The odd misfire and now cuts out

[karl40]

Well not totally, she starts fine and will pull out the street no problem and sometimes 3 or 5 minutes later while driving you will get a loss of power and now it has taken to conking out all together. I will turn it over while she is still rolling and she fires back up no problem and run fine for a further few minutes and you will experience a further stutter and cough with a momentary loss of power and maybe this time it will pick up and keep running. It feels like possibly fuel starvation but i checked the filter and it was as clean as a whistle. Sometimes when i leave her warming up on the drive i will come out and find that she has petered out. When driving it will happen either when accelerating, decelerating or just cruising, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it but it is much more frequent now.
The van is a 1.9 DF 1982 A reg Devon pop top, with a solex 34 pict carb. Does this help?

[ermie571]

coil breaking down when warm?
idle control solenoid loose/damaged...therefore cutting out when not on throttle?

may be worth getting a compression test done to rule out any serious engine issue.

Em
xx

err....could it be a loose spark plug?

[kevtherev]

Hmmm
Poor idle, running, backfire, misfire and stalling when warm is air leaks.
Is the brake servo hose ok... Like air tight

Tell me is there a strong smell of petrol when it stalls?

I think it is fueling
just wondrin if its flooding a bit maybe

[kevtherev]

Hmmm
Poor idle, running, backfire, misfire and stalling when warm is air leaks.
Is the brake servo hose ok... Like air tight

Tell me is there a strong smell of petrol when it stalls?

I think it is fueling
just wondrin if its flooding a bit maybe

[kevtherev]

Hmmm
Poor idle, running, backfire, misfire and stalling when warm is air leaks.
Is the brake servo hose ok... Like air tight

Tell me is there a strong smell of petrol when it stalls?

I think it is fueling
just wondrin if its flooding a bit maybe

[karl40]

Got home from work early and went straight back to it. Changed all, and i mean all the vac pipes for new ones. The problem was compounded by me messing around with the pull down settings on the carb and the timing over the last few days and when i fired her up she was running too fast on tick over. I slowed the timing down and she stalled on the test drive, with a quick adjustment on the timing and winding back up the pull down valve on the carb i set off again. I am frightened that i might jinx myself but i may have fixed it. Went on a 30 minute drive no misfire, drop of power or back fire, she seems to be running smother and i will be having a test drive again tomorrow. Thanks everyone the advice has been invaluable and its nice to know you are not alone, keep you posted Karl.

[karl40]

Hello all, I am back again! The victory was short lived and when i took her out for a spin 5 minutes in to the drive, you guessesd it.... drop off in power followed by a back fire and then she picked up again. Pulled in to a car park pressed the break and she died, she started pulled off and i then breaked once again and it stalled again. There was no smell of petrol that i could find and the gasket around the carb seems fine(all checked with easy start) I changed the servo pipe on the manifold some months ago and its not as rigid as the old pipe and i can sqeeze it together quite easily, but it is air tight. Could this be a problem,or could it be the vac device on the air inlet box just before the air filter????
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[karl40]

Hello all, back again with the same problem. I have spent today changing the servo hose and striping down the solex 34 pict-5 carb and giving it a refurb. Checked the manifold gasket and found it to be in perfect condition,the carb float chamber was fairly clean apart from some fine silt that was sitting in the bottom. Removed this and cleaned all the jets both petrol and air mixture with cleaner and put it all back together then i refitted the carb.I set the timing with a light gun once again and reset the tick over and choke pull down. Well it ran smooth and even and i went for a drive for 20 minutes and it was great the quietest the old girl has ever been, i was bursting with pride. I got the wife and kids and we all went for another drive only to the next village we all remarked how well it going and then it happened, a flat spot, then a backfire and when i dipped the clutch it stalled and would not restart for about 5 minutes. After many attempts there was a backfire and she started and ran for another 5 mins and finally stalled on the drive, were she now lays. I have ordered a new cut off valve from J.K and i have a new ignition module that will go in this coming weekend and after this i am about done for. Any ideas ??????????????

[Novice in need]

Hi Karl40,
Just wondered if you would keep us posted on your progress (especially if you manage to sort it please)
My old van keeps cutting out also and i have done all that you have mentioned (some iv just checked rather than replaced however) however i have noted that you are changing the solenoid-cut off valve, i take it you pulled the connector out whilst ignition on and have tested for a audioble klick?

This i have been informed determnes if the solenoid is working, iv even taken it out and hooked it up to a independant 12v supply and have visible seen the solenoid in action so to speak... but as with your intermittent stalling which is the same as mine i am wondering if the solenoid is simply on its way out as opposed to fully knackered, hence the intermittent probs?

Much appreciated

[karl40]

That's what i am thinking, if its breaking down when warm that intermittent fault could be it. I have racked my brain over this and have nearly exhausted every option and may be getting to the point where i have to admit defeat. The last thing i can think off is the cut off valve and possibly the ignition module, both have been ordered. I want to keep the van and thinking that the new parts will give me trouble free motoring later on. Well that's my excuse, but the wife and kids are losing faith in the old girl. I have changed or checked everything from coil, H.T leads, plugs, dizzy, cap, rotor arm, fuel filter, fuel pump, fuel lines, vac advance, vac pipes, warm air switch, choke pull down, solex 34 pict-5 striped down and rebuilt, manifold gasket all fine or renewed. Dont worry if i get to the bottom of it i will shouting it from the roof tops, believe me. I will be having another day at it next weekend, so fingers crossed.

[Novice in need]

Hi Karl40
Keep the faith we will get there.... but when who knows
I am going to try looking into the oil pressure sensor which i have been reading up on, apparently some joker decided to earth the wireing from my vans sensors so im wondering if this would cause stalling? especially if there is low pressure caused by oil pump? just another thought, il keep you posted on progress...

Good luck

[horizontal kipper]

Bet its your ignition amplifier, module. I now carry a spare after mine packed up, it would run with no problems on short runs but after about 15mins of driving would misfire and cut out, 5 mins later it would start again. Since the new ones been on had no problem.

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Yeah - ignition module / amplifier. We had this issue and been fine since changed it.

Also had a problem caused by poor / loose connection on the module - ie when going over bumps it was 'disconnecting' so causing misfire. Bent pins / tangs manually so got a good contact - not had any issues since. This probably only occurs though if you have disconnected the amplifier to check it in the first place and inadvertantly bent the pins - they be quite brittle once 30 years old...

Certainly both worth a look...don't give up

Chris

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Sorry, also meant to say - I know you've changed the coil but make absolutlely sure you've got the right one!

I talk from experience as I ordered one from JK which was listed for my van but actually turned out to be the wrong one and had to buy the correct one from Brickwerks

It was only thanks to the good folks on here that I found this out...

Also, remember, coils can fail even when new - don't rule anything out.

Chris

[karl40]

Remember the stalling problem we both seem to have, i think its now gone! It was not hose or vac pull down or fuel pump or all the other things i changed it turned out to be the ignition amplifier module. I changed it for a second hand one i got on eBay for £10 and its not coughed, stalled or back fired yet. The fault would normally have kicked in by now so the Ignition amplifier module seems to be the route of my trouble. Best of luck with yours Karl40