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bt7tricarb

bt7tricarb

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I am on a trip w/limited access to the internet, but I will check again tomorrow to see possible solutions.

The details:

- Car was running fine until I washed the car (including engine bay) the night before the trip (Sunday).
- On the drive home after the car wash I noticed it started kicking and bucking. I figured that I must have gotten some water somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. I took some compressed air and blew out the distributor cap.
- Car fired right up the next morning and ran just fine around town (bank/post office - about 15 miles) before I hit the road.
- Once on the road, the car would get up to speed and then shut down. I'd pull over into the emergency lane, but before the car would stop rolling, it would fire right back up and get back up to speed.
- Repeat this for a VERY frustrating 40 - 50 miles. (Considered turning back home, but I figured I might still have water somewhere)
- Problem seemed to clear up after almost 100 miles and calls to your most trusted repair shop (Hendrix Wire Wheel for me) and they have me check coil wire and fuse box. Convince yourself it was water somewhere and it's finally resolved. Go about 300 mile.
- Problem seemed to return, but not nearly as often.
- Now, at destination, car seems to run fine in town, but then on highway, get it up to speed (55 - 75 m.p.h. depending on overdrive, but usually around 3000 R.P.M.s) car cuts off. Electric still working (ignition light comes on if clutch is depressed sometimes, but not always. Sometimes, if clutch is depressed, it goes down to "idle" R.P.M. running "rough," but after a couple of seconds it "clears" up). But again, "coast" down to 45ish, and if ignition light comes on with clutch depressed, pop the clutch and the car will fire back up.

I talked to Hendrix Wire Wheel and consensus seems to be it is fuel related - not getting enough fuel when carbs are under full "load." Upon advice, I checked the fuel filter up by the carbs and it seemed dirty so I found a local auto parts store and changed it today (and yes arrows are in correct direction for fuel flow). Again, car seemed to run fine locally for a while, but tonight on the highway the starting/stopping problem returned. Finally, tonight, it even seemed to have the problem near the vacation home (in town).

I will be back in touch with the folks at Hendrix Wire Wheel tomorrow, but I'm looking for additional possible solutions. My drive home (400 miles) is only a couple of days away (Saturday) and this has got me pretty scared.

A couple of additional notes:

- Even though I try to avoid spraying certain areas, the fuse box on the firewall did get a little wet, but fuses are all in tact.
- Other than the overdrive not wanting to engage a couple of times, no electrical problems at all (and overdrive not wanting to engage always coincides with the rough/underpowered running).
- I've checked and double checked the spark plug and coil wires.
- I've got electronic ignition.
- Can't hear the fuel pump when on highway, but hear it clicking away just fine when I first engage the ignition.

I'm at a loss, otherwise. I just don't know what to think. Like I said, car ran great before the last car wash, but certainly any "water" problem would have cleared after 600 miles of driving over three days, a new fuel filter, and about three/four fill-ups.

Any other ideas?
 
Just a wild guess. Remove the voltage regulator/control box cover & thoroughly dry the innards with compressed air and or or possibly silicone spray or WD40. Also the the parts under the generator dust cover. Most likely the control box though. One of the few good uses for WD40. WH = water displacing. Wouldn't hurt to do the same with the inside & outside of the distributor cap & rotor.

If all you did was hose it down, I doubt if the problem is fuel related unless you somehow filled a float bowel with water.

Healey engine compartments & electricals don't like to be hosed down.

Good luck,
D
 
This sounds like an ignition problem to me, coming right after the car wash. It is not clear how a car wash could get a persistant fuel problem started, unless you poked a hose into the tank.

Intermittant ignition problems can be created starting with a little water. I would do the following in order and check to see if the problem goes away: Secure wire connections and grounds around the distributor and coil; replace rotor, distributor cap, wires, coil. Most of these items are cheap except the coil.

I'm not a big fan of electronic ignition because they are hard to diagnose and can go intermittant if they fail. But if you change all the above and she still misfires, you may have to try a new module or revert back to points just to see if that makes any diff.

