Engine problems - help!

[nightsurfer]

Last night my car lost all power when driving about 30 miles from home on a straight dual carriageway.
It will tick over fine and accelerate initially but won't maintain a constant speed.
We managed to get home by pulling the choke out fully and hobbling along at 25mph in fourth gear.
Every time I changed down for a roundabout or traffic lights the engine stalled, but would fire up immediately afterwards.
Tried it again this morning and it seems to have the same problem within a mile.
Has anybody experienced this issue and can you point me in the right direction for a fix?
I'm tending towards fuel starvation, maybe the fuel pump.
The engine is a 2L Ford Pinto with twin webber carbs.
Thanks

[h_m_cumming]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Electrical or mechanical fuel pump? Any sign of fuel leakage under the carbs?
Hugh

[philcoyle]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Which ever fuel pump you have electric or mechanical you need a new one, also remove the pick up pipe from the tank and check the filter, in the past there has been fuel tanks overly plastered in gasket compound which tends to fall off from wherever it was applied and clog up your pick pipe and its filter.

[A_Hogg]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Carb float needles sticking, or as suggested blocked filter/ faulty pump.

[Lanciajohn]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Which ever fuel pump you have electric or mechanical you need a new one, also remove the pick up pipe from the tank and check the filter, in the past there has been fuel tanks overly plastered in gasket compound which tends to fall off from wherever it was applied and clog up your pick pipe and its filter.

I had exactly this problem with the cabrio except the offending sealant had managed to travel down the fuel line and was built up just before the inline filter which allowed the motor to run at low revs but any application of throttle caused the motor to die as soon as the float bowl was empty. fixed it by removing fuel lines from tank and filter and blowing through with an air line. might be worth a ckeck.

[keith]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Take off the inlet pipe to the carbs with the bowls full and
run the engine.This will test the pump/filters and all the fuel
system up to the carbs.If you don't have a good flow the problem is there.
If it flows well it is the carb end of the system.

Regards K Biddulph.

[nightsurfer]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Thanks for all the advice. I will try everything and report back on success (or otherwise).

I have ordered new fuel pump, hose and filter (the originals may be 35 years old) and will fit them in the next couple of weeks.

It is a mechanical fuel pump, by the way.

[keith]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Mechanical pump. May be diaphram perished in pump. Test the flow.

K.Biddulph (Barmy Brummie.)

[greyV8pete]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Mechanical pump. May be diaphram perished in pump. Test the flow.

K.Biddulph (Barmy Brummie.)

Check also that the spring under the diaphragm is ok, not weakened or broken.

With my old classic I fitted a solid state pump next to the tank and made a blanking plate to fit over the mech pump hole in the block so the old pump was eliminated. Cured forever the dreaded vapour lock. Modern fuels evaporate much more easily than the old stuff so fit one of these and forget. Peter.

[chris_cussen]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Mechanical pump. May be diaphram perished in pump. Test the flow.

Fuel generally leaks past the diaphram if it is perished and then gets squirted out of the ventilation holes in the pump leading to a very strong smell of petrol.

[nightsurfer]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Fuel generally leaks past the diaphram if it is perished and then gets squirted out of the ventilation holes in the pump leading to a very strong smell of petrol.

There is no smell of petrol, so perhaps not the diaphragm.

New fuel pump from eBay arrived today, along with a new fuel filter. Just waiting on the hose, then I will get them fitted.

[Gareth]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Just a thought...is the vent hole in the petrol cap blocked??

[philcoyle]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Nightsurfer.
There may be some misunderstanding going on here, when I mentioned a blocked filter on the pick up pipe I was referring to the pipe attached to the tank and removing the pickup pipe and tank unit , I don't know if you have locking ring on it or half a dozen small screws. Removing the unit you will find a filter much like a teabag pushed onto the unit. This is the filter I am referring to, it scavenges from the tank bottom so after many years of sucking up petrol there's probably a few surprises.
Hope this helps.
Phil

[HairyDave]

Re: Engine problems - help!

My diesel Landrover S3 Mechanical pump had a lump of Hylomar in the fuel pipe and it took an AA man and compressor to clear it. The pump was a bit iffy so I changed it and it pumped engine oil out of a breather on the pump. Put the old pump back all ok .got a refund on the pump. and put brass gauze on the suction pipe no more problems.

[philcoyle]

Re: Engine problems - help!

Simple rule, no gasket compound near any fuel tank. Keep it in the tube.