View Full Version : What has gone wrong?
sTuDeNt
12-12-04, 02:26 AM
It?s a complete mystery for me to be honest... :(
I was driving on M25 today, doing about 80mph, as I started climbing another hill car started loosing power... I had my foot flat to the floor and it was dieing... I dropped the gear and nothing... I had to stop at the hard shoulder because car stole completely and would not start at all. I checked everything, loose ground somewhere, coil, spark plugs, oil, however I had a bad feeling my fuel pump was not working or vapour canister or fuel filter got blocked. After about 10 min of frustration car decided to start and worked well since. :o
Has someone got any explanation to what could have happened?
P.S.
Just before I left I put some shell optimax in with left overs of standard unleaded... and a bit of previous bd ultimate
Thanks a lot
Serge
silvernsqure
12-12-04, 02:42 AM
hi i am from reading to u prop no my car its a silver nova with blacked out windows and a flush boot with squre number plates on front n back!
ne way! i had same prob few week bk n i used shell petroll after n had no problems! have u changed air filter latley fuel filter? u might find water in the system! pm mk
You've not said what car it is you drive so it's hard to tell.
If its injection then possibly the fuel pump relay (Common fault).
If it's non injection and it has the mechanical pump on the end of the cam housing maybe that is worn and struggling to pump enough petrol.
Another problem could be the fuel filter if it's not been changed in a while they can get crap in them and as you say you were going uphill at the time it might of been enough to starve the fuel supply.
It doesn't sound like anything connected to the ignition side of things to me, it sounds more like a fuel related issue.
dan-hipgrave
12-12-04, 11:30 AM
Hi mate,
Did i not tell you about when i drove to Birmingham?? My car did exactly the same - driving up M40, car goes all funny, foot to the floor but speed still drops - pull up on hard shoulder an the engine stalls, and then start it about 10 mins later and it drove away fine.
Personally i reckon it was a carb problem with mine, and since you have the same carb as me......
Carb icing?
You got a K&N
sTuDeNt
12-12-04, 12:37 PM
You've not said what car it is you drive so it's hard to tell.
If its injection then possibly the fuel pump relay (Common fault).
If it's non injection and it has the mechanical pump on the end of the cam housing maybe that is worn and struggling to pump enough petrol.
Another problem could be the fuel filter if it's not been changed in a while they can get crap in them and as you say you were going uphill at the time it might of been enough to starve the fuel supply.
It doesn't sound like anything connected to the ignition side of things to me, it sounds more like a fuel related issue.
I have 1.2 Carb with weber 32/34 DMTL, fuel filter was changed about 3-4 months ago. I have mechanical pump but i am not sure if its worn out as the engine is fairly new 30K
If you've got a K&N type air filter then it's almost certain to be carb icing - happens a lot at this time of year - it's caused by too much cold air freezing the fuel - it takes a few minutes for it to thaw out - hence why it went again after 10 mins.
You need to wither put the standard airbox back on or route a warm air feed to the air filter (just for winter)
Ste_Nova
12-12-04, 02:19 PM
don't keep driving till it freezes... pull over with it still running kill the interior heaters and rev it at 3k for a couple of mins... if it stalls then you have to wait for it to defrost.... if it's running then it's much easier
dan-hipgrave
12-12-04, 02:31 PM
good advice mate, i will bear it in mind because my car cuts out at least once on the way to work in the morning :!:
sTuDeNt
12-12-04, 04:12 PM
I think your car doesnt want to go to work... SIMPLE :)
I dont think this is carb icing... it was night time but it was more then at lease 0 C and cars running fine at much lover temperatures even carb onse. So most likely either water condincation or something got blocked along the fuel lines or faulty pump. :(
jon_boy
12-12-04, 05:23 PM
It may not of been that cold but add on a 70mph wind chill factor as your going along at a fair rate on a motorway. Then it could freeze. maybe. Mine done this sometimes. But i changed (or rather Added) a fuel filter just before the carb. done the trick. or it may have been just before the pump... i think that does matter...
^ I'll vouch for carb icing too. Had this exact same problem on my hatch with the K&N last year, fitted a warm air feed and it now runs without a hitch.
yep carb icing,
the reason it did it on the hill was your engine was more subceptable to stalling/loosing power when it's going under harder drive.
it would have been ok jst cruising along the flat bits.
Mine does it everymorning, starts fine, runs fine (with the choke out a bit) then once i driven n hit the traffic it cutts out, even tho it was running fine from start !
Snowface
12-12-04, 08:08 PM
i wouldn't of thought wind chill affected it because an air filter will have the same pressure in it wether its standing still or at 100mph. The air inside it isn't affected by the outside.
Perhaps if it was forced induction it would be worse.
but the wind chill makes the air being inducted, even colder than it is when standing.
thus accelerating the process of carb icing
James B
12-12-04, 11:04 PM
but the wind chill makes the air being inducted, even colder than it is when standing.
thus accelerating the process of carb icing
yeah id adree with that. id also say definately carb icing through personal experience. Id stick a hot air feed on if you got K&N you can get them for ?20 off the net, small price to pay compared to looking like a knob on the hard shoulder!
your car is just telling you to hurry up and get a 1.4 bolted in :P
sTuDeNt
13-12-04, 12:02 AM
I just got the track sorted for the weekends so I am gettin git ;)
smithy87
13-12-04, 11:33 AM
Yup, Carb Icing. I had a nasty case of it when I drove up to huddersfield a month back. Foot down, start to loose power, s**t yourself, pull over, curse, look under the hood, rev it for about 20 seconds (car sounds like a f**king pig at this point), wait for a nice tick-over, carry on.........UNTIL IT HAPPENED AGAIN! I t must have happened every 50-60 miles and it was a 500 mile round trip! Put standard filter back on now though, runs sweet.
8)
I'd go for carb icing too mate...had a K&N on my 1.4SR, last winter, was driving up a hill in cold weather, car cut out, wouldnt start, left it for 10, then started on the button
my 1.3 has a standard airbox on it at the mo and it runs lovely jubbly in the cold
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