Dano

its a 2a lump in a S3 but its running a dizzy and neg earth

Paddocks have a stock clearance of early defender swivel balls for £25 if thats any help

that dizzy looks ok but its over £100, my maplin kit was delivered today so I just have to solder it up and Ill post on the results

I’m on a mission now to get that MOT even if I have to replace every component in the process

what high-performance coil would you suggest or would you recomend a supplier?

Thanks for the reply, I am guessing that my dizzy is ok at the moment as the dwell is stable, it did take ages to set it exactly though Interestingly I had the idle running perfectly but I change the dizzy cap for one that looks new, but I picked up a blip every now and then, can’t explain it Les, this is the Britpart kit http://www.britpart.co.uk/Accessory.asp?Pa...cessoryRef=1700

thanks, I have ordered one to try out, what is the main difference you see?

I have been reading threads about converting points to electronic ignition and I just need some clarification I am running the standard Lucas dizzy on a S11a 2.25 engine, I don’t want any major customisation at this time i.e. mega jolt etc I just want a simple cheap conversion, there seems to be several options but I can find exactly what system I require I have seen Les talking about a conversion, which seems to be about £70 There is a Britpart conversion which is about £10 And I have also read about a Lumenition Optronic Ignition System but don’t know if this will fit Can anyone clarify these options for me and also tell me what model Lucas dizzy I am likely to have? Thanks

Well not that funny really, I managed to get a mile or so down the road for the first MOT in about four or five years and it conked out, the fuel filter I had fitted was full of sediment and it had broken inside, it was kind of sucked in one area, I pulled the filter and fitted a bit of small pipe and it run again, then 100 yards down the road conked out again, out came the tools I pulled the carb fuel pipe and fuel was coming out with the lift pump but not shooting out, I checked the float which was empty so I took the pipe between the carb and pump off and blew it through, loads of carp come out, I check the pump with the pipe off and fuel was shooting out of it, reconnected and it fired but then died, pulled the pipe again and this time it wasn’t working so I pulled the other pipe off and removed the pickup pipe, this was now blocked but I blew it through, replaced everything but the pump failed to lift on the leaver I am guessing that on its first journey the sediment left in the tank (I had flushed it) had been lifted into the system with the motion of the trip and this must have perforated the brand new pump, its one of these So I cant take it apart and repair it I got a recovery truck home and onto Cradock’s for a new pump (old style with sediment trap), pick up pipe with gauze, sender unit (as this doesn’t work either) and pipe work and gaskets etc, I will now have to remove the tank flush it and stabilise it with por15 then reassemble all new components, I managed to miss my MOT and I am £80 lighter, hopefully this will be the last of my fuelling problems (see Zenith Blues thread)

The point of the screw is fine and there not any lines indicating over tightening, the carb is brand new so unless there is a casting error in the mixture holes then I cant see anything obvious I have had to move onto other jobs for the MoT but in the pursuit of perfection I will revisit this, it is item number 1653408 on the list of things to do

Part ERC2875 came this morning, there is no ball or spring but the hole is about 1.5mmOD, much smaller that the other fitting I have. I fitted it and put the pipes back as per the diagram, it fired up and ran fine on idle. Again the idle mixture screw had no effect other than stalling the engine when removed fully, I don’t want to over tighten it either so it may be that it is not fully in therefore not affecting the mixture but if it runs ok who needs a mixture screw. It seems I have resolved this issue for the time being, thanks for everyone’s inputs, and I hope this thread will help others as other threads helped me.

cheers

a quick question, can a PTO be fitted if I already have an overdrive? and could a PTO operate a winch mounted on the front or back? thaks

when on idle, I suspect that with no pressure the valve will remain closed, as you can see from this diagram below, air should enter from 23 when on idle, this hole is above the throttle and I assume any leakage from below the throttle i.e. from ERC2875 would not allow 23 to draw sufficient mixture thus I would guess it would run lean and stall unless the throttle was open to allow fuel from the emulsion tube Of course I am just guessing here so I have ordered part ERC2875 to see how it is constructed and what affect it has

Since I fitted the new carb I couldn’t get it to idle so I checked for leaks around the manifold and base of the carb and found no leaks, The fitting ERC2875 on my carb is just a pipe with no spring and ball, I pulled the pipe and blocked it, as I had before, this time with the new carb it idled well immediately, I was convinced that this is the issue i.e. not enough vacuum to make the carb run on the idle circuit, too much air entering through ERC2875, I had previously taken off a fitting from this pipe (see diagram) I thought it was a filter but I found now it was a type of valve with a spring and diaphragm, I rigged it up but it had no effect unless I blocked the inlet so I removed it and just blocked the hole with a bolt, immediately the engine idles perfectly at 800 rpm with the idle speed screw all the way out (i.e. it wont idle any slower as the carb seems set up well) the idle mixture screw still has no effect… but that doesn’t seem to matter, idles well drives fine, I rigged the pipe work from the rocker back to the main air pipe removing the “T” piece and all seems well, I don’t like to bodge things normally but it seems fine, I can’t foresee any issues, if anyone knows how this should be set up please let me know

Having slept on the problem and dreamt a few solutions I will start looking for leaks around the manifold, I will try the wd40 trick but I also have just got a vacuum gauge/pump does anyone have any advice for searching for manifold leaks with this?

