[Healeys] Missing under Load

[R. Price Lindsay]

Until recently my BJ8 has run like a champ.  I now have a slight hesitation/miss on acceleration in all gears and when standing still.  I have cleaned the carbs (some black silt was in the bowls) and re-tuned the engine a couple of times as well as changed the plug wires and cap last night.  The engine ran like a top when I went to bed.  

Not being one to leave good enough alone I decided to check and see if it was the distributor cap or the plugs that were the problem (I thought it had to be one of the two).  So this morning I put the old wires into the new cap, started it up and it ran rough.  I then tried the new wires in the old cap, started it up and it ran rough.  So I returned everything to how it was last night and now it runs rough with everything the same as last night.  Goblins must have gotten in there over the night, I guess.

Anyway, I’ve read the archives and tried most of the suggestions.  Today I removed the fuel filter, no difference although there was a bit of the black silt in the filter and the fuel looked cloudy (never had this before, it’s always been clear - byw, silt was in the carb bowls as well).  I looked at the distributer and plug wires in the dark, and there was some light at the location of plug No. 6.  When I put my finger behind the left exhaust pipe I got only very hot air.  When I placed my finger behind the right exhaust pipe I got a fluttering sound.  I’ve put in 2 new rotors, no change.   

1. The coil is probably 15 years (10,000 miles) old.  I would test it but I don’t really know how.  Any suggestions on how to test the coil???  

2. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, BUT, the miss started maybe 50 miles after filling up at a discount gas station (there was little choice).  Could the gas I put in be the culprit causing issues somewhere down line from the tank, i.e. clogging the fuel pumps (do they have internal filters - I don’t know)???  I’ve read about the lining of tanks dissolving and causing issues.  If the fuel I put in was high in ethanol, for example, could it dissolve the tank lining?  Is the residue from a dissolving tank lining a fine silt like product or something else?

I really appreciate any light you can throw on this and empathize with those that have preceded me with this kind of problem.  It is totally frustrating!!


Price Lindsay
67 BJ8


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