Hope you make it! You may need your AAA card!
 
does the car run better after you have filled up,could be that the pump is not delivering enough fuel at higher speed,and it's a coincidence that it started to happen after washing.Also try running with the filler cap lose(incase it is causing a slight vacuum in tank)
 
Might want to check the ground strap from the frame to engine for a poor contact also. It's on the inside of the frame by the starter motor.
 
Well, I know it's not the voltage regulator. Guess I should have also mentioned my car has an alternator...

Also, I'd think after several days and 600 miles that any water would have dissipated by now.
 
Did your ignition switch accidentally get wet ? Shoot some wd40 in there just in case. It will drive out the water if it is wet in there.
Also if you have any invisible cracks in the insulation in your spark plug wires, the engine compartment wash could have started the problem....
Two things you can do to trouble shoot marginal spark plug wires;
1.. Spray them down with wd40 to displace any remaining moisture.
2.. Open the bonnet in a dark garage or after dark, start up your car and then look closely for any " miniature lightning storms " going on next to your spark plug wires.
3.. If you got the battery switch wet in the boot, it could be grounding the white/brown wire that prevents theft. Just disconnect it to see if your symptoms go away....
Everything else I can think of that could cause those symptoms would not be related to the washing of the engine compartment... like a bad coil or a bad ground strap from the engine to the frame as Greg has mentioned.
 
This sounds very much like a coil going bad. Almost classic symptoms. As it heats up it dies. Cool off, it works. Under load on highway dies. Heat is the variable. Hopefully it is the coil and not a component in the electronic ignition.
 
I agree with Andy65 - as I was reading down the replies I was
thinking will someone mention a bad coil - and Andy was the last post.
I had a 49 MG TC that drove to the Walter Mitty Challenge in Atlanta
a few years back and it started to display the same symtoms. We
all went over the entire car but drive it for awhile and started
to cut out. I finally made it home by stopping at just about every
gas station and puring water on it to cool it down. I know, probably
lucky it didn't blow up or something but at least I got home. I'd
replace the coil and see what you get. Pretty cheap and simple fix
Good luck, know how frustrating things like this and other gremlins
can be !
Mike
 
I always go for the not so obvious, intermittent fuel starvation due to a semi blocked fuel line or gas tank sump.Blow out the gas lines from the tank to the carbs.
Patrick
 
I'm leaning more and more towards a fuel problem. Last night, I re-checked the coil connection. I also pulled all the plugs and cleaned them. None were really fouled.

I then started the car, made it about 150 feed and it died. I turned off the ignition and flipped it back on, and I didn't hear the fuel pump, so I tapped on the rear seat wall and it started clicking again. This repeated once more (so I could get back into the driveway).

It may be something else, but now I'm thinking the fuel pump. My car is positive ground and I have the solid state SU pump.

Luckily, I had my AHCA membership book with me and thanks to contacting a couple of folks in the New England chapter, it looks like I'll be getting some assistance today!! Best tool someone can have, I'm convinced, is that club book.

I'll post later if it was the fuel pump or something else, but whatever it is, I hope that I can get it fixed so I can get home. My wife has kindly informed me that since she didn't want me to bring the car in the first place, and she is traveling with a five and two year old, she is not waiting on me... can't really say that I blame her.
 
Well, it is definitely the fuel pump. It had an SU pump (solid state - no points in it). I could bang on the "wall" beneath the rear seats and get it to click just long enough to fill the carbs, but a few seconds later, it was starving for fuel again.

A terribly nice and generous guy in the N.E. Region of the AHCA (Peter Sturtevant) came out this morning with two spare pumps he's had in his garage for a couple of years. One pump wouldn't run, but the other started clicking right away (points). I got it all installed and took it out on a test run and she ran like a champ. I took her out for another test run, this time a bit further (a couple of miles) so I could get up to speed, and still no problems. Got it back to the house, put the seat on, and went for a final test spin before the long trip home. Didn't get a mile before she shut down.

Pulled the back seat out, gave the pump a few taps... nothing. Tried a few things (jiggle wires, tap more)... nothing. Called a tow truck.

Pete Sturtevant had let me know that he had contacted a few other members in the club that were coming to his house for a party, and one of the members (name escapes me now) was bringing a brand new pump he had bought from Healey Surgeons. He suggested I get towed to his house, join the party and there would be plenty of "mechanics" handy.

