Erratic idle when warm

Post by **brookie** » 19 Sep 2006, 13:15

My friend has a 1.9 petrol E reg with a Pierburg 2E3 carb with auto choke.
Starts fine when cold but when warm the idling is all over the place and sometimes evens cuts out altogether. Have given it new plugs,leads and air filter but no improvement. Is it likely to be the auto-choke playing up? If so, can this be removed and a manual choke be put in? Is it worth checking the timing (even though its breakerless) and the mixture before probing at the auto-choke?
Any help would be great.
Ta.

Post by **toomanytoys** » 19 Sep 2006, 14:16

Would check that the dizzy isnt sticking and no air leaks on the tubings around the manifold, worth checking the timing as it will show an erratic movement if the dizzy is sticking.. could also be that the idle mix is weak.. dont start messing with the choke as if it works well from cold it should be well clear whan hot..

Website · Post by **CovKid** » 19 Sep 2006, 14:58

Very very likely this is worn throttle flaps.

What happens is that when its cold, the richer mixture and higher idling speed keeps it running fine but as soon as choke comes off, the air being sucked in via the throttle spindles makes steady idling virtually impossible.

You can check this out by grabbing hold of the nut on the end of the throttle spindle and seeing if it will move up and down by any amount. ANY wear here will cause this problem. You can spray wd40 around them and as the gaps are temprarily plugged by the fluid, you'll hear the idle even out. Only remedy is find a local lathe man who can put the spindles on a lathe and smooth them out then make bushes to fit. Steve Shaw does them certainly.

Post by **toomanytoys** » 19 Sep 2006, 15:13

Covkid, true for the solex carbs on an Aircooled, but not common (not heard of it before) on a 2E3.. in fact it would have to be very high miles for it to happen, as my 2E3 bus has 200k miles on it and was running sweet... (deffo original carb too) I know if some other vans with high miles too...
I would check the mech advance is not sticky.. pop the dist cap off and turn the rotorarm GENTLY, to see if it moves easy and smoothly, then check the timing with a strobe. then check for air leaks on the manifold as suggested with wd40 and vac tubes.. the ones on the carb for the pull down and second throttle always go hard and not seal properly

Post by **vanjam** » 20 Sep 2006, 23:07

my 2e3 has an idle stabilisation unit on it, when disconnected idle running is VERY lumpy. It's a small, fat cylindrical device mounted in the front of the carb about half way up the carb body if recollection serves with a single wire coming out of it. Connects to wires from ecu I think. I have several annotated photos of same carb if you want me to email them.
Cheers
Jim