Hi,
>I have a 79 Spitfire that will unexpectedly stop running any place any
>time !
Unexpectedly? You bought the wrong car!! ;-)
>
>It has to be push started to get it running. The local techs have not
>been able to diagnose the problem.
>
>Any suggestions ?
Seriously, I have had what could be a similar problem on my '79. I have yet to
completely figure out all the causes. What seems to happen is that under some
yet-to-be-determined circumstances, the float bowl overflows into the charcoal
cannister (or the vaccuum from carb into canister somehow sucks gas out of the
float bowl). I've replaced carb floats and needle valves, which sometimes
helps.
It may be that these things never seal up properly or something. It is the
single
most mystifying thing on the car, because everything affects it. Everything
being
vaccuum leaks, anti-runon valve, PCV, carb tuning, mixture adjustment,
water-choke
adjustment, etc ad nauseum.
There are two things I do to get rid of the problem. One is to disconnect the
hose
from the float bowl to the charcoal cannister. The other is to blow into the
"unused" charcoal cannister. If I blow in the big hole while sealing the
little
holes, I feel liquid backpressure which then changes to air - ie the blowing
gets
easier. Once it's easy to blow through the hose between the two cannisters via
the
runon valve, then everything works fine.
For those unfamiliar with this smog crap, there are two charcoal cannisters,
one of
which has hoses from the carb vaccuum, float bowl, and gas tank (for fumes).
There
is a big hose at the bottom which goes to the other charcoal cannister via the
anti
run-on valve. The second charcoal cannister has three open ports at the top.
So
my theory is that gas gets in and blocks that hose between the two cannisters.
This means there is no longer air available to the "used" cannister (all three
holes at top and one at bottom are sealed) so vacuum from the carb is applied
to
the float bowl, which prevents the fuel from being drawn up past the needle.
Rube Goldberg, where are you when I need you?
So the moral of this is that a good blow job can aid in the removal of pent up
fluids, and make your life much more pleasant.
AC
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