• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

MGB 1980 MGB - No power

Share this page

Russ80MGB

Russ80MGB

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
Hello,
New to the forum but excited to be here. I have a 1980 MGB and when I took it out of storage at my neighbor's garage the car started right up. After allowing it to run for a few minutes I backed it out of the garage. But something just didn't feel right when depressed the accelerator. I took off up the street and it was obvious that something was wrong. It was very slow to rev and there was very little acceleration. I pulled it into my garage and began to diagnose the problem. I initial though that it had bad gas after sitting for 4 months so it "limped" all the way to the gas station and filled up the tank. I ran the car for a long time and still the same problem. Thinking that the carb may have gotten gummed up I took it apart. It was clean as a bone. I changed the plugs, cap and rotor (that didn't look to great), set the ignition timing, changed the fuel filter and made sure that critters didn't use the air cleaner as a storage shed. Still the same problem. I was thinking that maybe something happened to the coil but didn't want to just keep changing parts.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Much appreciated,
Russ
 
I'd check for blocked exhaust too - had a friend who experienced similar with a Fiat spyder once - turned out the cat can or muffler was plugged.
Fuel flow is another thing to look at - the carb might be clean but if you're only getting a trickle of fuel it will starve out (easy to check - disconnect fuel feed from carb, put into an empty gas can and turn on the key - it should flow pretty strongly and evenly into the can). When you changed the filter was it full or seem pretty empty?
 
Thanks a lot. I was thinking maybe a clogged exhaust but aside from buying new components (especially a very expensive catalytic converter). Any way to check them out?
 
Assuming the Zed-S carb, did you check the carb diaphragm for rips/tears/pinholes?
 
Slightly stretching it around its diameter while holding it in front of a light source will help reveal any rupture in the rubber. HTH.
 
Russ80MGB said:
Hey Dr,
You were spot on! The diaphragm was ripped up! Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
You're welcome. Even a blind squirrel (me) finds a nut now and then. :LOL:
 
DrEntropy said:
You're welcome. Even a blind squirrel (me) finds a nut now and then. :LOL:
Click to expand...
although in fairness there are a lot of nuts here to be found. :ROFLMAO:
 
Nice that you've got a good parts resource nearby! I'm envious. šŸ˜‰

And keep us informed as to your progress. Many others' eyes will see and benefit.
 
So, Russ, is it running?
 
Back
Top