[Healeys] Running problem

[Robert Begani]

Brian:

Similar happened to me after rebuilding my carbs on my BJ8 as part of
rebuilding and installing the engine.  Engine was running perfectly so I
began to take short engine break in trips, when 40 miles from home going to
my doctor it started coughing so I limped into his parking lot.  Had my
visit and returned to the car and started the engine, but, it was difficult
to keep it running.  Turned of the engine opened the hood, got the engine
running rough and thought must be the ball valve feed in one of the carbs.
Then I looked down on the ground and saw fuel running out from under the
engine, looked down and saw it running out of the overflow tubes on the
front carb and shut down the engine.  Called AAA and got towed home, best
insurance you can buy.  

Next day I took off the lid on the front carb float bowl and found the ball
valve fitting in the bowl.  It must have unscrewed because the mechanic did
not tighten it enough in the rebuild.  I could have done that job in the
parking lot of the doctors office, but, forgot to reinstall my pliers,
screwdrivers etc. in the boot after taking the car off the jacks and test
driving it.

Aren’t old cars fun!

 

Bob Begani

67 BJ8

 

From: Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> On Behalf Of Brian Drab
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 7:50 PM
To: healeys at autox.team.net
Subject: [Healeys] Running problem

 

 

About 4 years ago I rebuilt my HD8 carbs and the car has run great since
then with no adjustments required or made.

I put the car away for the winter in about November last year. 

In probably mid January I decided to take the car out. It was a gorgeous day
and I had to go to the grocery store about a mile away. I started the car
and it ran fine. I noted that the gas gauge read between empty and ¼ . I
started of to the store, but I noticed an obvious smell of raw gas when I
was driving. When I got to the store lot, I parked the car, did my shopping,
and came back out.  When I turned the key, I now noticed that the gas gauge
moved up to dead on empty whi8ch on my car means you are really out of gas!.
When I started the car, I got about 100 feet when the fuel pump started
hammering. I got another couple of feet and the car ran out of gas.
Fortunately, I was just across the street from a gas station so I took my
trusty gas can, went over and filled it,  then came back and poured it in
the gas tank. The car started up fine but began running really rough. I went
another ½ block into another store, parked the car and went  inside. When I
came back out about 15 minutes later there was a pool of gas, about
2-3’wide, under the front of the car. I started the car and it barely ran. I
literally had to coax it home. It sounded like severe fuel starvation –
running barely on about 3 cyclinders.

There was no more smell of raw gas nor any fuel leak as before.

When I got home, I rapped the top of the float bowls on each carb in caser
it was a stuck float valve. and it seemed to run a lot better. I felt at
that time that a float valve had stuck and probably siphoned the fuel out of
one of float bowls through the overflow tube.

Fast forward 3 months: 

Last night I was getting it ready to take it on a bit of a road trip today
it and when I took it out,  it ran very poorly – again like fuel starvation
but not as bad as before. It also popped back through the carbs frequently
which I interpreted  to be a very lean mixture 

I did the following:

put another 3 or 4 gallons of gas in the tank

Took the float bowls apart and cleaned them out – there was a bit of
sediment in them but nothing worthwhile. I also checked the floats which
were both leak free. I also cleaned out the float bowl filters at the in
line. 

I checked the Gros float valves and they seemed to work properly – held
upside down, they closed and opened right side up.

I disconnected the fuel line at the fuel pump and blew air back into the
tank thinking that when it ran out of gas, sediment in the bottom of the
tank may have plugged the intake. It blew fine into the tank. 

I have 2 fuel pumps on the car – the regular SU and a facet pump. I pulled
of the fuel line at the float bowl and turned on the ignition. The SU pump
and the facet pump each filled a coke bottle pretty  quickly. I did not
measure pressure. The gas looked clear and pure. I do not have a fuel line
filter. 

I checked the plugs all seemed good and were in fact burning on the lean
side. 

I pulled the distributor cap and it was nice and clean inside with no sign
of carbon tracks. 

I  have electronic ignition so there is nothing I can check there.

I checked the timing – it was right on. 

No matter what I did it didn’t make an improvement.

I replaced the Gros float valves but it made no difference.

Today I pulled the carbs (which on a BJ8 is no easy task) I checked  the
diaphrams and both were in good condition. 

Now I am stumped. Is it a fuel problem or something else? Can any one offer
any suggestions?

Brian Drab

Vancouver B.C.

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