Joe W. writes:
>It seems that my Spitfire now has an intermittent hesitation on acceleration.
>After cleaning the needle and replacing the dashpot oil, a short drive showed
>no problem. I went out a few hours later and it suddenly became worse than
>before - almost total engine stoppage when pressing on the gas - any
speed, any
>gear. Nursing it along for a few miles and suddenly the problem went away.
The
>diaphragm looked good, no holes or tears
**************************
Sounds to me like bad or contaminated gas. If the car has been sitting for
a prolonged time chances are it has collected water from condensation.
This water will settle to the bottom, being heavier than the gas. Pump a
little into a glass container and take a look at it. Also give it a little
wiff. It should smell like gasoline. Gasoline DOES have a shelf life, and
it is relatively short. If it smells like turpentine, time to drain the
tank and refill with fresh. By the way, you can buy gas stabilizers which
will allow you to store gas for prolonged periods, but for autos I don’t
recommend this as gas is formulated for specific seasons and running
gasoline blended for winter months in the summer may lead to stalling and
hesitation, and winter gas in the summer may lead to hot start problems and
surging at speed.
Barry Schwartz in San Diego, CA
Bschwartz@encad.com
72-V6/5sp Spitfire ( daily driver )
70 GT6+ ( when I don't drive the Spitfire )
70 (sorta) Spitfire ( project )
73 Ford Courier ( parts hauler )
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