A bit worried and annoyed!

Has anyone had the same problem i seem to be getting, or know wat could be wrong??
 my car seems to just cut out at junctions and when i stop etc. it doesnt even tick over for a short amount of time, seems to be as soon as i put my foot on the clutch and stop. It used to do it now and again but now its realllllyyyy bad and does it pretty much every time! grrr its getting very annoying.

What engine?

1.1  

Outside my "injection only" knowledge.

Anyone?

idling problem?

had this on my polo, may be the mixture or timing.

check the little electric cut of switch to the carb FIRST !!

and LOL at " injection only " knowledge !!!  8O

Hi Kelly, theyre funny things to get right i think theres a few theads on 1.1 idling so have a gander at a few of them :wink:  mine does exactly the same on and off sometimes. so yeah check ur choke, throttle etc, if need be wind ur idle up a bit. believe it or not iv found the weather really effects my cars running, depends how much moisture is in the air or something i think, and the temp also, it has got colder over the past few days

if it doesnt get any better have a look at ignition - coil, condensor, dizzy, rotor arm, leads, plugs etc. theyre all cheap and improved my car loads

Greg 8)

Hello Kelly,

I presume you are rumming on the standard Solex carburettor ?

If you pull the choke out, does that stop it stalling ?

If it has got worse recently I suspect it's electrical rather than fuel.

Do you have a local friendly garage who might help with the diagnosis ?

Greg is right they can be little devils, the golden rule is to be methodical and work from the basics. I have just fixed a similar situation on one of my 1.1s which I was convinced was the carburettor - turned out to be the points.

Check the plugs - what colour are they ? set the gap or replace.
New points and reset the gap/dwell angle.
New Condenser.
New Rotor arm.
New Distributor cap.

All cheap from Partco or GSF.

After this try renewing the HT leads and remember the one from the coil too !

Post back and let us know how you're getting on.

Andy

i agree but i'd start with points and condensor. I had exactly the same thing happen with my 1.3 and changed all the items on their lists and points and condensor sorted it. If changing these helps it's still worth replacing plugs, rotor arm and cap as it will improve running of the car like thegreg said and fuel economy on mine is now better by 20-30 miles per tank. From gsf the whole lot will cost you 30 quid in parts.

Check the rubber mount between the carb and the manifold (Use a torch, remove filter housing and rock the carb back and fourth with your hand).

If there is a split in that, then the engine is sucking in air after the carb, so is not getting enough fuel.
Had this prob on mine when it was 1.3. took bloody ages to find too!

AL_Mk1 said

Check the rubber mount between the carb and the manifold (Use a torch, remove filter housing and rock the carb back and fourth with your hand).

If there is a split in that, then the engine is sucking in air after the carb, so is not getting enough fuel.
Had this prob on mine when it was 1.3. took bloody ages to find too!

aL BEAT ME TO IT- THIS IS WHAT MY 1.3 USED TO DO! youd be driving along quite happily then put your clutch in to stop at a junction and it wuold just stall. Heres my understanding of it.

as your putting your clutch in, there isnt as much load on the engine, therefore it doesnt need as much fuel, so as everything slows down, if the carb gasket is split, it opens up as the carb moves about,but takes in more air, resulting in a weak/almost non existant fuel mixture. so it stops. pulling the choke out will help obviously as it is creating a richer mixture so the air isnt "diluting" it as much.

i know its a sketchy explanation but can yuo see where im coming from!?!?

hmm yeh i see. But he does still cut out when i have the choke out. although sayin that, when i first start up and move a short distance to get out of my estate and reverse it never happens. as soon as i get to the bottom of the road it cuts out!! thanks for helping! about 2 months ago i had:
new plugs and leads and points it ran fine after this untill about 2 weeks ago.

Actually .... we have jsut sorted the problem! wooooo! the carb cut out switch was looose!! yay! thanks everyone for helpin!