Who’s the man! err? I mean Mechanic!

[Bret]

Hey Folks,

As some of you know already for the better part of the past four months, we’ve been undergoing a major home makeover at the old homestead. During that time my 78B was totally neglected sitting under a car cover because of all the demolition & construction, it remained stranded in our garage since early January.

Well today (expecting the worst) I finally pulled car cover off of the old girl. Common sense dictated that I do an inspection & safety check walk around. Checked for anything unusual or out of the norm – nothing. Fluid levels – checked out fine. Satisfied that it was safe to start I sat in the drivers seat and inserted a key. Expecting to have a dead battery I closed my eyes & turned the key to normal run and I heard the fuel pump clicking away (always a good sign). Going for broke as soon as I heard the pump slow & stop I pumped the throttle twice and turned the key the rest of the way. Whoo hoo! She started on the first try. A bit rough at first but she soon settled down to a normal idle after a couple of minutes. But otherwise no different than pulling her out of the barn on any other weekend.

I then backed her out of the garage and noticed that there was some fluid stains on the garage floor where my car had sat for the last three & a half months that whrent there when I checked before - So this was a fresh leak. Quickly dropping to the deck I looked under the car & could clearly see some fluid dripping off of the bottom of the tranny. Jumping back behind the wheel I pulled the car out into the street as fast as I could. Not so much for the MG's sake but more because I didn’t want to damage our brand new concrete driveway & risk my wife’s scorn. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Returning to the fluid in the garage floor I discovered it wasn’t oil or coolant, but was actually "fuel".

Popped the bonnet and discovered that the leak was coming from the tired old fuel filter lines. A quick visit to the auto parts store around the corner & $6 later I had a new fuel filter and replaced all of the old fuel lines. Now my baby’s running like a top. Oh sure – I’ll spend a little more time with her this weekend before I take her for any long drives. But with that being the only problem encountered for a car that sat as long as it did - I must admit that I feel pretty good about my mechanical prowess.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[GB1]

Great!!!

 

[R6MGS]

Congrats, it always nice when something goes right......not like last night when i spent 3 hours "just cleaning the contacts at the fuse box".

 

[kennypinkerton]

Does "pumping the throttle" before starting, actually do anything on a ZS carb'ed car? I didn't think there was an accelerator pump on them.

Oh, congrats on the easy startup too.

 

[Banjo]

You are correct Kenny. SU, Zenith, and Stromberg all do not have accelerator pumps. Therefore "pumping" the pedal before a start just opens and closes the throttle plate. It does not in any way help to start the car.
And if you pump while your cranking, it actually does more to mess up the choke system than it does good.
The choke is set up to enrich the fuel mixture, and open the throttle plate just enough to give the right air fuel mix and increased air flow for a cold start without having to touch the pedal
I can't remember off-hand if the downdraft Webber conversions have a pump or not.
Awsome news of the startup. Always good to not have major problems after hibernation. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Now if I could just start getting cars that were in hibernation for less than 40 years. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bret]

[ QUOTE ]
Does "pumping the throttle" before starting, actually do anything on a ZS carb'ed car? I didn't think there was an accelerator pump on them.

Oh, congrats on the easy startup too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if it really helps or not – I know it won’t inject fuel, bout the only reason I like to do this is to insure that the linkage is functioning properly and the throttle isn’t stuck or in anything other than the cold start position.

All I know is in the past when I didn’t – I almost always had difficulties starting. It would idle high and/or flood out until I cleared it with the accelerator – but then it’d sometimes backfire or sputter & die. Exercising the throttle before I start the engine seems to avoid all that. Sorry, necessary or not this just seems to work for me.

But I shouldn't have to worry about this for too much longer as I plan on installing my Moss EFI kit as soon as I have a few more goodies. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rampant]

The manufacturer says to push gas pedal one time before starting car, then wait a few seconds after starting,then press pedal again to set the auto choke.

