ok so driving home from work on saturday afternoon. car going fine and then all of a sudden the engine stops in mid drive.....hmm i think and pull over. i check the leads and fuel lines etc. everything looked fine so i got back in the car and it started fine and then drove home......i figured i must have somehow bumped the ignition key off when i changed down to 3rd for the hill i was climbing kinda un likely but the only thing i could think of. then later that evening (batman cartoon comentary voice). i was driving into town to get some coke to go with some home brew rum we happend to have (no i had not consumed any alcahol before the trip). and then climbing another hill........made a pop noise and it happend again! bah pulled over....took off the dissy cap and wound engine over ....the points were opening and closing fine and everything seemed fine......so i drove home (didnt bother going into town) so now this morning i checked all the wiring at the back and changed any dodgy stuff (looks alot neater now ) and then we decided to take a shorter trip down to the corner store with its highly inflated prices to get coke about half an hour ago and itstarted fine but as i revved it a bit it missed a beat hmm ok.......so then i drove to the shop and it kept sort of turning off (like it would stop firing and then roll start itself) was especially bad driving up the hill coming home. im waiting for the engine to cool down so i can pull the plugs but could this be a faulty coil? or what? someones got to have had something like this.......i dont get it its wierd the tappets also seem to have gotten loud on the passenger side. anyone got an idea? condensor perhaps?

Nick

oh and since doing to points a week or 2 ago latly.....it was great for like a week (no backfiring running sweet as) it has started to backfire when i take my foot of the go pedal...especially going down hills.

sounds like the coil

yeah thats what i was thinking.....its a bosch GT40 coil they arent that exxy i will get a new one anyway......is it worth getting another GT40 or just get a standard bosche coil?

Have you got a Tacho in the Baja bug?

nope unfortunatly

Thats ok, the wire from the coil to the tacho can give the same symptoms if it earths out......Is the wire from the coil to the distributor ok and not exposed anywhere? Also do you have a standard carby with a fuel cut off solenoid?

yep standard carbie.....30pict 2 the fuel cut off solinoid is connected and the wire to the dissy is connected well with no exposure......all the wiring in the engine bay should be top notch i just spent ages today looking for a loose one.....is there a way to check the fuel cut off solinoid?

Yeah, take it out of the carby and see if the end has been cut off already....... if it has then that is not the problem, if it is still intact, then refit it the the carby, turn the ignition on and then take the wire on & off the solenoid, you should here an audible click if it is working.

ok ill go do that now

when i took the wire off the solinoid the engine stopped

Ok I'll rephrase that.........with the engine off , turn the ignition to the on position not start, then take the wire on and off for the click......was the wire tight?

the wire was pretty tight ill go try again.

ok yes i hear the click

When you did the points, did you clean the contacts before fitting? They come with a protective coating to stop them rusting which needs to be wiped off before installing, also you need to put a little grease on the rubbing block to stop it wearing out too early.

they were reasonably new points that were already in the dissy we didnt get new ones cause they were new we just adjusted and cleaned them off however vince from up the road filed a little bit of burning off the points but he knows what hes doing i wouldnt file them. the fuel cut of solinoid makes sense if it was that but it seems to work fine if the coil is wearing out would it do this?

Coils dont usually wear out as such, they usually just stop working. See if you can borrow one from someone before shelling out the dollars.

ive got the one in my superbug ill pull it out tomorrow and check it. it should work fine though it hasnt been started in 6 months.

when it cuts out, does it cut out for more than 1 second?

So if you driving, does it cut, then just roll over in gear for a while, you pump the pedal and nothing happens, and then it starts working again?

It you can do that, without a huge bang out the exhaust when it restarts, then I really doubt it's the ignition. It's probably the fuel.

You see if the ignition totally cuts, but fuel keeps going thru, and then the ignition restarts, it will ignite the fuel in the exhaust. It's like doing a key-banger if you know what that is.

I suspect you may be having fuel problems. When's the last time the carby was cleaned out properly? how's the fuel filter look?

yeah i know what a key banger is.....its only for a second or so and the carb was rebuilt recently and even more recently i pulled it off and blew out the jets and fuel passages with compressed air the fuel filter is about 2 weeks old and clean.

you could try the jeff hibbard $2 tune up. Take the air cleaner off, rev the engine up and then stick your hand flat over the opening of the carb. As it dies down towards idle take you hand back off. Do this a couple of times.

If you have any crap (water in particular) sitting in your float bowl it will basically try to suck it through the engine. The trick works best if you can put a small hose on the float bowl vent to extend it past the top of the carb. Then do it so you cover the throat of the carb with your hand, but not the float bowl vent. Then she'll really suck through that main jet.

PS - water is denser than fuel, so it sits at the bottom of the float bowl where your main jet is. Also because it is denser and more viscous than fuel it doesn't flow through the main jet properly. So basically a little bit of water is capable of blocking a main jet.

hmm ok as long as this wont damage anything ill try it tomorrow.

it won't damage anything.

The hose to extend the float bowl vent line is a good thing, stops fuel sloshing out of the vent on rough terrain.

And the putting your hand over the carb when the engine is revving at full throttle will make you crap yourself the first time you do it (as it sucks your hand to the carb). But don't worry, you and the car will be fine. Don't lean your head over the carb though, just in case it pops back through the carb (I haven't had it happen but it is possible).

hmm maybe ill put a bit of plastic over insteat of my hand

don't use thin plastic like a coles bag, it will suck it right down there.

nah i was thinking a peice of acrillic

ok i dont know whether it was mucking about with the fuel cut of solinoid on the cabie or wes' hand over the carbie throat technique but i just drove to and from work tonight (20 mins each way) and had no dramas so it appears to be fixed.....thanks for the help guys....especially 11cab and baja wes.

Nick