Poorly Zetec

[alfablack]

Hi to start with on twin carbs you do need a carb synchrometer preferable two to get them spot on
and have the butterfly open on all for set them to about 5 thou and make sure the throttle pull even across both carbs you usually get one lagging thats what the adjuster is for . if you are struggling get hold of or beg the dave walker off emerald ecu fame book for carb and ecu great help will point and explain where and what is happening at what revs

[pigeondave]

Why not start simple. Take the top off look in the float chambers if it looks full of crap then clean it all up. Other wise just unscrew the main and idle jets and give then a good squirt and screw them back in.

The out of tune could be due to a partially blocked jet. If it is a blocked jet you'll be wasting your time trying all the other stuff.

Go on, go out and get yourself a can of carb cleaner.

[josephmoore]

Been reading all I can about DCOEs to make them a slightly less scary magic box. Think I'm understanding them a little now. The fact that adjusting the idle screws back to a baseline setting helped the running suggests that we're probably not far off with the diagnosis of a gunky carb.

Carb cleaner's on the boat where my old Suzuki 8hp two-stroke regularly had liberal applications of the stuff. Nice weather forecast for tomorrow so I'll pop into town, pick up some more and get on it.

[josephmoore]

Went out armed with some carb cleaner and a screwdriver this afternoon. Took the top off and it seemed fairly clean inside the carbs apart from perhaps a little crud in the bottom of the float chambers. Didn't get as far as removing them from the engine but sprayed all accessible holes with cleaner, ran the engine and twiddled the idle mixture and speed screws - running much better now. Still not perfect but does at least idle relatively happily now, so I guess that was it - either some gunk worked its way into the carbs or worked its way out of the carbs (as they're currently set a bit leaner than they were before).

Just need to fix the dribbling rear brake cylinder I spotted today and then get the old girl MOT'd and taxed for the coming spring, which will of course be guaranteed wet and windy

Thanks for the help and suggestions, all!

[pigeondave]

Might be worth swapping the fuel filter for a new one ?

[josephmoore]

Probably a good shout on the fuel filter. Any idea what car it's likely to be from off the top of your head?

[josephmoore]

Scratch that - they're ten a penny on ebay in all sorts of different pipe sizes. Just a universal jobbie then, I guess.

[pigeondave]

Yep cheap as chips.
Once you got the new one on, dry out the old one and cut it open.
Then start thinking about a new fuel tank as your current one my be rusting from the inside out.

Been there done that

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pigeondave ... 622566719/

I think this is the correct set. The computer folk have been playing at work and they have locked out loads of sites

[josephmoore]

So after quite a bit of fettling by the local garage (I did give them quite a long list of jobs I couldn't be bothered to do in a cramped lock-up garage) we have an answer as to why it was running like a dog. One of the carb to manifold gaskets has collapsed... d'oh. Replacements ordered, should be here in the next couple of days and the Stylus should be MOT'd and all the jobs finished by the end of the week. Woohoo!

[stylussprinter]

So after quite a bit of fettling by the local garage (I did give them quite a long list of jobs I couldn't be bothered to do in a cramped lock-up garage) we have an answer as to why it was running like a dog. One of the carb to manifold gaskets has collapsed... d'oh. Replacements ordered, should be here in the next couple of days and the Stylus should be MOT'd and all the jobs finished by the end of the week. Woohoo!

That's a shame I've got a good set of mis-ab plates from my 45's in the shed.

[josephmoore]

Not to worry - I'll remember that for next time they give up

[josephmoore]

It's that time of year again! After not as much use as I would have liked last year I came to start the car a few weeks ago and it was very grumpy. Running lean, running rich, all sorts of weirdness. Eventually it gave up altogether and no fuel was getting into the engine.

Bit the bullet. Read everything I could and decided to get stuck in. Pulled it all apart and cleaned everything up. Put it back together today and she fired straight up for a few seconds then stopped - not surprising as I'd taken a guess at both the idle mixture and the balance having had it all apart.

Then I noticed fuel dripping from the front of each carb - it was running out from the main jets. Quick google and it turns out to be a common thing usually caused by incorrect float level or too high fuel pressure.

Adjusted the rear carb's float which was the one leaking the most and it did look too high. Started up again and the leak at the rear seemed to have stopped but one of the fronts was dripping a bit. Ran out of daylight and it was time for dinner anyway so the rest will have to wait til tomorrow.

So, I suspect having cleaned a lot of gunk (and I mean a lot) out of the filters above the needle valves that either they were set wrong because of the measly gunked up flow or that the pressure is just too high now. I'll know when I've made sure that the floats are set to book values.

The car has no fuel pressure regulator which I expect it should have rather than relying on a cheap pump to be consistent. Seems wise to fit one.

Does anyone have experience with the cheaper fuel pressure regulators out there, or is it one of the things where you really need to buy a £50 branded one?

[josephmoore]

Got a recommendation from a friend who had the same pressure related issues from a super cheap FPR (the type with the gauge on top) about using the Sytec flying saucer type with the dial on top as being the cheapest which aren't utter rubbish. £25 delivered or so on eBay, seems reasonable.

[CMA]

I had the systec one with the dial on top on my XFlow with Bike carbs....never had a problem with it

[josephmoore]

Perfect. Two recommendations is good enough for me.

Not entirely sure how the car has run all these years without one - just a perfect balance of cruddy filters to let enough but not too much fuel through, I guess...