Club 80-90 Forums

Just had to cut our holiday short as the van broke down near Chirk
(Great ending after going to crappy VW Extravaganza )

Coming back the van lost power and was spluttering to a stop..foot hard down give it a little burst of power then it would lose power again straight away, kangarooing along at about 10 mph.

Eventually it would go no more and we were stranded on the A483 for ages waiting for the RAC to show up.

When the bloke arrived, he had a look at the carb and in the end decided that it was the choke butterfly jammed closed. He reckons the choke pull down is knacked

He tried carb cleaner etc but give up and called for the lowloader to get us home.

If I start the van now, it revs its head off ... as if the accelerator is flat to the floor.

Any ideas??

Not sure about the rest but....

If I start the van now, it revs its head off ... as if the accelerator is flat to the floor.

Check the cam on the side of the carb. Where the accelerator cable attaches. It could be jammed wide open.

Thanks...will do

I'll have a look tomorrow and see if i can spot anything.
It's had the same kind of problem on and off for ages but no one seems to know what it is.The main problem has been it cutting out at junctions. As its an auto it is a real pain! The MOT station say it runs very lean and it has a bit of a miss. I ran it every day for about 1000 miles before going on holiday with it and it was totally reliable..started first time and never cut out. Sods law it would let us down on holiday . The kids were not pleased at coming home 2 days early.

Just tried the van again this morning. The butterfly appears to be opening and closing ok. It wouldn't run at first...give it a bit of carb cleaner and after a few attempts it is staying running..BUT idling at a very fast speed (no rev counter but feels like about 3000 revs)
I don't know what the fella from the RAC has touched as I was in the drivers seat. I really don't want to mess around with anything and make it worse. Any ideas? What does the screw on the carb adjust (the one facing you when you look at it from the back of the van? Maybe he has messed about with that
Any help would be greatly appreciated...I'm starting to go mad!

What does the screw on the carb adjust (the one facing you when you look at it from the back of the van?

If it a Pierberg standard carb then you are looking at tickover adjuster ...I think.
Go to wiki. there's an exploded view for you to check...O hell! Hang on ...
da de dum...here you go

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Fu ... -_Pierburg

Check items 9, 10 & 35.

Not really that knowledgeable about carbs so a professional might be needed

davet25auto wrote: He tried carb cleaner etc but give up and called for the lowloader to get us home.
If I start the van now, it revs its head off ... as if the accelerator is flat to the floor.
Any ideas??

I hate this sort of post because regardless of which type of carb any half decent motor mechanic should be able to diagnose this problem and not being able to get my hands on the offending item frustrates me. Although having messed with engines of one kind or another for well over 50years I still like to RTFM (Read the F...... manual) You need to find that half decent mechanic or prefereably get the manual and start your DIY apprenticeship. Or you could of course wait for about half a day and someone on this forum will almost certainly put their finger on your problem for you. Good init!
Good luck anyway.
Ken

There's not many of us familiar with the auto set up though, so you need to have the Haynes manual as that's the one with the carb and auto info section 4A.5/6 as well as the basic carb info

Thanks for the replies.
Weve been out again to look at it this morning..still as clear as mud
We have a feeling it is the choke pull down unit?? The auto choke unit seems ok but it will not tick over. It just races at 2000-3000rpm and will not drop.
It did not do this before the RAC come out. The reason for calling them out was that there was no power..It would rev with foot hard down then the revs would die off ..foot down hard again and another 2 second burst of revs before dying again. To me seemed like a blocked jet or basically some carp in the carb.
looks like we will be going to Tatton in the car again...I really want to go to Vanfest in it though if possible.

Just another thing....thinking about it, the carb on it now might or might not be for an auto as it was bought second hand a while back. It has performed great though for the last 1000 or so miles.

Cheers Fritz..you have a pm

Thanks Fritz.
Your help was very much appreciated! I'll have a go at the linkage in the morning. Really looking forwards to getting the van to some shows now
Hope to see you at Tatton...all being well.

Cheers

Dave

Dave,

what was the problem in the end? Just in case others get the same symptoms.

Great to read another member helped you solve your problem

The problem was down mainly to a knackered choke pull down unit and a mucky carb. Fritz kindly came around and saved the day by getting it running
Luckily enough we had a spare choke pull down on an old carb thats been lying around for years and it was in usable condition.

Nice to meet you all and help as much as possible,,,,,

The RAC man was on the right track with his diagnoisis, it turns out the secondary throttle spindle had siezed and would not close, as well as the secondary diaphragm being totally u/s,,,hence the fast running problem.
It is possible it has been like this for some time...as your MOT man has indicated with the lean mixture comment he keeps making..


Provided you can get some carb gaskets and then get the carb cleaned out and mixture checked. we will meet yet again at Tatton Park.


Regards

Fritz,,,,

well done Fritz, always nice to hear stories like this when members come to the rescue of their brothesr in arms

fritz's help was very welcome. ....just need to get that carb gasket now then hopefully get the van to some shows again