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Re: Oddball breakdown Monday

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Oddball breakdown Monday
From: <jimmuller@rcn.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:05:55 -0400 (EDT)
s1500 wrote:

> In the morning, I had to warm it up(white smoke & all)

I wonder about all the white smoke.  How much and for how long?  Did it have 
any smell?  White exahust other than normal condensation on a cold-day startup 
is usually a sign of anti-freeze leaking through the head gasket.  The 
on-again-off-again behavior could be the result of heat expanding or sealing 
the head gasket, and thus affecting combustion.  Starting up in a semi-warm 
state could have made it leak more than it normally does.

> 5 minutes later I decided to  go home to telecommute. I got
> about 1000 feet before the RPMs were going down, and the
> engine died.

Your car knew you were really going home to goof off.

> I pull the choke , and I'm on my way again...
> I pop the clutch and heard the biggest wham

That would be all the excess gas backfiring in the muffler, gas that didn't get 
burned as the rmps were dying and which you further enhanced by pulling the 
choke.  The jostling by the car was simply the startup of normal ignition, 
which is what set off the backfire of the gas in the exhaust system.

The thing is, any loss of combustion will cause the dying behavior you 
experienced.  It could be the result of no spark due to some electrical issue.  
Or it could be water in your cylinders, or any number of other things.  Have 
you checked compression lately?  Have you checked your radiator level?
--
Jim Muller


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