WBX loss of power problems

[kevtherev]

The discoloured liquid was rusty water.
Fuel floats on water so any water in the tank will instantly drain out into the fuel lines when the fuel pump starts.
I had the same issue and found it was the breather pipes to the two expansion/equaliser tanks.
As I use LPG these were disconnected and blocked, never had any more issues.

If your fuel system is contaminated with water, it must be purged out, easiest way is to ensure there is no more in the tank, and run the engine until all the stalling and misfiring has gone.

Shame you never mentioned the findings in the carb.

[irishbruce]

Thanks Kev. Actually I did mention the discolouration of fuel in the carb bowl in my first post, but foolishly assumed it was fuel, not water. So, drain and flush the tank and lines it is . I really appreciate the insights from the forum. Grateful.

[kevtherev]

If you can rig up a separate fuel source, (Hang a container over engine, attach it to the carb, half a litre will do)
you can pump the water/contamination out with the fuel pump then

[irishbruce]

Sounds like a plan Kev. I fear the tank might be shot. I took off the in line filter this morning and while it looked clean at first the filter element was doing its job - full of rust particles and crud. I blew out the lines from the fuel pump back to the filter junction and reconnected with a new filter. Before starting the engine I split the carb again and found more rusty water in the bowl which I cleaned again. But all this is futile if the tank is compromised. I can't figure out where the water leak is. I was under the van again this morning (replacing the accelerator cable) and tried to inspect the tank for rust damage on top, but it's impossible to see without removing it, and the filler pipe seems OK but hard to verify. Lots of petrol smells, but I had been working on the filter before so there was some spillage.

[irishbruce]

O yes, and to add to the complexity of this I retested the pull down unit while I had the top off the carb this morning. It's broken. Doesn't do anything. So the original problem appears to have had more than one cause. Ordered a replacement from Brickwerks.

[kevtherev]

Steep learning curve... well done

Water ingress to the tank is almost impossible to nail down.
I had to eliminate everything methodically

[a1winchester]

I had similar but not identical symptoms on my van and it turned out to be air getting into the fuel line. Some of the jubilee clips were a bit corroded and suspect and to be honest there could have been a pin hole anywhere in the line. I replaced the whole line from tank to engine just to be sure, and solved the problem.