I'm still having starting problems with the cabrio, sometimes it's fine and sometimes it just won't fire.

I took it out to get some petrol on Saturday, car started up fine - drove to the petrol station, put petrol in, then car wouldn't start. I fiddled around with things, sat for a while and then it started ok. Got home and stopped it, it wouldn't start again. Leave it for 10 minutes and it starts again.

I took the fuel cut off valve out to see if that was clean/working, it looked like it was working OK, but I did notice it has a big 6v stamped in the side (car is now 12v). So looks like I need a new one of those. Is there a way of proving this though? Should it start ok without that in? Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and shell out for a new carb?

Once it starts, it seems to run well. Drove 50 miles down to the Ace cafe on Saturday, luckily started OK when it was time to come home as well...

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You say it dose not start. Dose the engine turn over but dose not fire up? Or dose it not crank over? To test the fuel cut off solinoid turn the ignition on then remove the wire from the terminal and touch it on and off the spade conection. Dose it make a cliking sound? If not remove and re fit wier to terminal and toutch the solanoid body to the carb dose the plunger move? if yes its ok if its 6V then it may be over heating and not work when hot. You can not run the car with the solinoid removed but iff its shot you can cut the plunger off and refit to get you home its just that when you turn the motor off it may keep running with the heat of the engine igniting the fule mixture. Replace with a 12 volt item. If all ok Fit a test bulb to the feed on the coil and put to earth turn the ignition on dose the bulb light up if yes then go to cranking the engine dose the light stay on if yes the ignition feed is ok If it gose out but starts the ignition switch is released then the ignition switch is at fault. What happens is that when cranking there is no live feed to the coil but when the ignition swich is released the momentom of the engine keeps it turning over so when the switch goes to ignition only it will start This is to be tested when cold. The reason it will not start is when the engine is hot the petrol mixture will not be strong enough to catch the spark when you have stopped cranking. Hope this makes sence up to now if all ok it may be petrol evaporation Have you got the insulator block between the carb and inlet manifold? If not this can cause all sorts of problems with what is called Heat Sink When the engine is swiched off the temprature rises and bolis the petrol ( Ask any side valve Ford owner )When it cools down the petrol becomes fluid and works again. Hope you sort it if not we can try some other things :thumbup:


Andy W

Yep it cranks over but does not fire. I'll take another look at the cut off solenoid tonight, I'll also check some of the other stuff you've mentioned...

:beer:

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So this morning, when I needed to move the cars around - it was cranking and cranking and would not fire. I've got back from work and tried it, started up straight away :? started and stopped it about 5 times and it started each time. When I touch the wire on the solenoid I couldn't hear any clicking. :?

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You can remove the solenoid and fit a normal jet from a later carb that has the large cut off valve on the other side.the 6v solenoid will not work properly on 12v and will be getting very hot,eventually burning out.i may have a 12v one if you need one .try the normal jet first and see if it improves but find a 12v one ASAP .

Also check the breather on your fuel tank and what distributor are you running ?

I don't have a later jet to use, I'll have to buy a 12v cut off valve, looks like they're about £20. Not much to pay if it fixes it.

Breather on the fuel tank is fine, distributor I need to change, it's currently a 009, but that wouldn't cause this would it? Runs well when it starts, nice and smooth, pulls well. Drove the 50 odd miles down to the ace cafe on Saturday with no problems, started ok to come home and drove nice all the way home. Seems really random.

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It´s not just getting stinking hot and evaporating the fuel out of the carb is it? Mine would do this on hot summers days, but at this time of year it´d surprise me.

Or, the points and condensor?

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A little update to this. I went to try and start it again yesterday, turned over but wouldn't fire from cold. I took the wire off the cut-off valve and tested that, I could hear it clicking. So then I thought I'd check out the carb a little bit more, looked in while pulling the accelerator down - normally you can see a jet of petrol squirting out when you do this, but there wasn't one.

So I took the top of the carb off to check that there was fuel in the float chamber and there was. With the top off the carb, I looked into it and again pulled the accelerator looking for the squirt of petrol. What happened instead was that the brass piece flew off and hit me in the face :rofl: It was clearly completely blocked, and the pressure caused it to fly out. A few minutes poking it with some fine guitar wire had it cleared, I put it back in the carb and pulled the accelerator and a nice jet of petrol came from it. So I put the top of the carb back on and tried starting the car again, it started straight away... So I'll leave it a few more days and try it again, see if I've made progress or not (still need to replace the cut-off valve for a 12v version).

