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Author: Subject: had about enough
chrisxr2

posted on 16/1/11 at 02:24 PM Reply With Quote
had about enough

Had about enough with the bloody haynes roadster. Had the car since september when apart from half the drive home from collecting it it has had a constant misfire or misfuelling issue. (rest of journey homw was on recovery truck. I run the car every couple of weeks to make sure everyrthing is running ok, upto temp, out for a short drive (Anything spirited is out of the question due to misfire/ misfuel). Due to no fault of the cars i had all of december of, when i intended to get the car running right. Well nowt but snow ice and freezing temperatures so no work done as i couldnt even get down to the garage. Drive to get petrol a couple of days ago and when i fill up there is petrol over the forecourt so one of the fuel pipes jubilees is loose, ok no biggy but left the car to dry before looking at this wee problem. Go down today while wife and little un are out, start car, water everywhere, looks like its coming from the water pump. I appreciate kit cars will always need fettling but the list of whats wrong gets longer, and i havent even driven the car enough to know that all the effort sorting stuff out is worth it, i feel like i basically bought an expensive white elephant. MOJO lost big style at the minute. Also anyone any ideas what else the water leak might be from???





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jacko

posted on 16/1/11 at 02:40 PM Reply With Quote
What engine ?
was /is anti freeze in the engine

[Edited on 16/1/11 by jacko]

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interestedparty

posted on 16/1/11 at 02:40 PM Reply With Quote
You need to take a deep breath, clean up the water etc, then start from the beginning and be methodical. Find out what is wrong and fix it. You'll usually find it a lot easier to put faults right on a kit car than on a tin-top.

As for where the water is leaking from you haven't even told us what engine it has.





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Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed-- who never would be missed!

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plentywahalla

posted on 16/1/11 at 02:46 PM Reply With Quote
Your misfire and fuel leak could be the same problem. If the fuel pump is mounted level with the tank, when the tank is full the fuel line is under pressure so will leak fuel everywhere. When the tank is nearly empty the same fuel line will be under partial vacuum and will draw air into the fuel which will then lead to misfiring.

Can't help with the water leak without more info.

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marcjagman

posted on 16/1/11 at 02:56 PM Reply With Quote
If it was me, pull the the entire fuel line out and replace that way you know it's done right. replace/reseal water pump and check all hoses/clips. Then take for a test drive, if the misfire is still there then take it to a rolling road.
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AdrianH

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:01 PM Reply With Quote
To provide some info in the interim

The engine is a 2.1 Pinto with twin Webers was 1.6 Pinto bored to 2073 with dizzy and rotor arm fitted.

Adrian





Why do I have to make the tools to finish the job? More time then money.

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big_wasa

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:05 PM Reply With Quote
Your not on your own. Iva seems to change as fast as I can build the thing. Even if that is 6 years and counting

I would be happy to have your problems and a logbook.

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chrisxr2

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:12 PM Reply With Quote
thanks

Thanks adrian, Wasa thanks for making me feel better, All, just want a couple of days of suitable working weather and a good blast out and all will seem well again im sure. Did think earlier that every job that could concievably need doing on the kit is way easier than doing on a tintop.

header tank emptied, antifreeze was in and had no issues strting running during the really cold december weather, leak is coming from the top front of the engine about the middle of the height of timing belt, looks like a waterpump.

[Edited on 16/1/11 by chrisxr2]





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jacko

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:23 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
To provide some info in the interim

The engine is a 2.1 Pinto with twin Webers was 1.6 Pinto bored to 2073 with dizzy and rotor arm fitted.

Adrian

If it's a 1.6 bored to 2.1 that seems a lot the bores must be getting thin Not saying it can't be done
has it had anti- freeze in the engine over the cold weather ? if not could be a crack in the block = water leak also check the hole under the water pump if water is coming out of there you need a new pump
miss fire badly set up carbs ?
or HT leads
cracked dizzy cap Start the car in the dark look for sparks jumping across the leads / cap
what dizzy are you using ? vacuum or are you on mega spark
Jacko

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MkIndy7

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:26 PM Reply With Quote
Our Tuned up high compression Pinto used to eat sparkplugs for fun, so that could be a good place to start for your misfire.

