Newbie Van wont start

[thegasman2000]

I am new here and to the scene. I have a small amount of mechanical knowledge but only enough to be dangerous so please be gentle!

I have a 1980 2.0 Aircooled Petrol with twin solex carbs. I bought it not running and am sooooo close to getting here to idle.

I replaced the battery and earth straps and the starter motor is much better now. With the airbox off and some easy start in the carb inlets she tries and did idle once for about 20 seconds. Then nothing again. When i look down the carb and and pull throttle i see some brass pipey type things pi$$ fuel down the big hole... I presume this is the fuel valve working? I am worried about the fuel system being screwed. When i took the fuel line off the bottom of the tank (with £20 worth of petrol in her) it doesnt even drip. I tried the other side and the same. A coat hanger up the hole didnt free anything up and blowing up the pip bubbles into the fuel. Sucking it release some beautiful gas into my mouth, but as soon as i pulled away it stopped again. is there a vacuum valve in there? or is it a problem.

The reason I think the carbs may be at fault is these injectors.. well one side was straight and the other on the pi$$. The one with the bend injector the top butterfly valve doesnt seem to close.

[kevtherev]

lots of confusing stuff there
to start with fuel is sucked from the tank by the pump
this outlet on the tank should have a CLEAN fuel filter about four inches from the tank
any other fuel line is a return line from the carb.
make sure the pump pumps by removing the outlet pipe to the carb and point it into a jug turn the engine over without the plugs in or the leads on..

once all that is good try again.

electric pumps are commonly fitted.

Carbs don't have injectors, they have jets.
they have a throttle butterfly valve and a choke flap

[thegasman2000]

Thanks Kev I will try that. I have a fuel filter a few inches from the tank. A replacement is so cheap I will pick a few up to throw in a cupboard!

Does the carb sound broke? The auto choke thing is confusing me! Which electric pump would you recommend? The JK ones seem expensive.

Does it seem like a fuel issue?

[kevtherev]

just find out if the pump works first
then move on to the carbs.

fuel delivery
fuel mixture
sparks
timing

in that order
one thing at a time, if you ping around you end up in circles.

[thegasman2000]

you end up in circles.

[thegasman2000]

So I took the fuel pipe off the t junction splitting to the carbs. On crank it is pumping fuel into the jug still no bang bang. I took pictured of th carbs to try and explain the above comments.

[T25Convert]

So at least you have fuel reaching the T piece, so the pump is working.

Post up the pics and we'll see if we can assist....

Cheers,

Alex

[thegasman2000]

http://imgur.com/3txDy8m" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://imgur.com/TnvaGi6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://imgur.com/Gym2UTp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://imgur.com/D24J4mT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://imgur.com/kX1I3Bz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://imgur.com/HvFU5fi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


As you can see the carb on the right side closed but the other side is always open...

[kevtherev]

lots of pictures of the choke flap
both should be closed when the engine is cold.

[thegasman2000]

Ah ok so the top butterfly valve is the choke. One is closed and the other is always open. Will temporarily covering it and restricting the air help start her? Got spark to dizzy and rotor spins freely. Need a Wiltshire Vw guru :/

[lefty67]

have a read of this first, will help you get familiar with your carbs. I assume you have solex carbs?
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/DualCarbs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[thegasman2000]

have a read of this first, will help you get familiar with your carbs. I assume you have solex carbs?
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/DualCarbs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes solex carbs. So much more to them that my motorbike carbs! Seen a webber single carb which looks awesome but £££££

[lefty67]

solex carbs are just fine when they are set up properly with a little help and perseverance you,ll get there then love it.

[kevtherev]

set your carbs up properly
don't fanny about with your hand.
read the guide its a bible

find out why one is allways open.

Sarran will see this soon and tell you more

Dont fit a weber..

[BOXY]

Each choke should a spade connector on the housing. With the ignition on there will be a +12 volt supply that heats up the coil that opens up the choke. If the heater is knackered some people slacken off the three screws that hold the choke housing and turn it around to disable the choke. That's probably what has been done to the one with the flap straight up. To be honest you should be able to start a CU engine with both chokes disabled by just giving it a bit of extra throttle.

While you're checking the spade connector on the chokes, check all the other electrical connections on the carbs. Anyone of the fuel solenoids could be causing the non-start.