• 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

Bummer Of A Day

Share this page

jhorton3

jhorton3

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
Midgie's running like crap! Wife and I bled the clutch and brakes again. Ready for test run and she wouldn't start. Everything electrical was fine, no noise from the solenoid. Checked fuses and connections. Couldn't see anything wrong, then she starts.

Now she's running like crap no matter what adjustments are made. Carbs are back to 12 flats adjustment for the jets. No matter if I retard or advance the distributor it still runs poorly. Taking the vacuum hose off the distributor made it idle higher. Trying to rev the engine and I get a lot for shudder and some backfiring. Too late to fool with it now. Will attempt to look at it some more in the morning.

Today at lunch I had my wife and mother in the Audi and we were rear ended by 2 boys with no license, no insurance, and expired plates. Luckily no one was hurt. They wanted to pay me cash for the damage if I wouldn't call the cops. No way. I called the cops and they dealt with them.
 
Ohh yea, you had a good bad day. No one was hurt though. And you will get the midget sorted out.
 
Yeah, mine gonna cost me some money too.

I attempted to clean the carpets in my car. They were in pretty good shape until I went to pull one out and it disintegrated.

And the seat belt retractor was jammed. So I took off one of the side covers of the retractor to see if I could free it. Turns out the side I took off was the side with the spring loaded in it.

Do you know how long a seat belt retractor spring is? That 2" diameter spring is about 8 feet long when it is set free.

I decided at this point that drinking some beer was better than doing any more work today.
 
gmichael - I did the same thing on the drivers side in my car. What a pain, all that spring stuff. Went & got my keg refilled after that.

Thinking I'll just install a lap belt & be done with it. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Jim, sounds to me like you have several problems at one time. Brakes, Clutch, Battery / Electrical, Mixture, Timing. And living in a place where people can get away with driving without license and insurance. Be glad it only cost a bit of the back of your Audi. My father was killed by one of those types. No license, no license plates, no insurance, didn't even transfer the title of his chevy van.

Anyway, you have to take the time necessary with the Audi first, It's your daily driver, then go on to the Midget.

Sounds like maybe the brakes and clutch are about done. Good, leave them for now. With the electrical, it's probably just a loose connection between the ign/starter switch to the solenoid. If it continues to be a problem, that would be the first issue to deal with. If not, it's time to set the timing to specs statically and set the carb adjustments about even.

Static timing is done with just turning the engine to 5 deg before tdc and turn the distributor (with the cap off) until the points just open (you get a spark from the coil wire). Leave the dizzy there.
 
definatly sounds like more than one prob there jim
electrical sounds like bad connection
running rough check the basics beefore going nuts with adjustments
double check any thing youve done in the resent past
what has happened from when running ok to now eg spark plugs leads on the corect way this will cause your symptoms
hope this helps
 
Yep, having trouble with both carbs and distributor. Ignition switch issue went away. Jets on carbs won't return back to base after choke applied. I had to push them back up, so something is binding. Noticed condensation on the rear carb piston after a few minutes of running. Odd.

#2 plug wire disconnected from the cap. Helped smooth idle out a bit when plugged back in, but still having a problem missing at idle and popping out through the carbs when revving. Advanced the distributor really far and that helped the idle some more, and some with revving, but not what it should be. Replaced the lead wire inside the distributor because the old cloth covered one was frayed and looked bad. That didn't help either. Wondering if this could be a condenser issue?

Seriously considering yanking this original style distributor and fitting a Petronix Flame Thrower Distributor. Thinking the current unit I have is not up to snuff. I've found the Flame Thrower for $165 and thinking it might save me a lot of headaches in the long run.

Resolve an oil leak, discover another. Used some thick washers for the valve cover and that appears to stop the leaking from under the gasket. Installing PCV valve seems to have helped the rear seal leak. Now I've got a leak somewhere around the oil feed pipe/braided line pressure gauge area.
 
Jim, you'll figure out the problem with the midget, and I'm sure the lads will cough up for the damage for the Audi. The silver lining? All the crap happened to you on one day, no doubt normality will return soon!
 
Go by the shop manual to center the carb jets.
 
If you static-timed the ignition--are you sure you sure the rubbing block is on the counter-clockwise side of the cam, when it opens, not on the clockwise side? I suspect this is a big reason why people often get bad performance after static timing.

When someone has the problem that the car is running badly, and no adjustment seems to correct it, that's usually an indication that the things you're adjusting aren't the problem, or are so far off that ordinary adjustments don't get it close enough. When you have drastically bad performance, something is drastically wrong. Don't look for something subtle. This is good, in one sense--major things wrong are easier to find that little ones.
 
After mowing the lawn last night I set about working on the dizzy. Decided not to fire it up last night since it was nearing midnight. This morning I went out with my wife who was leaving for work to test. Put the battery lead on, pull choke, turn ignition key...SNAP! The key broke completely off in my hand leaving about 1/8" sticking out of the keyhole. I was able to get the remaining key out with a needle nose grips.

With the funky thing where the solenoid wouldn't click the other night I think it's best to go ahead and replace the entire switch.

The fun never ends...
 
Sounds like you are having a bit of bad luck Jim. Take your time and replace what you know needs replacing. I agree that there is multiple issues with the way your car is running. Fix the obvious stuff first and we can all work on the rest. I would say that you almost definitely have a timing issue. Are you sure that the plugs and wires are in order? Good plugs.... check that your wires are in the correct order. Set your carbs as Jack said. Start with everything the way it is supposed to be and go from there. One thing at a time.
 
Oh, I just read your other thread. Forget everything I just said. Start with the battery and work with the electrical system. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
The key was a copy put on an Audi blank. Key looked like pot metal. I don't have the original key. Also the key (or what remains of it) was on a GEZE Porsche key fob. I think someone was trying to turn Midgie German.

Getting that switch out to replace will be a real pain. Not sure how to get those shear bolts out except to attack them with a drill unless I can get some bit to grind the heads off with a Dremel tool.
 
https://www.triple-c.com/Keys_For_British_Cars.cfm

This place makes keys with your number only. Next day delivery, I have used em, give a call, cheep enough.

Key number should be on the front of the switch where you can see it.

Oh yea, get several.
 
Thanks for the link Jack. I'll check the front of the switch for the number. If it's there that will certainly be an easier solution. All I can remember on the front is the Roman numerals for the key positions.
 
Kind of stamped in the metal part of the switch where the key goes in.
 
Looked on the switch. Only Roman numerals for key positions, no key codes. If they're on the switch, they're hidden.
 
Gesh, how about trunk or on the key??
 
Jack-It gets even better. Yesterday I lost the main piece of the key that fits in the switch! I looked all over for it and was in a panic. My wife luckily found it on one of the mats on the kitchen floor. How it got there is beyond me.

I called 6 locksmiths this morning. Most these days are just mobile services and couldn't help. I found one 10 miles up the road that could help. They had a compatible blank and able to cut 2 from my pieces. I'll have to wait till tonight to see if they work. Funny they asked who makes MG. They thought it was Mazda.
 
Back
Top