What IS wrong with my car?

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Do not know what it is called, but there is a component in the vacuum system (the vacuum pipe that exits the carb just behind the choke/accelerator linkages goes to it), that is potentially something to do with it.
I can't think of anything else you haven't listed as checked, what do others think?

Marc

[bis13]

have you tried rigging up a gravity feed for the fuel to see if the pump is playing up? when you initially said the car runs fine then stalls when you lift off was this in a moving vehicle or revving the engine in a static position? have you played around with the timing and checked that the points gap is set correctly? its a bit if the engine revs fine and then when put under load (ie. tries to move) then it sounds most likely to be the fuel pump giving up the ghost. let us know the answer to my question and then i can get my thinking head on.

[ciaoflyer]

have you tried rigging up a gravity feed for the fuel to see if the pump is playing up? when you initially said the car runs fine then stalls when you lift off was this in a moving vehicle or revving the engine in a static position? have you played around with the timing and checked that the points gap is set correctly? its a bit if the engine revs fine and then when put under load (ie. tries to move) then it sounds most likely to be the fuel pump giving up the ghost. let us know the answer to my question and then i can get my thinking head on.

It stalls when moving and when sat on the drive just revving it!

[bis13]

thats got to be fuel pump on its way out

[Allan]

Can you jury rig an electric fuel pump to positively eliminate or confirm that the pump is the main issue?

[ciaoflyer]

I have a spare pump so gonna mess around with them and see what happens!

[Draigflag]

Let me know how you get on, I'm also experiencing fuelling problems 

[fightingtorque]

when i bought my car it ran fine for about 5 minutes then started conking out, turned out to be the fuel pump.  For some reason it worked ok when cold but not when hot.  I guess that you lose some of the rod stroke when the engine is hot because of expansion of the aluminium block, but i'm surprised it made such a difference.  anyway, with a new pump on it was fine.

as has been suggested, you can eliminate the question of a weak pump by putting a jerry can of fuel above the engine and running a pipe from that into the fuel pump.  because gravity is  now helping you even a duff pump should work ok, that is how i got the car home!

[Draigflag]

^^Sounds familiar, mine runs ok when cold, when hot it breaks down. Jerry can idea sounds a bit risky though! 

[Rusty's Uncle]

I think that the worn fuel pump push rod is a bit of a myth as it is made of hardened steel. It will wear but if you remove it and it still has a chamfer on each end then it is probably OK. The bit that does wear the most is the contact face of the actuating arm on the fuel pump and as at best there is only about 2.5mms movement from the cam to actuate the pump a little bit of wear can have a dramatic effect.

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Could the fuel lines be getting blocked inside the tank? Had that on scirrocco. Flakes of rust were sitting over the end of the pipe, wedged a lawnmower fuel filter on the end of the send pipe in the tank, problem sorted for 80 pence.

Marc

[fightingtorque]

I think that the worn fuel pump push rod is a bit of a myth as it is made of hardened steel. It will wear but if you remove it and it still has a chamfer on each end then it is probably OK. The bit that does wear the most is the contact face of the actuating arm on the fuel pump and as at best there is only about 2.5mms movement from the cam to actuate the pump a little bit of wear can have a dramatic effect.

yes, on the worn out pump that whole moving finger arrangement was loose, sloppy, shagged.   funnily enough i was 'tidying up' a bit in the garage last night, came across the old pump and flung it in the bin.  I never like throwing stuff away, but the problem is years later you are looking at things and trying to remember if its a secondhand spare you havent used yet or something that didnt work but you kept for sentimental reasons!

[Allan]

If the car has supressed spark plug leads these could be breaking down when they get hot. Include the coil lead if you are able to change them to see.

[ciaoflyer]

Ok car is running again    New fuel pump works a treat unfortunately it has not cured the original problem it still stalls!

So this all started when I removed the exhaust to repair it with putty and bandage, this aloso involved removing the earth strap, could this be the source of my problems?

[ciaoflyer]

Also going to check valve clearances, what is the correct gap for the BIS?  Also how do you turn the engine by hand?