When the tow truck dropped me off, we couldn't believe it; the pump that was on the car (the one with points that Pete dropped off) was working again. But we all decided that installing the new pump was the right move. That one with points had been in storage for a while and had failed once and may (likely) fail again on the trip.

Mistake we made was not testing the new one before installing it. We got it all installed and it didn't work. We tested power (it was good) and ground (it was good). We even tried to directly "jump" the pump from the battery (it didn't work).

We were out of options... Saturday night; no more pumps to be found (easily); plus it was late, dark, etc. I was facing my wife (already mad at me for bringing the car, and my ride home w/out the Healey) of leaving early in the morning and the Healey iffy...

I've called Allen Hendrix in Greensboro. After thinking it through, instead of the expense of having the car fixed locally, flying back up and driving home later, they (Hendrix Wire Wheel - whom knows my car inside and out) is coming to get it. They'll trailer it down to Greensboro, and once DOUBLE fuel pumps are installed, I'll go down there and get it (I love visiting down there anyway).

So, my first big journey comes to a sad, sad end. But thanks to some absolutely wonderful people in the club, I was saved (Pete is even allowing me to store the car in his garage. His generosity was ENDLESS on this trip!). Now all I have to do is put on all my armor for the trip home with a less than thrilled wife.
 
Devin--

I am not convinced that your problem is the fuel pump, as opposed perhaps to some problem with the power TO the fuel pump, but you're certainly going to find out. Allen likes to use a Masters fuel pump and perhaps he will suggest running it in tandem with an SU with a selector switch, a common modification that has been discussed on this forum.

Perhaps you would like to give me a write-up of this venture for me to include in the next issue of the Capital Area AHC's Newsletter--in fact we could have one version written by you and another written by Laura...

Stay in touch.
 
You didn't by any chance use any of that "sloshing stuff" in the fuel tank, did you?

At some time during the 80s, after I go my car back from my older brother, it would run fine for a time and then starve out.

Turns out I was sucking up "sheets" of the crap that would cover the pickup tube. I fashioned a quick-release (think air hose couplings) that I could put a piece of hose on the tank-tube I could blow through. One good puff of air and I'd be fine again for weeks.

Eventually, I was able to get all of it out after removing the tank and flushing it through the openings. The heck of it is, the tank looked great inside; nice shiny steel!
 
A quite common problem with the SU fuel pumps is adjustment of the diaphram position on the the shaft.

The adjusting procedure requires that the body through diaphram screws are removed, the diaphram rotated to a specified position, & reassembled. I think the correct rotation is about four body holes. It's a lot easier to do than to explain. Also the SU shop manuals show the details.

This assures that the diaphram, rod, & contacts always have enough free travel to toggle correctly under all temperature/load conditions.

If this adjustment is marginal, the contacts may not always toggle correctly. There have been enough problems with this adjustment being wrong that I always check it even on a brand new pump. The problem sometimes only appears after the diaphram has aged, shrunken a bit so as to loose part of it's original free travel.

I think Rich C. advises to hold the diaphram at maximum travel before final tightening the outer diaphram retaining screws. There are several books available that explain this critical adjustment. Some later pumps or modified pumps may not have this same contact arrangement but they must all have some type of travel adjustment.
D
 
Hi Michael:

Power was tested, tested, and re-tested. It's not that. The general consensus by all the folks was that my pump definitely went bad (I could get it to click as long as I was banging it), and the one that were loaned to me had been sitting for a while.

As for the last "brand new" pump, there's no telling. Maybe a diaphragm issue as described in one of the later responses or just simply bad luck of getting a bad one off the shelf, but it would not click. Again, we even directly powered it from the battery with jumpers and got nothing.

Allen has already informed me I will be getting a Masters pump. Two, in fact, in case one fails. He likes them and they have a lifetime warranty.

Yes, I'll be writing about this little adventure for the CAAHC Newsletter, complete with a few photos. I'll ask Laura a little later. Right now it’s too soon; I'd be afraid of the ensuing swing, as she has reminded me more than once that she didn't want me to take the car in the first place.

- Devin
 
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