After a multi-year restoration finished this spring, the Longbridge BN4 finally drove out of the garage last week. I have driven it almost every day since, except when we had rain. It ran great, after sorting out a number of fairly minor issues.
Then it started missing and stalling, intermittently. I found a very small air leak on the line between the tank and the fuel pump and fixed that and thought the problem was fixed. Yesterday, it ran great again. Then today, it started missing badly. I was lucky to make it home.
Because of the intermittent nature of the problem, it was hard to diagnose. I didn't think it was fuel related, but thought some dirt may have gone from the fuel tank into the carburetors. So I went through the fuel system and disassembled the float bowls, tried different jet and other settings, as much as I could without removing the carburetors. Also added a fuel filter. Nothing helped. Then I went through the ignition system, swapping coils, caps, wires, etc. from the BT7. Rechecked point gap, got out the timing light, and so on. Nothing helped.
Then I remembered that someone recently complained about the poor quality of new condensers. So I swapped in a new condenser. The car immediately runs great again - after wasting about six hours. The faulty condenser was a new part from the usual supplier, with just a half dozen hours of use.
But how long will the new condenser last? I have no confidence in it, as it looks almost identical to the one that failed. I know, one can't tell much from looking at the outside.
Has anyone found a source for quality condensers. I would like to pick up a few spares.
Then it started missing and stalling, intermittently. I found a very small air leak on the line between the tank and the fuel pump and fixed that and thought the problem was fixed. Yesterday, it ran great again. Then today, it started missing badly. I was lucky to make it home.
Because of the intermittent nature of the problem, it was hard to diagnose. I didn't think it was fuel related, but thought some dirt may have gone from the fuel tank into the carburetors. So I went through the fuel system and disassembled the float bowls, tried different jet and other settings, as much as I could without removing the carburetors. Also added a fuel filter. Nothing helped. Then I went through the ignition system, swapping coils, caps, wires, etc. from the BT7. Rechecked point gap, got out the timing light, and so on. Nothing helped.
Then I remembered that someone recently complained about the poor quality of new condensers. So I swapped in a new condenser. The car immediately runs great again - after wasting about six hours. The faulty condenser was a new part from the usual supplier, with just a half dozen hours of use.
But how long will the new condenser last? I have no confidence in it, as it looks almost identical to the one that failed. I know, one can't tell much from looking at the outside.
Has anyone found a source for quality condensers. I would like to pick up a few spares.