Hi, I have had my bus for about a month and up until yesterday starting it has been easy. I came to start it yesterday and no joy. After lots of cranking it over I noticed a puddle of fuel on the ground that appeared to have come from over the right hand barrels, on to the shield tin to the ground. I couldn't see where it was coming from above that, the engine bay didn't smell of petrol. Stopped cranking and the dripping stopped. I did eventually get it going after a tiny adjustment of the points gap (are they that sensitive?) and then shut it off quickly. After letting any spilt fuel evaporate off, it started on the button and there was no fuel leak. Any Ideas? Thanks, Andy
Were you pumping the pedal when cracking if so DON'T. Get in.... two pushes of the throttle.... turn it over.... do not touch the throttle again until after it starts Also just check all your fuel lines for cracks & that the spark plugs are tight.
I would guess you have been a bit too heavy on pumping the pedal when you try to start it - even a cold start is one pump of the pedal to latch the choke open and pump a single squirt of petrol from the accelerator pump. So you flooded it and then stomped even more petrol down the manifold by pumping the throttle - dont do that if it usually starts OK, just keep the pedal to the floor and crank for 30 seconds to start by clearing the petrol from the manifold. . Look at the rubber boots on the inlet manifold, one each side on the horizontal part going to the cylinder heads - the petrol may be dripping out from underneath onto the engine after it fills up from the carburettor. I had a micro scare like that when I was trying to start my new engine and found I had managed to trap a manifold boot under the hose clamp so there was a gap. This caused air to leak in when I was trying to get it to idle and it would not slow down, and petrol to drip out when I stopped the engine .. Because the puddle appears when you try to start it and is not there at other times its more likely to be leaking downstream of the fuel pump or even downstream of the carburettor. Those leaky boots then cause lean running and idle issues and overheating . So you go from flooding petrol out to lean sucking in unnecessary air with a little split there.
I am checking the oil level on a regular basis and it is not rising at all although I am getting mayo forming in the oil cap that I sometimes think has a faint whiff of fuel about it other times not. I am about to give it an oil and filter change once I have got new seals.
Not at first, I had developed a technique of one gentle pump then a small amount of throttle when cranking which had been working up until now, when it wouldn't start then I was trying all sorts. Next time I shall try your method, thank you
If you've got a stock Solex carb, you don't need to do all the wild pumping. Just press on the accelerator lightly, which will release the automatic choke. The choke will do the business for you, if everything's in good shape.