Hoping someone will have advice on a current dilemma. Beryl my T2 2.0L South African Kombi is having issues with loss of power from yesterday, (there were tears!!). She is run daily and freshly fuelled regularly. She runs well (with the occasional misfire on low rev). Was running and cruising well and sits comfortably at 55/60 mph on the inclines of the western A30 (we live near Camborne (Cornwall). Wednesday (03rd) I was working up in Devonport so my wife started her up fine, but the brake seized on and she couldn’t move her. I came home Friday, started the engine (again, fine) and managed with some revving to move her (it felt like the offside rear was the sticking point, but could be wrong). Took Beryl for a 5 mile ‘leg stretch’ with no issues, then had to park her away from the house (no parking outside). Started her back up ‘warm’ 15 minutes later and when pulling off there was a significant loss of power. Managed to start her back up. She revs, then drops off (need to maintain revs to keep her running). Will move but no or little power even at high revs and cuts out if foot taken off the accelerator. There is a smell of fuel after I’ve been trying her, but that could be because I’ve been revving her high, there is no sign of fuel leakage. I’ve looked at other threads, common issues similar to mine involve: Servo hose fault Blocked idle jet Air leak / vacuum hoses / hose to distributor Condensation/Icing on distributor Choke settings Ignition leads If anyone can give me some help I’d really appreciate it. Thank you Rocket
Check the rubber elbows on the bottom of the manifolds that connect to the metal pipe. If one has popped off or split it will give the symptoms you described. Also check all the wires to the solenoids and chokes on both carbs.
Worth giving both carbs a gentle tap on the outside with a rubber camping mallet, or handle of a screwdriver, in case the needle valves have stuck; that would also give you a strong smell of fuel as the stuck side would flood and pour unburnt fuel out thru the exhaust. And, I do mean gentle but firm tap, not a damm good thrashing
PS, if it was the above, please check the oil level on the dipstick before going anywhere, if it's mysteriously gone up in level, then you might have got fuel down the bores into the sump. Running it without new oil will kill the engine in short order.
It won’t be the problem but get a foam seal round that engine! You can check the lower right rubber elbow while you’re there.
I would start with the distributor cap, check it for damp , check everything for damp , has it backfired?
Back fires can be caused by ignition problems, the side effect is usually to pop a vacuum pipe of somewhere, usually the left inlet manifold, but check all pipes
Ta, will check that. I’m topping out at my technical ability! Wish I’d listened to my dad and gone to work at the village garage instead of joining up!!
Hey Lasty. Wish I had more knowledge, I’ve just asked my wife who’s an ex Seaking engineer. She believes it’s running on points.
Whip out your Haynes and reset the points which MAY solve the problem - sounds like it`s something simple so eliminate the basics first
In general, what is the fuel economy like : over 20mpg its probably OK, under 20mpg you might have a problem with over fuelling caused by fuel metering valves in the float chambers. If an engine is getting a little too much fuel from a carburettor which has a leaky fuel metering valve , either wear from vibration, dirt jammed in it or just old, then it can stumble a little at cruise, at 30mph it may even tend to die. A smell of petrol is another sign. Please check the oil level for increase. At one Techenders, a bus staggered to a halt on the Friday evening. On Saturday it turned out that it wouldnt start. Just as well because there was a couple of gallons of petrol in the sump, and one cylinder so full of petrol it stopped the engine cranking. The carburettor had obviously been leaking, coated in a yellowish petrol varnish deposit. It was stripped down and the metering valve was wedged open. A bit of poking and some testing (blowing through it ) and it went back in. That bus drove home after an oil change, fortunately somebody was going to do an oil change on their bus so there was a can of oil around. Your carburettors look beautifully clean and new, so they probably havent got this problem.
