kyamon
Active Member
Hello all - this is for a petrol 6-cyl from 1974.
I am aware that there are similar posts as what I am going to write, and I apologise for this. But the advice given there did not do it for me (so far?).
When I start my engine it usually starts fine but runs very rough and stalls after around 30 seconds. The car has been sitting for a while, last time I used it it drove fine at first but then suddenly started acting out and stalled, while driving. I have had a bit of an oil issue with leaky valve seals, so the engine burns quite a bit of oil. But it ran fine, so even though I plan to replace them, I did not consider it super urgent.
My first guess was bad fuel delivery (or bad fuel?), but that did not seem to do it. Can the petrol go bad in the tank? It has been in there for over a year...
Here is what I tested and did:
* Sparks are full of soot. I replaced them, and they turned black again quite soon. I guess this is a symptom of the engine running rich, but I am not sure how to correct.
* Adjusted the point gap in the dizzy - that improved things somewhat, but does not solve the problem. The main thing this did is that I can now rev' it again to high RPM, which was not possible before. Could it be that I improved the gap but that it is still off?
* When I press the accelerator, often times nothing happens, then some times it slowly rev's up but then stalls.
* Fuel flow to the carb looks fine (hence I assume that pump and filter are ok)
* I cleaned the carb and replaced the valve (did nothing for the problem); diaphragm looks fine, as does the needle.
* Air intake looks fine, I disconnected from the oil filter (to be sure), the butterfly valve in the carb opens fine.
I have not replaced the coil - but this (together with the points) would be the next thing I try. Is this a reasonable approach or is there an easier fix that I can do without waiting for stuff to be shipped...?
Thanks!
I am aware that there are similar posts as what I am going to write, and I apologise for this. But the advice given there did not do it for me (so far?).
When I start my engine it usually starts fine but runs very rough and stalls after around 30 seconds. The car has been sitting for a while, last time I used it it drove fine at first but then suddenly started acting out and stalled, while driving. I have had a bit of an oil issue with leaky valve seals, so the engine burns quite a bit of oil. But it ran fine, so even though I plan to replace them, I did not consider it super urgent.
My first guess was bad fuel delivery (or bad fuel?), but that did not seem to do it. Can the petrol go bad in the tank? It has been in there for over a year...
Here is what I tested and did:
* Sparks are full of soot. I replaced them, and they turned black again quite soon. I guess this is a symptom of the engine running rich, but I am not sure how to correct.
* Adjusted the point gap in the dizzy - that improved things somewhat, but does not solve the problem. The main thing this did is that I can now rev' it again to high RPM, which was not possible before. Could it be that I improved the gap but that it is still off?
* When I press the accelerator, often times nothing happens, then some times it slowly rev's up but then stalls.
* Fuel flow to the carb looks fine (hence I assume that pump and filter are ok)
* I cleaned the carb and replaced the valve (did nothing for the problem); diaphragm looks fine, as does the needle.
* Air intake looks fine, I disconnected from the oil filter (to be sure), the butterfly valve in the carb opens fine.
I have not replaced the coil - but this (together with the points) would be the next thing I try. Is this a reasonable approach or is there an easier fix that I can do without waiting for stuff to be shipped...?
Thanks!
