Fuel or Ignition?

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   Maybe your engine is getting too much fuel? It is possible that old carbs doesn't stay where it was adjusted. One thing to check is fuel level in carb. The needle valve may be broken or dirty. That makes carb to float and your engine gets a little too much fuel. (My old Solex did that) It is possible to adjust the needle valve but mine was so worn that I bought new one.
One easy and fast way to check if your engine gets too much fuel: Take your air filter off and check if engine runs better. Remember that this isn't the way to fix the problem, just to determine it. Remember to put air filter back after test!

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qsela Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 04-August-2003 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 8	Posted: 25-November-2003 at 07:44
	Maybe your engine is getting too much fuel? It is possible that old carbs doesn't stay where it was adjusted. One thing to check is fuel level in carb. The needle valve may be broken or dirty. That makes carb to float and your engine gets a little too much fuel. (My old Solex did that) It is possible to adjust the needle valve but mine was so worn that I bought new one. One easy and fast way to check if your engine gets too much fuel: Take your air filter off and check if engine runs better. Remember that this isn't the way to fix the problem, just to determine it. Remember to put air filter back after test!

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stu2002 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 35	Posted: 26-November-2003 at 08:56
	The carb isn't that old, about 4 or 5 years old. I realise this is plenty of time for it to go wrong, but it's not worn out. I've stripped, cleaned and rebuilt it about 5 times now, replaced the float needle valve. All seems OK.

stu2002 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 35	Posted: 26-November-2003 at 09:02
	I think it must be the ignition. The points are wearing out very quickly and are the worst I've ever seen. Although it doesn't affect the starting!! Idle is pretty rough to start with but when warmed up she settles down quite nicely.

jonp Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member I Joined: 05-October-2003 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 145	Posted: 26-November-2003 at 09:33
	Stu2002, Just a suggestion mate, the coil is connected the right way round isn't it? A mate of mine had the same thing. If not, good luck!
	Autos are easy. Its the steering thats hard.

qsela Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 04-August-2003 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 8	Posted: 28-November-2003 at 09:45
	Maybe you are right and your vacuum advance unit is duff. If it is broken, carb takes fresh (wet, cold and dirty) air trough distributor. This might be the reason for points wearing.

stu2002 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 35	Posted: 28-November-2003 at 15:40
	I replaced the vacuum advance unit with a brand new one, didn't make any difference. Pretty sure the coil is connected correctly but will double check. I've been assuming all along that the timing is correct and that the carb is set-up properly. I think they must be there or therabouts but maybe its that final fine tuning is whats needed?

stu2002 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 35	Posted: 09-December-2003 at 09:13
	Just thought you'd like to know that I think I've found out what the problem was.............head gasket!!! I noticed an increase amount of steam from the exhaust over the last weak or so and sure enough the water level had gone down. However, I didn't relate the two things (seems strange with hindsight), because the rubber on the rad cap was a bit perished, so I just changed the rad cap. Water level problem solved for a few days. Then I noticed more water loss, investigated a bit further and found water in the oil!!!!!!! Oh joy. Why didn't I do a compression test?? Presumably this is why I was geting a misfire type situation as water isn't very combustible! Strange that it took so long to show itself? I think the extra pressurisation of system given by the new rad cap caused the gasket to finally blow. Hopefully this was the actual problem and not just a side effect of the underlying cause. On the plus side at least I've caught it early. Looks like I'm in for a fun Christmas.