(RIP)]

This doesn't actually add to anything Dan said, but I would definitely say check the HT leads. We had a problem on our Clubman recently which sounds fairly similar, and we (eventually) tracked it down to a dead HT lead. We don't really know what's wrong with it, but there is no continuity along its length. Check each lead with a multimeter.

[aerosam99]

It's all better!

I went the whole hog and changed the dizzy cap, rotor arm, plugs and leads, topped up the carb oil, engine oil, and even flushed the water system and gave it some nice fresh anti freeze ready for winter. (vacuum hoses were fine by the way E_T_V, thanks)

Now it's running fine, i don't know what was wrong, but i'm guessing it was one of the ignition components. And when it all cost me just £22, i'm not about to complain.

Thanks for the advice guys.

[skipweasel]

It's all better!

Now it's running fine, i don't know what was wrong, but i'm guessing it was one of the ignition components.

Almost certainly the carburettor dashpot. I've had exactly those symptoms on so many SU carbed vehicles over the years and have learned to check that first.

[topgear]

Good news.. Glad its fixed!

One thing that may be a good idea to check (in the future) is the ignition amplifier.. I had the exact same problem in my 1,3 City X when this was starting to kick out! Luckily i had a spare, which is more than can be said for the AA man to came to my rescue!