On my way back from IBW I had an issue.  It started by feeling like it was bogging down when I accelerated.   It got worse and after a while I had very little acceleration and had to feather the accelerator to get any acceleration.

Half way home I swapped the HT leads for new Petronix leads.  I also took out the plugs and number 1 was dry and very sooty - the other 3 were perfect.  So I swapped the plugs as well.  I also took out the main jet and the idle that feeds number 1 (I have twin Del 40s).   It did feel a little better for a while but by the time I got to the ferry it was not good again.  Took out number 1 plug as sooty as the one I threw (and dry).

On the last leg back from Hull we got saturated and the carbs must have been hit with more water than they were ever designed to get.  But it got me home.

I am mad busy with work so my plan was to throw it in to my local engine doctor (Stef).   However over the weekend he was bitten by some odd insect and now has a hand the size of a football - so out of action for a while.

So I need to make the time and have a look and see if I can fix it.

Any ideas what it could be / where to start?  It ran perfect going and all the time I was there (up to the trip home when we pulled in to help a fellow stranded buggy)

Thanks in advance

Tony

A bit rich on that cylinder best check the number of turns the mixture screws go in on no 1 and 2 until they just bottom out then wind out the same ammount as number 2 went in hope fully no 1 will be further in than iy's starting point.

Other options are distributor cap faulty on 1 or poor compression so it is not firing correctly.

Finally managed to do some work on Sunday with help from Dave.

Started by taking the plug out and checking I had a good spark.  I have a petronix  dizzy and electronic ignition.  It was a really good spark.  So based on that decided not to carry on with the electrics.

Dave brought a good compression tester so we did a compression test and all ok. 

So decided to go back to fuel.   Carb off and a strip down.  I had some but not excessive muck in the carb.   I have a choke block off (dont use them and the choke area had some small water droplets in .... so some water has got in (though my issue started in the dry on the way back from Germany).

Dave also brought great Snap on Camera so started by putting this into the Carb pot that was suspect and checked the accelerator jet was working (which it was) and not dripping (which it was not).

So then we split everything we could and took everything out that we could.  Gave the carbs a really good clean (Dell 40s).   Cleaned out all the jets etc.   When I stated to re-build noticed the idle jet o ring was slightly damaged.  Like a flat area on one side.  So this needs changing.

Then when we came to the idle adjusters there was no O ring on the pot where I have the issue.   Looked into the carb and sure enough the O ring had split and was jamming the spring in the Carb.   So this could have been making it really rich.

Sadly I had didn't have the right sized o rings so had to stop.  Dave who kindly came round to help went home and found the bits I need (thank you Dave) but I am away this week - so job for the weekend.    If I get time tonight or Friday I am also going to strip down the other just for piece of mind.

We also opened up my Filter King and quite surprising (since it has been a year since I last opened it) not much dirt in it at all.   So I am guessing anything getting in is via my Air filter (which I cleaned and gave a really good oil).

As always - to be continued ....

Sort of satisfying to find something that may explain the problem despite the length of investigation(s).

Hope this proves to be the end to this particular issue - need you firing properly on all cylinders for RCHM on Sat 5th August !

After a bit of time on Google ..... something sort of obvious hits you.   I changed all my fuel lines to ethanol rated after having some issues with the lines degrading and cracking.   But I did not change the o rings...... the more I read the more I see lots of other people with classic cars having the same issues.  They seem to either change them regularly as part of a service or go a similar way and use Ethanol tolerant. 

Still dont know if it will fix my issue but at the end of the day its not right and needs doing.   So fingers crossed.

Latest update....

Firstly massive thanks to Dave who has been round twice and had really helped (bringing parts and assistance)
And today Jools who also came round to help and quite frankly I would not have managed without you both!

So today I split the other carb into bits and gave everything a clean.  This was the passenger side and it was actually very clean.   But wanted to check all the O rings just in case and swapped one.

