Stalling When Running Up To Junction and what is defined as running hot?

Anyone help, just had our first outing this weekend and the van keeps stalling when decelerating up to junctions etc. If I am carefull I can rev the engine and catch it but tickover isn't right. Its a 2.0l Type 4, stock solex carbs...

Also, how does one know the engine is running hot? Don't say, when the pistons sieze and the engine is blown!

 

carbs incorrectly set>, engine temp? quick way is dipstick test i.e. after a run remove dipstick and if way too hot to hold ,prob engine /oil too hot /out of tune .if BIG out of tune/too hot engine may smell ,but it has to be critical to minge so.

 

Stalling is normally crap in the idling jets, its a simple cleanup but if your engine is really hot (bear in mind today was a hot day also) the fuel might be evaporating ! But i doubt its that bad? Get your timing sorted , valves adjusted, check your oil level before you start worrying about overheating engines.

 

Balancing hose that runs from bottom of air filter box to right hand arm of air intake to carb. There's 2 little brass tubes on the underside, it connects to one of them. If the pipes perished, same symptoms.

 

Mine used to do this, same engine/carbs. It needed a new electro magnetic valve on the left hand carb. When you turn on the ignition, get someone to listen in the engine bay and there should be an audible click, if not check the contacts and if still no good change it. Not saying it will fix yours, but worth a go....

 

Thanks very much guys, some helpful pointers. Can confirm that the oil level was fine, the hose from underneath has just been renewed and is connected. Will check the elctromag valve on the LH carb, is that the circular one or the rectangular one? The timing has been bugging me and I have got a strobe coming now so I can check and set that. I do know the idle was to cock, was fiddling on Sat before we went away, may have fiddled to the bad, but it wasn't running right before..

Regarding the valve clearances, I have hydraulic ones, do I need to set them? I think this has been discussed previously...

 

The cylindrical one on the top outside edge, just unscrews and has what looks like a plunger on the end. Not a great description I know, but you get the idea

 

I just happen to have that part as a spare, so will try it anyway...

 

That one is the control valve for the idle fuel/air mixture so whereas you can drive at speed, once you take your foot off the pedal it'll die on you. Frightening in slow traffic. Sometimes it's just a loose connection.

 

Hydraulic valves can be left alone. One less job to do.

 

check for air leaks especially the pipes to the servo...

running hot ,engine bay should be at a nice tepid temp ,I can feel when it is too hot..

 

Bit of an update, had a fiddle tonight between cutting the grass, all hoses are good and I have replaced all the elbows and flexi pipes between the solid ones previously and the carb manifold gaskets so knew they were ok. Checked the wiring and checked resistance of the two cut offs on the LH carb against spares I have and they were all the same give or take a couple of ohms so assume these are ok.

Tweaked the 2 idle screws (ie air and fuel) and have got it idling if a bit ropy. At least it ticks over now and gave it a run, I reckon there is slight hesitation when accelerating so could this be running weak?

At least I feel I am getting somewhere ( I hope)...

 

Switch the ignition on and go to the back and pull off the connector on the idle solenoid. Does it click?

 

SO thought I had fixed it, ran well yesterday, so drive in to the MOT station this morning, stalling again on coming up to junctions. The idle solenoid is clicking as it should, this is beyond me, it ran fine before. All the electrical connections are good. Suppose it could be crud in the carbs, don't know. any further ideas would be good.

 

The hesitation with those particular carbs is more likely to be running rich.
Warm it up and let it idle. Pull off the wire at the back (front of bus) of the left carb and the revs should drop. If not you need to do some proper carb setting up. Lots of mechanics pull their hair out with these carbs and set the idle with the stop screws.
Have a read of this when you have an hour or two spare...
http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtopic.php?t=7767

 

Cheers again Zed, I am letting the MOT man have a look today not holding out much hope because he grimaced when I mentioned it was carbs. Lets see what happens, then back to the basics. I read that article you linked a few days ago, so if mr MOT man fails, I will go back to basics. It certainly was a bit hesitant this morning, so it could be too rich, just cant understand why it ran ok yesterday..

 

I have the same problem on my 1600 (brand new engine ) and the valves and settings were done recently at a French garage. He did say he'd set it to run lean as the temps here get up to 40 degrees so he didn't want it overheating the engine by running to high at idle.

I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone who knows about these things!

Mine is also shuddering when I change up a gear and pull away, I can drive through it.

The oil temp guage reads 95-105 while this is happening BTW.

Ian

 

more a long shot but if you,ve a EGR valve they can cause stalling at idle

 

Tracked mine down to over gapped points, has run really well for the last 500 miles...