Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,
My 1st post! - Great site and forums. have managed to find answers to many previous potential questions. Hope someone can help with this-

engine- 1900 water cooled DG . carb is 2E3 pierburg.
symptoms- engine dies when changing down for junction etc, as i attempt to accelerate again, no power for 2 or 3 seconds but will usually come back to life, or may stall completely, will restart straight away but difficult to pull away without high revs to keep it going. seems to idle o.k. and drive o.k otherwise.
Has just been in garage where carb was dismantled, cleaned thoroughly and repair kit from vw main dealer was used on re-assembly. Problem before this was needle valve sticking and petrol flooding carb. mechanic checked and renewed vac. hoses. not sure exactly what the repair kit included. has new plugs, leads, and fuel filter. Not changed air filter yet, he said it looked o.k.
Having read other threads, i checked choke pull down vacuum unit, going by haynes - idling, there was no resistance to closing choke by hand.
Also tried the 'suck test', no resistance, so it appears the unit is not working. Also followed someones' instructions to check vacuum advance on distributor - again no resistance, but took tube off, plugged one end, sucked and that isnt leaking, so where would the problem be with that?
(Hope your still with me!) - spoke to a vauxhall mechanic,-they had pierburgs. he said choke pull down unit only affects fast idle speed., and they used to disconnect the dizzy vac advance because it caused pinking, and he didnt think either would cause my problem. Is there something else that would cause this symptom( it happens shortly after starting up and driving), or is it one of the probs, i seem to have found?
What do you think? Any expert opinions much appreciated.
I presume i should replace choke pull down unit anyway- where would i get one? I have just managed to get Haynes solex/ pierburg manual but having little mechanical experience, thought i'd ask some experts!

water in the fuel would cause these symptoms or the fuel transfer jet

take off the fuel filter (near the tank) let it drain into a glass and check for water (water sinks)

the transfer jet is supplied by the little diaphragm on the side of the carb.
as you depress the accel it squirts a little fuel into the carb to stop the engine stalling

choke pull down units are obsolete from VW now... brickwerks may have one

Thanks kevtherev,
I will check the fuel at weekend, and read up on the fuel transfer jet. do you think the vauxhall guy was right?

Can anyone else shed any light?

Hi davidm,

I had similar problem too.

Choke sticking open? What procedure do you use for starting from cold?
I don't bother with one pump of thottle. Just quarter throttle then hold it for 15 seconds at about 12-1500 revs or until it idles by itself.

In the end I also changed all leads/dizzy cap/coil for pin type connections too.

Seems all good for now (please God )

check the main vac hose to the brake servo for leaks, and the manifold gaskets for leaks too......... (spray wd40 round the gaskets to the heads and see if idle speed rises as the wd is used a fuel if its being sucked in)

also check fuel pump push rod is ok, and not worn

for cold start - one press of accelerator. garage said choke was coming off o.k. I will check.

thanks steve for other pointers, -will check these.

If this is just early on in the journey, choke coming off to early or fast idle not working... sounds a bit more like Mocki's vac tubes too, than water, but won't harm to check. A good carb experienced mechanic should troubeshoot this one fairly quickly...

and they used to disconnect the dizzy vac advance because it caused pinking,

Mmm, and then run too retarded with poor fuel consumption.. Typical main dealer approach IMHO...]
Many Vauxhalls often had 'light tinkling around town', often due lack of a good thrashing up the motorway! The odd splosh of Super in the fueltank woudn't have been a bad suggestion either... despite meant to run on unleaded, trying to squeeze a quart out of a pint pot also comes to mind.

Leave your vac advance alone... or check all its functions work correctly.

I had a look at the new fuel filter and and can see that there is water sitting in the bottom of it, along with quite a lot of muck/rust already in the few miles done since it was fitted.
I guess the tank would need draining and cleaning out. Any guidance would be appreciated. Does the tank need to be taken off? Can it be drained by removing the fuel supply line and the return line. If it can be drained like this will it actually need cleaning out or can i just rely on the fuel filter to deal with the crap?

Vac advance unit should have resistance when sucking.. if not the diaphragm is split.. blocking the other side (dual vac unit) will effectively seal the unit..
Also.. all the 1.9 dg engines I have sean have only single vac advance unit..
Timing set correctly??

Accel pump blocked/faulty?

Or it could be the "cut off" valve on the side of the carb not working properly.. this opens and bypasses the idle circuit and engines will only run if lots of throttle and "pumping" of accel....