Both Carbs rebuilt and new O rings in offending jets / adjusters and then fire it up.   With just a little tweak we had it running quite well and ready for a test drive............ then the next bit of fun started.   It would not move 

After a few attempts it became clear that the rear passenger side wheel was locked up.   Now this was a challenge as its the side of the garage where I have no room!  So we got it on a trolley jack and between the three of us man handled the buggy out of the garage.

The we set about dismantling - wheel off no problems, drum was a different story.  The castellated nut would not budge.   One broken socket and a bent bar later and I remembered a socket somewhere in the garage a bit more up for the job.   We applied some heat, big socket with a long extension bar and a few hits with big hammer all synchronised at the same time and it came off!

The brakes at first looked OK.  Nothing broken or hanging off.  Then started to poke around the cylinder and out of one of the rubber covers came a gush of rusty water.   Both sides had loads in.   So we had to dry them and after some lubrication everything went back together 

Now back to the carbs.  Test drive time.  Ran sweet and accelerated like a good one.   I need to give it a much longer drive but happy as it ticks over well, picks up well and sound sweet.

On the test drive the brakes were fine as well.

So fingers crossed - it may just be fixed !  Happy days !  Massive thanks to Dave and Jools! 

Blimey.

It must be the long reach of the IBW down pour still grasping out to remind us not to assume we can travel 100's of miles in a buggy and always get away with it...

Great that the Northern Buggy Community is fully operational again.

Manged to grab and hour yesterday and tool the buggy for a shake down .........   Happy days when it comes to the carbs and brakes.  All working really well and no backfire / popping / picking up as it should and well behaved tick over.

Now I need to start looking at the other problem that I developed.  Alternator light flashing on occasionally (especially at low revs).  Alternator is only a couple of years old and genuine Bosch.   Fan belt is new and tight.   So going to start with the earth and then scratch my head a bit .... I can feel another post coming on..... this did start before the downpour as I noticed it with the hard top on (ie I could see the light).  So no idea how long this has been happening as most of the time I cant see it when "topless"  .... to be continued .....

Mine can take a minute, or so, to go off but surely if only at low revs then its simply that until the revs build up the charging doesn't start/reach high enough level to switch the red light off ?

If it comes on whilst driving ie more than tick over revs then yes it's a problem.

I would check for corroded loose or dirty connections first.

If you have standard belt and chrome pulleys (if - what am I saying?)  they can be a bit slippy, try roughing up the faces that grip the belt and try rubbing any glaze off of the belt first that could give you a quick fix and prove it is slipping, won't last though unless you rough up the pulleys

Good luck
Dave

Its the slightly thicker belt and the billet pulley ...... so will just go through things logically I guess starting with all the connections and earth.  But will mark the belt and pulley to see if there is any slippage.

Quote from: Krug on July 03, 2017, 04:21:47 PM
But will mark the belt and pulley to see if there is any slippage.

If you mean make a mark on the belt and pulleys to see if they move that will only work if the pulleys diameter is an exact division of the belt length, it won't be.

Crude test is to see how much leverage it takes to turn the alternator before the belt slips

Gonna be something simple and easy to fix once you find it
All the best Dave

Good point ..... if I try and turn the alternator with a socket it tried to move the engine.   If I press the belt it moves about 10 or 15 mm basically how I have always ran it.  Belt only went on before IBW so as always  TO BE CONTINUED ...  the story of my buggy life ! 

My alternator did this, even with chads new super dooper wiring, that was a 1 year old alternator. Swapped it out and it solved the problem

I think this might be your alternator. I got a new one for 130 which comes from the same factory as Bosch just without the name

Hi Tony, did I see somewhere you were using vitriol O rings now, a word of caution should they get burnt do not touch them with bare flesh as they give off hydrogen flouride that when in contact with the skin instantly converts to hydrofloric acid that will do you no good at all.

A thing that should be known in the motor trade and is by fire brigades and alike.