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Its the pump jet that you have cleaned out a common fault with the flat four for some reason. Hope this has solved your problem. :thumbup:


Andy w

So it seems that my starting problems, although 90% better - are still not cured. :?

I took the car for its MOT yesterday, stopped for fuel - it started fine. Parked at the MOT station, started fine - on and off the ramp etc. and to come home, no problems whatsoever. Today, took the car out for a run to Lavenham, approx an hour and a half drive - it never missed a beat all the way there and started first time to come home as well, again - stopped for fuel and it started first time again and then another hour and a half not missing a beat home. So for two days it hasn't had a single problem, surely this is sorted now then? Get back in the car to pop to the shop and it wouldn't start. Turned over and kicked a few times but would just stop straight afterwards. So obviously I'm really hacked off with it now, came in and had a nice BBQ :thumbup: went out to start it after dinner and it started up fine :? :?

Please please please, someone fix my damn car :bored:

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With problems like this it is handy to have a few spares to swap bits over but I assume you don't so with a clear head it might be worth going through everything again I assume you have changed the cut off for a 12 v one .if not do that first.
It's tricky trying to sort this kind of thing online but if you go through everything even if you don't think it's the problem you will fix it.

Few tips

Next time it happens check the ignition first.use a spare plug and disconnect a lead from your car to connect the spare plug to.make sure you touch the thread with the block to earth it ,and get wifey to turn over (engine not wifey) .should the spark be ok remove no 1 plug from your car to see if it is wet with petrol.if its wet there is a chance it's flooded which is probably why when you leave the car for an hour or two it starts again ok. As the engine will dry out.
Do that first and post again

Ok, will do. The carb now has 12v cut off thanks to the replacement carb from AW.

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A little update to this. Tried starting the car on Sunday and it wouldn't fire. Took the lead off and put it on a spare plug to test for spark - there was very little or no spark, but the battery was getting run down from trying various things. So charged the battery up and swapped the 009 distributor out for the old stock vacuum advance distributor. The old distributor looks to have a new condenser and points in it. When the battery was charged up, the car started first time.

So Monday night I popped out and tried starting it, it started first time. Last night - started first time. This morning, started first time - so I drove the car into work. Car drives nicely when it's running, very smooth and pulls well. Parked up at work and turned it off, I thought I'd try starting it again to see if it would start again and it just turned over really slowly like the battery is dead. 😞

Do I just need a new battery? I'm going to have another try at lunch time when it's had time to cool down to see if it turns over again.

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Check the charging rate with the motor running put a volt meter accross the batery and with a few reves it should read aprox 14.7 volts put all the lights radio etc on and it should not drop below 12 also if you have just fully charged the battery see what the voltage is be for you start you my get a high reading with a surface voltage from the mains charger. If all is ok and you can see the battery levels you can perform a volt drop test. DO NOT do this were you have charged the battery and also perform it after an hours rest from charging in a WELL VENTED area. This is the scary bit you can get a propper tool for this that loads the battery or you can do it a nother way if you hav a good set of jump leads. put one lead on to one post and the other lead on to the other post then with the other two leads away from the battery hold them together so there is a straght short circuit this will cause a big flash as you put the two leads together so be brave and see if any of the cells are bubbeling if so the battery is up the spout and you need a new one.


Andy W

Hi Rob,
Have you got a volt meter so you can test the battery and regulator?
Could be the starter bush or an earth problem perhaps - earth strap on gearbox?

If you do decide on getting a new battery I would highly recommend investing in an Optima one, especially if the car is standing for long periods, well worth the extra money in my opinion.

I hadn't touched the Oval since moving over to Brackley in April so I thought I'd better start it up at the weekend - Choke on, a few pumps on the throttle and it fired up straight away.


Malc

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It's lunchtime, so I just went to see if the car will start - it turned over OK and started.

:?

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Have you checked ALL the earth straps and the conections on the starter and did you check the ignition switch????????????

Andy W

Have you tried bump-starting it when it won't start?
Does it start easily with a push, without the drain of the starter?

At least there will be plenty of people around at the weekend to help push!

Malc :wink:

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I've not got anything with me at work, hopefully if I get home OK I can check starter connections etc. Haven't tried bump starting it. Not sure how to look at the ignition switch, it's got the steering lock on it and is a right pain to get at.

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