Club 80-90 Forums

Every now and then I get a sudden loss of power. I know it's to do wiht the fuel supply. What I do is - stop the engins (if it hasn't cut out) and jiggle around with the throttle cable, next to the carb, then, hey presto, it's OK again. So far it has not happened to me in any tricky situations, but it's only a matter of time I guess.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what the fault might be?

1.9 water cooled DG

i tend to have a on and off problem a bit simular, some times i put me foot down on accelator and it just doesnt seem to respond very sluggish, and then some time as im chaging down gear on a hill the engine nearly dies and the batt and oil light flash on but then comes back to life again, been told it might be my petrol filter possibly

we have similar problems. the engine stalls when u put clutch down. carb cleaner stuff worked for few days but is doing it again. very odd

there is no substitute for taking the carb off and cleaning it........
also check the fuel cut off solenoid, if this sticks in it will not run at low revs, its stopping the petrol flow....... see thisthread

The problem has become much worse and the engine won't idle any more. Had to callout breakdown recovery. The bloke said the carb needs cleaning out.

Bugger!

Cleaning the carb is not a difficult job. Just take it out, dismantle it, remember where everything goes, clean it and put it back together. Tune it so it sounds and feels like its running right and not too lean and you should be ok.

Thanks airhead, but you make it sound like that Monty Python skit about Blue Peter - "How to do it".

"And now John is going to show us how to play the flute. Over to you John"

"Thanks Tony, well children to play the flute you blow down one end and then move your fingers up and down the outside!"

"That was great John, thanks. And now we're going to hear from Andrew about how to rid the world of all known diseases"

Or something like that. Sorry, I do appreciate the suggestion and the advice, but stripping a carb, cleaning it, putting it back together and tuning it all sounds pretty daunting to someone as mechanically challenged as me!!

Forget the tuning for now, that's usually just the idel settings anyway and plays little part elswhwere ina fixed-jet carb, note the settiings of adj. screws if you take them out (count) to get pretty well near it first time.
Allow plenty of time for a job done first time ever, note the materials its made of and condition, as to whether soft, hard corroded etc, and take appropriate care. Clean the thing first so you can see what you are doing (carb or brake cleanerr) and use proper tools that fit, to avoid burring, rounding theings off. If it doesn't fit well, don't use it.. block up orifices when cleaning

Bit prob. best to get a mate who's got some mechanical sympathy to stand and point first time out.. they do exist, but tend to hide

You're looking for muck, however small, in jets, chambers, valves and nozzles - sortof. Could be soft sticky gel, or very fine gritty stuff. Wash through, don't scrape around inside small holes with hard tools and eneklarge or score them.

Check spindles for slop and wear, a big problem with butterfly valves after 100,000 + miles