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A piece of rubber hose....

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Baz

Baz

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...has been the source of my 12 months of SU problems.
A 1" piece of rubber that goes from the floatbowl overflow into that pipe that runs to the charcoal canister.
Over the years I guess the rubber had deteriorated to the point where it formed a blockage.
I pushed it through with a screwdriver last night.
It's a different car.
The symptom was always idling well, after a few minutes (when the float bowls ran dry, unable to vent) it would splutter and die.

After everything I've done to these carbs, bad and good, it was never their fault. What a relief.

If you have the pipe that runs from front carb to rear to canister, check em out or replace the rubber.
 
Isn't it nice when you find the problem.

Change all the rubber stuff every 5 years. Hoses and belts.
 
Good job, now when do we get the video footage of it running properly?
 
Barry, I had a similar problem when I woke the '72 after its 15 year sleep. On mine, the hose had broken, and insects had built a nest in the hard line. A five minute fix, and it hasn't skipped a beat since.
Jeff
 
Yeah Jeff, 5 minute fix but seemed like an eternity to find!
Don't worry Pete, now she's hot, happy and reliable, I'll be taking it to autocross this weekend and should get some good video of it running properly!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
(OT but I'm going against a 68 XKE and a 1500 Spit with 2x dual sidedrafts and a few other LBCs. I'll try and get some info on what he has for the 1500 Midget owners)
 
Why shucks, you should run rings around that big iron.
 
This illustrates a lesson that I have to keep teaching myself, over and over. There is a tendency to assume that all problems are difficult to solve, and then to overlook the simple things. I can't count the number of times this sort of thing has happened to me--so you'd think I'd learn! But occasionally I do find the little loose screw BEFORE I tear down the whole engine.

For example--I had a sputtering and dieing problem a little while ago. While piddling around under the hood, poking and prodding, I noticed that the high-voltage wire was loose in the coil connection (I have the kind of connection that uses a screw cap). The cap was screwed on all the way, but the wire was still loose! So, it occasionally slipped away from the contact, and then the spark was erratic.

Turned out that the previous owner had used some parts that almost fit, but not quite. I made a little plastic sleeve to fill up the necessary space under the cap, and all was well again.
 
We would buy rolls of hose of various sizes for the shop. The reels were on a rack against a wall... On replacing a piece of fuel line one car ran worse than before all the tune-up work. Took hours to figure out what was happening: We have "mud daubers" around here. Now I cap ALL hose/line with "Cap-Plugs" when they're lyin' around the shop.

Looking for the source of a problem, we tend to "OverTech". Pro'lly spent three hours going back-and-forth between the diz and the carbs looking for what we'd done wrong... It usually turns out to be the "Stupid Stuff" in the end.
 
Us shade tree types always check new hoses and lines for the pesky mud daubers. No telling how long our stuff has been laying around.

Found lots of them when putting Miss Agatha back together. Mostly in things like fuel line fittings.
 
DrEntropy said:
We would buy rolls of hose of various sizes for the shop. The reels were on a rack against a wall... On replacing a piece of fuel line one car ran worse than before all the tune-up work. Took hours to figure out what was happening: We have "mud daubers" around here. Now I cap ALL hose/line with "Cap-Plugs" when they're lyin' around the shop.

Looking for the source of a problem, we tend to "OverTech". Pro'lly spent three hours going back-and-forth between the diz and the carbs looking for what we'd done wrong... It usually turns out to be the "Stupid Stuff" in the end.
Click to expand...

Some times we so called "techs" assume the problem must be a really difficult job. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif
We just can't bring ourselves to admitting we've done something "dumb"

You go get them Barry!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

Stuart. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
 
It's the old classic "50 cent part that lost Indy" syndrome.
Murphy's Law diagnostics addendum..."start with the lowest cost, least likely replacement part, check it, and work up from there!" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
This is analogous to my own computer/electrical troubleshooting mantra:

"Is it plugged in -- is it turned on?"

Always good to start simple. Glad you got it sorted, Barry.
 
I had a dodgy pipe on the BMW a few months back, I'd smell fuel on start up but it would disappear within 5 minutes. Every time I looked for it I couldn't find any leak. ended up getting a length of hose, sticking one end up my nose and moving it around the bay. Found it within a few seconds! It was only a 1 1/2" section of pipe but was a real bugger to change!
 
That must be one of Edsel Murphy's Corollarys: "The cheapest, cheesiest bits break first and are the most awkward ones to replace."
 
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