The plugs would appear ok at idle but when there was some load on them we'd get a misfire and it'd sound like a Subaru.
They were ok to look at, but if you twisted the nipple on the end of the spark plug, although it was tight you could feel it moving a fair few degree's like the center core of the plug was broken.
Or you could often tell which cylinder was at fault by how cold the exhaust was on that cylinder.

For fuel leaks, if you have any fuel pipe that had a black cotton overbraid it always seems to perish under the braiding and then seeps out.

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Peteff

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:43 PM Reply With Quote
My pinto wouldn't run on Motorcraft plugs, they lasted all of 3 days but were alright on tickover, NGK were fine though. There's a little blank on the water pump which is held on with a jubilee, check if that is still on.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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MakeEverything

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:50 PM Reply With Quote
I hear your Pain! Ive been sooo frustrated with the weather and not being able to get more than a couple of jubilee clips on hoses done. Although in a garage, its easier when the car is outside to get a good run at jobs.

With the misfire, i would spend some money on a decent service. Plugs, Leads, Distributor rotor arm, filters (incl fuel filter) and maybe send the carbs away for a cleanup / refurb. Whilst the carbs are away, reset the static timing to TDC on the engine, and check the rocker arm valve clearances.

If youve still got a misfire after all that, then id be surprised.

Plugs - £30
Leads - £15
Rotor - £10
Air Filters - £15
Oil Filter - £8
Oil - £40
Coolant - £25
Carb Refurb - £100
Feeler Gauge - £5

All in all, to reset the car as it should be for fuel and ignition (with a service) £250 odd. I never include time in the costs because its a hobby for most of us. Time for all this would be about two weeks, depending on turnaround of carbs.

I had my carb cleaned on my old MG Midget, and it was a totally different car afterwards. Highly recommended, along with injector cleaning for those with EFI.

Just my opinion of course, but thats what i would do. The water leak should be a simple fix. Just clean the existing water up, try and find the leak and repair. ITs unlikely that its the block or casings if stored in a garage unless its a particularly cold garage and could have frozen.





Kindest Regards,
Richard.

...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...

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wilkingj

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:58 PM Reply With Quote
Start the car at night with the bonnet off... (obviously not whilst driving it!)
ie in the garage then turn off the lights!

Then replicate the misfire and look around the engine especially the spark plug leads dizzy and coil area... You may be able to see the problem in the dark. Oh... and DONT stick your fingers in the engine bay in the dark... you could lose a few bits!

Also did you build the car / engine?

It shouldnt be too hard to sort, as said above Kit carsa re usually a lot easier than a commercially built one.

Dont get dieheartened, you have many friends on here and they are a great resource to help solve you problems.
DONT give up...







1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk

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rpm

posted on 16/1/11 at 03:58 PM Reply With Quote
Don't give up hope, it will come right in the end, 3 years ago i bought the spitfire as a quick to finish project, as soon as i got it home i realised i'd made a mistake and everything would have to be done from scratch as the bodywork 'done by a proffessional' was full of filler, most of the parts supplied didn't fit etc etc, this time last year when it was time to get the 'low mileage i got it from a mates car' engine to run i found it was knackered and needed a full rebuild. Anyway the point is the cars been on the road for 9 months now and although it's still an ongoing project it is gradually becoming the car i wanted., so if you keep chipping away at the problems and keep the vision of summer day drives it will turn out right in the end





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ex= a has been
spurt= a drip under pressure

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jacko

posted on 16/1/11 at 04:14 PM Reply With Quote
Just a thought what cam do you have and is it timed up right have you a adjustable pulley on the cam
has the engine ever run without a miss fire ?

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AdrianH

posted on 16/1/11 at 04:37 PM Reply With Quote
Chris;

Just thinking about it to myself. The car was a runner had no issues you had some after about 70 miles driving it, so look for something failing/coming loose.

Carb set-up/cams/timing etc I would not consider unless a very last resort.

