Help, please. Engine problem.

[Galwaylotus]

Latest update:

Between rain showers this evening I pulled the fuel line off and turned the ignition switch on. I could hear the pump run and there was a steady but slowish stream of petrol flowing into a glass bottle. I don't know if that's as fast as it needs to flow but the fuel looked clean - no water nor sludge. I then pulled all the spark plugs and they were dry and fairly dark. As I've had a few false starts, the plug colour mightn't mean anything. I left the no. 1 plug out and rested it on the cam cover and cranked the engine. I saw a spark so I reinstalled it. I next felt around the coil and one of the tabs felt slightly loose. I twisted it and the securing nut finger tight and decided to try to start the engine again. For the first time since Saturday, it started and ran smoothly! I quickly got it off the street and into my (sloped) driveway then let it run for a few minutes, revved it once or twice and shut it down. I'm away on holiday tomorrow and didn't have time to take a test run or properly secure the nut. I'm just glad I know I can resolve the issue relatively easily. Unfortunately it will have to wait until after the holiday! I've pulled the battery and put it on charge so at least no one else can drive it away!!! (Neighbours are watching it for me)

Any way, thanks for all the advice. If I run into further trouble when I get back I shall not hesitate to tap into all that knowledge on the forum!!

[paul356]

The coil sounds like a good starting point but I'd also suggest checking the rotor cap really carefully. I haven't experienced this on my elan but I once had a Morris Minor with similar problems, the rotor cap had a hairline crack in it. When the cap got hot, the crack opened up and would stop the car running...my first thought then was fuel and it took a while to work out what it was!

[Apollo13]

For me it was the rotor arm. Swapped it out last night and bingo. Cost: ?2.30. Fingers crossed for the MOT on Friday.

Cheers,
George

[paros]

Try a new rotor arm - a lot have failed recently even as new
Richard

[powellsmail]

I now have three rotor arms - one in the distributor and two new spares in the boot (trunk). I figure I can cope with the extra weight and it is also handy to have one ready to give away if I come across another Elan at the side of the road (which we all know happens very rarely of course...!).

Regards

Mark
s4 SE

[Galwaylotus]

I thought it might be too good to be true. Got back from holidays on the weekend and started the Elan. It ran fine the two miles to the petrol station and back so I was hoping the fix had worked. I thought I might have to take it to work tomorrow so I decided to go for a longer run this afternoon to verify it was ok. After the first mile, it started missing then got worse and died (again!!!). Was able to nurse it home after coasting and a few restarts. I guess I'll get replacement coil, rotor, and condenser this week and try again!!

[Galwaylotus]

Latest Update.
I've replaced the points, condenser, rotor, distributor cap, and all HT leads. I found the old lead from coil to cap had hardened and was confident I'd found the problem. I set the timing statically to what I thout was the right point, then started the engine and warmed it up. The manual says to time it at 2500 rpm but the advance curve gives 10.5? BTDC at 1500 rpm so I tried to time it there. A P.O. has painted three dots on the timing marks and a couple of yellow marks on the pulley notches. The manual seems to show four timing points at 0, 10, 20, and 30? so I went for the first one assuming it's at 10?.
When it was warm and running smoothly, I took it out for a test run but about a half mile from home it started losing power again and I had to pull over. From there, it was a struggle of waiting then restarting and going a short distance before it would die again. When I got home, with the problem still there, I put in a brand new coil but it made no difference. I can't even get it into my driveway.
To sum up, when I start the car in the drive, I can warm it up, rev it, let it idle, and it will run smoothly but a short distance under load out on the road and it loses power and dies.
It has an electric fuel pump and is pumping so I'm running out of ideas. Remember, I drove the car 500 trouble-free miles home from the UK when I bought it last summer and the problem occurred a week or so after I got home.
Sorry for the long post but I felt it important to list the details. I haven't resolved the problem yet. Any new ideas?

[Frank Howard]

Which carburetors do you have?

[Galwaylotus]

Webers. Do you need to know the model? If so, I'll look in the morning as it's nearly 23:00 here now and I'm going to bed!

[spanner]

Carb ice?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburetor_heat

[Frank Howard]

Webers. Do you need to know the model?

No. If they were Strombergs, I had a suggestion.

[Galwaylotus]

[quote="spanner"]Carb ice?
No. I had that on a car once and know the symptoms.

[cabc26b]

- I had some thing similar that tuned out to be some old gunk/varnish that got sucked into the fuel line - I could not keep the carb bowls filled so the car died at odd intervals. I purged the line from tank to carb and installed a puralator fuel filter ( clear casing with a replaceable element). I think I also purged the hard line that constitutes the fuel pick up in the tank. On subsequent cars I use -6 lines with a frame racing filter just north of the tank.

Some things to check /do if you want to eliminate fuel vs electrical issues.

remove the line off the carb stick it in a jar and start the electrical fuel pump, gas should gush into a jar pretty fast.

run the car until it stalls out, switch off immediately, pop the top off the carb and look to see if you have fuel in the float bowl. or rig a temporary fuel tank and line(s) between pump and carbs. if bypassing the plumbing works then you know what the problem is in the plumbing - if not then maybe carbs, cleaning these out

[Galwaylotus]

-
Some things to check /do if you want to eliminate fuel vs electrical issues.

I'll look into that next weekend when I can get back to my troubleshooting. Thanks for the input.

[spanner]

Thinking back 38 years makes my brain hurt..... I remember having the same insidious symptoms which I traced to cracks in the original tank-to-line hose. On increased demand, the fuel pump would begin sucking air. Also, the original hose didn't have clamps (must save weight, must save weight, must.....)