Right just fitted the new fuel pump, I tested the old one and although it was holding a vacuum the new one is performing much better as you would expect, I do wish I have gone for the old type pump though as for some reason I do like the glass sediment trap especially as it splits out water etc, I now have a filter between the pump and the carb which is nice because you can see if fuel is getting to the carb The new zenith arrived, it came very well packed and looked very good quality, I opted to fit it without taking it apart to check the float, hoping that it would run fine and there would be no chance of damaging or changing anything unnecessarily, if the float needs readjusting I can do that anytime, bolted on and primed with fuel, the engine fired up but I still cant get it to tick over below 1000 and its really lumpy and smelling rich, there is a real burbling from the exhaust, I couldn’t get it to run on the idle circuit (i.e. without the throttle butterfly open) so the idle mixture screw had no effect on the running, I think the carb is performing better than the old one i.e. no fuel comes from the emulsion tube when the throttle is closed (even though the engine stalls just after that) so that is a good sign What else to check now? Could it be the dizzy, turning the dizzy has a very lazy effect on the running i.e. 15+ deg either way has little effect past that conks out, I would expect a significant change in running for every couple of degrees, the dwell is a constant 57deg with no change surely any wear would be shown in the dwell, could it be I have the wrong condenser or points? (I will check this) it has a new coil, I cant remember if the leads are new but they look it, the dizzy cap could do with a change but I have seen much worse on an engine running perfectly Or would you suspect valve timing, on other threads I said I had problems timing this engine until I got a new cam pulley with markings on it, could it be the cam even, the valves should be lashed correctly (the tolerance on the rocker cover states 0.10 hot or cold so I am sure that any little change since I lashed during the rebuild it would have no effect) I didn’t check the cam also I didn’t lap the valves in which I should have done at the time

this is the exact setup I have so it cant be that the pipes are wrong, it must be the carb, dont think its timing as the engine has run, the symptoms keep changing evertime i dismantle the carb, i can only hope a new one sorts it out

is anyone able to confirm that this pump is a direct replacement for the pump with a bowl and that no new pipes etc are required thanks

just ordered a replacement pump from DLS (looks like it replaces the pump with a bowl) and a new zenith (Indian copy) from Dingcroft if that doesnt slove it it gets a v8 with No2

Thanks for the diagrams, I had not seen the second one, its very interesting, there is another very good thread on here with a great document about the zenith, after reading it I decided to fully dismantle and clean the carb, blew it all through with air and reassemble setting the float to 34mm in case this made a difference, I also drained the tank, filtering the petrol, and cleaned it out, I placed a gauze filter at the end (made from a plastic sieve), I checked that the carb floats were not leaking, I cut the fuel line before the carb and installed a universal filter, this way I can see if there is fuel and obviously provides increased filtration The first thing I noticed was that the new filter didn’t fill fully, this may indicate a fuel lift pump problem I managed to start the engine with 2/3 choke but it seemed to run very rich, I could not maintain idle and there is more fuel issuing from the emulsion tube than before I dismantled it! I tried to wind in the mixture screw but this had no effect I checked the carb again noting that there was fuel in the float chamber, I swapped over the compensator jet with another I have that has a smaller hole, this had no effect so changed it back This car used to have an LPG conversion which I believe cracked the original block and head, it may also have damaged the carb beyond repair, also because of the LPG kit the carb pipes may be set up wrong, I have a head breather coming from the rocker cover this meets a “T” piece that goes to the pipe that runs from the oil bath to the carb and the third leg runs to the base of the carb, does anyone know if this is the correct set-up? I disconnected this pipe and blocking with my finger resulted in the engine running smoothly although I couldn’t maintain it as it was a three handed job, I cut a setscrew to length to block the hole to see if that made a difference but couldn’t start it at all after that, reverted to the pipe still cant start it, this is where I called it a day So after a days work I am still no further along, I guess the next step is to change the fuel lift pump and then probably the carb

Just had a thought, it could be the temp filter I put on the pickup pipe, I used a small bit of foam which I checked for flow and thought would be fine, my tank really has some crud in it and the old gauze was broken and the pipe blocked, I will remove that and clean the tank out and see if that makes a difference, ill do this before buying a new pump (only £10) unbelievably a new pickup pipe is £40!!! Does anyone know the part number or name of the gauze filter on the end of the pickup pipe, I cannot seem to find in anywhere Thanks

I went for the £100 a pair Paddocks in the end, they seem very well built with drain holes etc which the old ones didnt have, couldnt justify £200 as that is half the price I paid for the car!

how far do you think it should go on a full float chamber? pipes are not leaking, I am still thinking carb but I really dont know

Well I have flattened all of the mating surfaces, used a new "O" ring, even gave it a b it of sealant, it looks like the joint down the venturi is fairly sealed, there is a slight wetting where there may be fuel, there was a drip from the pipe leading into the centre of the venturi so I tightened the idle mixture down half a turn and this seemed to stop it (can anyone tell me if the idle mixture comes from this pipe?), I managed to get it to idle fairly well at about 850 / 900 rpm but its still a little lumpy then if left it will conk out after 5 min and doesn't want to start, I took it for a spin and got the same thing so checked the float chamber and found no fuel, I used the lift pump to fill the float and made it back the 100 yards to my house I am guessing that either it is running so rich (and it smells like it is) that its emptying the float or the fuel pump is knackered but the lift pump works ok I am as sure as I can be that all the jets were replaced like for like although the rebuild kit seems to have different threads on the idle mixture screw (so I still have the old one) and there are some odd jets etc Any ideas would be appreciated (the Weber is looking better and better every day) Thanks