 

[Banjo]

Ah yes, I completely forgot the automatic choke cars.
It is advisable on the older cars to depress the throttle at least a little so that the choke mech operates a little easier, and yes, Rampant is also right. You need to "set" the choke on the later type carbs.
Consider my notch lowered /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/square.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[kennypinkerton]

Oh, well... Half my choke is missing anyway, so I'll just keep letting the pump tick til it stops, then turn the key. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Nunyas]

yeah... the Auto-choke ZS carbs required you to press the accelorater to the floor at least once before starting. My ZS has been converted to manual. So, i just pull the choke out set it, start the car, and feather it down to about 1/3 so that it idles smoothly while still recieving a richer mixture. Once the temp guage starts to pick up I shut the choke completely off.

 

[Bruce74B]

Bret...sitting for only four months? Heck, that is a short winter for us back here in the NE! We go though that every spring as part of out annual routine! LOL

I hope to get Dolly Clemintine out this weekend...after I put the seats back in and power wash the garage door, I will open the "winter door" on the garage, pry open the outer doors that haven't be opened since December and fire her up...hoping my spring restart is as smooth as yours /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[jlaird]

Shoot I use to go TDY 3 or four months a couple times a year, never did anything but park it. Always started every time over the years.

 

[Bret]

[ QUOTE ]
Bret...sitting for only four months? Heck, that is a short winter for us back here in the NE! We go though that every spring as part of out annual routine! LOL

I hope to get Dolly Clemintine out this weekend...after I put the seats back in and power wash the garage door, I will open the "winter door" on the garage, pry open the outer doors that haven't be opened since December and fire her up...hoping my spring restart is as smooth as yours /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Bruce,

Yes I know, four months seems like nothing to all you folks who get real four seasons and have to put their LBCs into hibernation until the spring. But that was sort a my point I guess, as about this time of year our BCF seems inundated threads of folks having problems with restarts.

Granted during the last four months while we might have seen mid-to-upper twenties at night, we never saw sub-zero weather like many of you folks get. Heck I'm normally driving my B year round. But I’d always considered a smooth re-start after long inactivitiy as an indication of a well maintained vehicle and until now I’d always wondered how well PAGAN would do if she had to sit for any length of time. Not counting major surgery - prior to this she’d never had to sit in the barn for more than a couple of weeks.

But hey, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you & your Dolly Clementine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Bret]

[ QUOTE ]
Shoot I use to go TDY 3 or four months a couple times a year, never did anything but park it. Always started every time over the years.

[/ QUOTE ]
And again in my view that is a sign of a well maintained vehicle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Not to say that anyone who has problems isn’t maintaining their LBC properly (Stuff happens), only pointing out that one can with a little effort preparation & keeping on top of basic maintenance can look forward to more time behind the wheel enjoying their cars.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

[ QUOTE ]
The manufacturer says to push gas pedal one time before starting car, then wait a few seconds after starting,then press pedal again to set the auto choke.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's correct. Actually, here's what the manual for my '79 MGB says about starting:

[ QUOTE ]
Switch on the ignition and check:
That the ignition warning light glows.
That the fuel guage registers.

Depress the throttle pedal fully and release.

Operate the starter. Do not depress the throttle pedal while the starter is operated.

As soon as the engine is started check:
That the oil pressure guage registers.
That the ignition warning light has gone out.

Within fifteen to twenty seconds of starting the engine, quickly depress and release the throttle pedal to set the automatic choke to its correct position.

[/ QUOTE ]
________
But, that only applies to cars with the Zenith Stromberg carb - there's no reason to ever touch the gas pedal on an MGB with any other carb before the engine starts.

 

[tony barnhill]

And here's what an earlier manual says about starting an MGB:

[ QUOTE ]
If the engine is cold, pull out the mixture control (choke). In extremely cold conditions it may be necessary to pull the control out to its fullest extent.

Switch on the ignition, check that the ignition warning light glows and that the fuel guage registers, then operate the starter. NOTE.-After switching the ignition on, the fuel and temperature needles move slowly across the scale, taking some thirty seconds to reach the true reading This slow reaction eliminates needle flutter.

As soon as the engine starts, release the ignition key and warm up the engine at a fairly fast speed (see 'Warming up'). Check that the oil pressure guage is registering and that the ignition warning light has gone out. Push in the mixture control (choke) completely as soon as the engine will run evenly without its use.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[vping]

So when it was not starting for me, pushing the pedal even harder and holding it there did nothing to help? Good thing. I thought I was getting weak.