Look at every problem ion it's own merit. you are loosing fuel on the forecourt, loose jubilee clip etc, quite possible it could be causing a fuelling problem, letting air into the line and lack of fuel into the carbs bowls when the engine is needing it under load rather then tick over. So to me squashed fuel lines loose connections or perished rubber lines, on carbs it is not a high pressure line and I do not know if the car has a push fuel pump at the tank or a pull one at the engine?

On the water, as suggested look for any hoses off loose fastenings or as suggested replace the pump. If water comes out of the small hole generally means the bearing seal has gone.

Saw the car at Newark under it's previous owner and very nice it looked as well.

Adrian





Why do I have to make the tools to finish the job? More time then money.

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HAL 1
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posted on 16/1/11 at 04:38 PM Reply With Quote
I had a very bad time with a pinto problem, misfire etc, did all the right things until one day i noticed that there was movement in the distributor shaft, by sheer coincidence i'd managed to set the points at a mean average but there was so much play it went haywire when i put any pressure on the engine, finished up with new dizzy, transformed and sorted, that's with a points system of course but could be worth checking
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MakeEverything

posted on 16/1/11 at 05:04 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by HAL 1
I had a very bad time with a pinto problem, misfire etc, did all the right things until one day i noticed that there was movement in the distributor shaft, by sheer coincidence i'd managed to set the points at a mean average but there was so much play it went haywire when i put any pressure on the engine, finished up with new dizzy, transformed and sorted, that's with a points system of course but could be worth checking


Fair point actually, my old dutton needed a new distributor (got a used one as a bit of a gamble) and it sorted the misfire. Id sold it to a mate at this point and it worked so well he's kept it.





Kindest Regards,
Richard.

...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...

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richard

posted on 16/1/11 at 05:12 PM Reply With Quote
i second all of the above, but just to add that the thrill and enjoyment you get out of driving these cars and the added achievement of sorting out the these issues will soon put the grin back on your face when sorted.

Start at the begining and work the problems through, but assume nothing, suffered a intermittant fuel problem myself on pinto that had me in the duldrums after ruined two track days and was not spotted on rolling road sesssion inbetween.
When it went wrong after the second track day i ripped the twin 40s off and still did the same on the original twin choke.

Bloody blocked fuel filter between the tank and pump that only affected the car after many seconds of heavy right foot as the fuel bowl emptied.
Rich.

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austin man

posted on 16/1/11 at 05:50 PM Reply With Quote
if its a fresh build ie new chasis etc I would check the fuel filter as they are renown for picking up crap from the new tanks ie tiny parts of alluminium alternatively does the tank have a breather. This can aslo give aspects of a missfire





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jacko

posted on 16/1/11 at 06:41 PM Reply With Quote
How about tappets been to tight
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chrisxr2

posted on 16/1/11 at 07:22 PM Reply With Quote
thanks all

Thanks all, have recently changed, all the plugs leads, dizzy rotor arm, and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the fuel filter which was not blocked, thankks for all the advice, will get it sorted just be nice to have the weather to give it a good coiple of days attention. Car had no issues in the previous 7000 miles and the guy i bought it of seemed a genuine guy so just a lot of little bits of bad luck i hope.





Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

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RK

posted on 16/1/11 at 11:28 PM Reply With Quote
Chris, I wish I could me more encouraging. I can completely relate to your issues, and won't bore you with mine (would take too long to explain). Get somebody over to help out.
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stevebubs

posted on 16/1/11 at 11:36 PM Reply With Quote
Oddest thing I had was years about 20 years ago. Short rubber fuel line on the bottom of my Nova perished and my tank emptied at a rate of Knotts. AA man came out and sorted it at the side of the road. For the next 2 weeks, the car would randomly cut out, normally at the most inconvenient of times (pulling away). Each time, car would restart after a few minutes. Got the car checked out and it was eventually traced down to the replacement hose being a little bit too long - after a while, it would kink and block fuel flow to the engine. Car would only restart once the kink had relaxed...

1 cm cut out off the end of the hose sorted it...

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Ninehigh

posted on 18/1/11 at 09:58 PM Reply With Quote
As a radio dj said once:

"Why do people who work on their own cars always have something wrong with them?"






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