Club 80-90 Forums

Hello everyone I’m Blrsjer, I’ve just purchased myself a 1986 T25 camper, loving it so far I’m absolutely in love with the van. However the engine has a few issues. Engine: 1.9 DG

I’ve recently rebuilt the carb and fixed it’s dodgy choke so she’s starting much nicer. But today the following happened:

Went to start her up, turned the ignition the battery light comes on on the dashboard. She struggles to start a little but seems okay. Upon acceleration in second gear there’s a huge drop in power and an odd noise coming from the engine.

Looking at the engine, the cap on the crankcase breather has come loose and is vibrating up and down whilst this is happening the engine’s idle seems a bit off. When pushed back down the engine goes back to normal.

First of all: what is the best way to re-secure the cap, is there a certain sealant I should purchase? Second of all: Could the loose cap be the reason for the loss in power? This is the first time the engine has lost power and also the first time this cap has come loose, hence why I’m thinking there could be a correlation.

I’m not an experienced mechanic lets say but I am fairly competent with a spanner! So any explanations and help are most welcome!

How to post pictures.

Could be a compression issue, are all spark plugs secured and in place including leads, are we talking about the tower and breather pipe, I thought this was a sealed unit but I could be wrong, as I have heard of people taking them apart to check it.  Just to add check the pipe from the tower to the carb is not blocked, as above from Rob, a few images would be useful.

I’ve added on a photo now, so hopefully it’s a bit clearer! I will check the breather tube for blockages as it was disconnected for a while whilst I worked on the carb.

As far as spark plugs go I’m planning on replacing them anyway so I’ll check they’re all secure as well.

Looks as if the tower had had it, as a temporary measure you could seal it by wrapping self amalgamating tape around it, but it the previous owner has fiddled with it, the diaphragm may have gone so a new tower maybe in order. But wait for other advice before purchasing.

Ah okay, depending on the price of the tower the tape may have to do for the moment! Thank you for the initial post!

Also check the pipe running from tower to pancake on top of carb. They often collapse.
Brickwerks use to sell a superior silicone version. Otherwise insert a bit of hosepipe to open up vent pipe.
I have a used tower you can have for the price of postage. Needs cleaning though.

When I aquired my WBX the top of what appeared to be the breather tower was  secured with a poly bag and elastic band. On the WBX the tower is part of the induction system/airflow management  and requires to be air tight. To be frank there being no handook I did wonder where you put the oil in and made up the story in my head that my piff artist mate who flogged me the van had hacked it off in a drunken fit of frustrated confusion thiking it was a jammed on oil filler cap. Like the man says degrease then give it a few tight wraps with self amalgamating or gaffer tape. It would be bodgers etiquete to use black rather than the rather crude silver although which has to be said is ideal for repairing metalic silver focus bumprs.

 

Alright, sounds like a bodge job is in order for the moment. A new tower is only about £60 online for anyone else with the same problem. Though that’s a pretty costly annoyance for just a broken cap!

Thanks for the advice chaps!