Stuck in France! Advice for mechanics please

[sunblu7]

Hello from campsite in Vosges

We've been all round Norway, Sweden and the rest of Europe over the last seven years in our 1980 2l Devon without a problem.
Up mountains with a van-full of family towing a trailer - zooming along motorways to catch a ferry etc etc - all worry-free and brilliant.
This year I discovered that the one of the carbs had been held together with a plastic tie and wouldn't tick over so I thinking I'd be sensible I replaced with Empis from VW Heritage.

So, on arrival at Colmar in the pouring rain the van conked out at some traffic lights.

After traditional comedy moments of family pushing van across traffic and after immense kindness from locals, van is in excellent garage.
French mechanics are the business - I've had great help from French tractor mechanics in the past.
However - there are certain nuances with these vehicles that elude even the best of mechanics, particularly ones used to modern cars!

The original diagnosis was a problem with the distributor. They''ve repaired the distributor with a kit from Brickwerks that I arranged. The ht leads/spark plugs are all new. They replaced the squarish flat box on left of the bodywork (don't have manual on me so can't tell you what it is I'm afraid) - this was their solution, which I found slightly alarming as my limited understanding was that this was largely redundant.

The mechanics now reckon the problem is with the carbs. The van now runs, but (as best I can figure with basic French) they say that the carbs are unbalanced and that it suddenly cuts out and could fail again on the way home (hopefully on Tuesday).
They are arranging for a carb specialist to have a look on Monday.

So, finally, to my questions
- does anyone recognise the problem/have any advice for mechanics?
- if the carb expert is not available are there any simple fixes to get us back?

Thank you for any thoughts on this. I've always believed that an element of jeopardy sharpens the experience of holidays - but suspect it might have gone a bit far this time!

[toomanytoys]

Mmm..

So.. have you got the old carbs on still or the new ones??

Carbs might well be out of balance.. When were they last balanced??
Could be crap in the carbs
could be air leaks..

cable tie holding a carb together isn't good...

Sounds to me the van needed a few things if they sussed the dizzy issue and the idle stabiliser box faulty (Normally are and not really needed so easy enough to bypass by joining the 2 plugs together..)

[sunblu7]

Thanks for this - apologies for slow reply - wifi in clubhouse at top of hill so having to make special visits.

I'm using the new carbs. They were all set up when they were installed by a garage a couple of weeks before we left.

As the carbs are newly installed I would have thought there would be less chance of air leaks - all new connectors and so on.

Would it be possible to get back to UK with out of balance carbs - or would it result in another breakdown on the way?

[bigherb]

If you have got two carbs then unlikely to cause the engine to cut out entirely. It might stall at idle and loose power if one carb is not working. More likely a fuel supply problem with not enough fuel to supply two carbs.

[blacky]

If you have got two carbs then unlikely to cause the engine to cut out entirely. It might stall at idle and loose power if one carb is not working. More likely a fuel supply problem with not enough fuel to supply two carbs.

Got to agree with Bigherb, can't see it being a carb balance problem. It may be uneven on tickover and stall, but once underway should not be much of a problem.

[sunblu7]

Thanks for comments - that's very helpful.

It will give me something to check with the mechanics - if there is a good fuel supply I'll have the confidence to head back.

If there isn't, we'll know to look further for the problem.

I've a nasty feeling that the fuel tank may be implicated. I'd like to be positive, but perhaps pessimism is a healthier approach to solving the riddles of mechanical problems!

[randbk]

Sorry if this appears too simple to be true, but have you checked the fuel filter? My van conked out on me and it was as simple as that!

[sunblu7]

I put in a new fuel filter before we left, and it had fuel in in it when it broke down - however it could still be the problem.

Thanks - I'll ask them to clean/check it - it wouldn't surprise me if it was this all along.

[sunblu7]

It's getting worse.

Buckets of Euros and a week of faffing around later, the van suffers the same failure.

500 metres down the road after being pronounced fixed, it starts to misfire and then makes a 'Phut' sound and cuts out completely.

All the electrics are now pristine, - new everything, including distributor repair kit.

I have suggested that fuel may the issue - fuel filter etc - hard to know if they have checked up on this - the mechanic seemed surprised and interested in the idea when I cornered him and mentioned it for the fourth time.

They are getting 'the old mechanic' in tomorrow who apparently understands these vehicles.

Any thoughts as to other possible issues will be really useful, as they have pretty much admitted that they don't know what they're doing and specific direction may be the only way home!

[ermie571]

sounds like you need to contact Sarran - he is an Aircooled specialist in france...so would be able to communicate and give the guidance you need.

I'll pm details from the members help list

regards

[Evsi]

Has the fuel pump been checked? Try running a pipe from a fuel can straight to the fuel inlet to see if it makes any difference (safely of course). Good luck!

[sunblu7]

Thanks both - that's excellent - I'll contact Sarran immediately and also pass on the thought about the fuel pump to the garage.

I realised last night that my main problem here is the garage - I've ended up as a bit of a hostage, this will help me move things forward.

Feeling much more optimistic now - thanks.

[AdrianC]

Really simple test... Disconnect the fuel pipe to one carb. Get the missus to turn the engine over on the starter. Do the same to the other. Are you getting decent pulses of fuel to both carbs, roughly similar?

When it starts, is it running on all four?
When it dies, is it dying on all four simultaneously, or missing and coughing and farting but still trying to run on two?
When it's died, do you have a spark?

[sunblu7]

We are camping an hour away from where the van broke down, so don't have ready access to do these tests - but I'll pass on to mechanic - we're communicating via email using google translate which is helping.

The fuel pump is apparently OK - he is wondering whether I have put the wrong petrol in. I'm pretty sure I didn't use diesel the last time I filled up, its not an easy mistake to make. Even if I did, we drove on the tank of petrol for a couple of days - up and down mountains etc.

I've left a message with Sarran - does anyone happen to know any other mechanics in France?

Thanks for continued suggestions - it's just take, take, take from this side - hopefully I'll be able to give a happy ending back.

[oorwullie]

conked out in pissin' rain, i'd be suspecting water in the tank. it's quite possible that the garage has replaced all these parts without checking the obvious. but they wouldn't earn very much for just draining the tank and inspecting the fuel would they?

hopefully johnny sarran will be able to do his long distance magic and you'll get sorted.

i'm about 200km south of you but i'm travelling south probably tomorrow and not heading in your direction, sorry.