Break Down in Wiltshire

[Keith]

Spotted, well nearly ran into!, a grey with orange stripe '40 in Wiltshire today, apparently broken down at the top of very steep hill. Car on a 'Q' plate. Won't print the reg. no., we live in strange times.

If it was you, sorry I couldn't stop - had clients aboard. Hope the breakdown was minor..

 

[Ian Anderson]

Sounds like Maxiboy

Max I hope it was not serious with LM coming up in a few weeks

Ian

 

[Keith]

That makes sense, he comes from Wimborne I think? This was quite near to Wimborne.

 

[Max Walter]

Yes, it was me!

Sorry, not been on for a while so hadn't seen this thread, Ian & Roy informed me about it yesterday.

Yes, unfortunately it was me. Car started juddering, picked up, juddered a few times, before stalling and I had to cruise (uphill) as far as I could to a (very slightly) safer position.

Just over the brow of a large hill on a fast single carriage stretch of the A350 as you go South from Longbridge Deverill. Not a very convenient place I must say, especially on a scorching hot day, no shade within about 1/4 mile each direction.

You'd be amazed how many people went past, beeping, scowling etc - did they think I'd stopped for a picnic! One guy even stopped to say "Did you know there's a layby 200 yards up the road?" Now if only I'd thought of breaking down there instead! The only one who actually stopped to check I was ok was on a motorbike!

Anyway once the RAC arrived an hour (& about 2000+ passers by) later, and he parked his big orange van with flashing lights behind me it felt a bit safer to get the back clip up and take a look/chck things out. Basically there was no visible problem, and we got the car going again without any problem. I did feel a bit silly at that moment, but not too much as I knew there had definitely been a problem.

We then went in tandem to the aforementioned layby (about half a mile actually). We monitored the car together for 5 - 10 mins and all seemed well. He then followed me for the next 5 miles or so just to check everything was ok, before peeling off for his next job.

Everything was going fine until about another 10 miles, when it started happening again. This time I was able to find a better spot to stop. This time I was able to start the car again within a couple of minutes, so off I go again.

Well, this actually happened another half dozen times on my long weary drive home, avoiding some busy roads etc deliberately. What it seems like is the fuel pump (the one that is 'working') was unable to supply enough fuel, or not even get supplied enough itself. In fact when stopped I could hear it 'racing' for a while before getting up to pressure again. Not sure if this was related to the heat - had a quick blast along a straight stretch shortly before too, or if the fuel I got from the garage outside the circuit was just not up to the job/a bit dirty.

Didn't get chance to play around with it this weekend, but will do evenings this week/next weekend - I certainly don't want this happening all the way down to Le Mans!! I might even drain this fuel out & get some fresh - I'll go for some high octane 'super-unleaded' too this time.

If anyone has any other suggestions please come forward with them.

Cheers,

Max

 

[Max Walter]

Wot no avatar :-(

PS, Whoever's broken my avatar, could they please fix it again?

 

[Keith]

Hi mate - would have stopped but as you say - by the time I crested the rise and spotted you, probably well too late to stop anyway and I had some sightseeing Americans on-board. I think that was a bit churlish of people to complain about your position as I got past easily and you were sort of off the road anyway.

It was a very hot day, could this have been heat related? But it does sound as if your pump has picked up some crap. Remebering my XK120, the SU pump only raced just before it ran out of fuel. (then you used to have to hit it with a hammer to get it going again) As a youngster, one of the more common sights was an XK driver weilding a hammer about underneath the drivers seat knocking the crap out of everything in the hope of hitting the fuel pump...

Those were the days......

Anyway Max, hope you get it sorted OK.

As regards your Avitar, you have to download your new sized version from the page where Al (who did all the re-sizing for us) posted them. A quick search should find them all)

 

[Chris E]

Max
I had a similar problem a few years ago ( not in my 40 ) which turned out to be a blocked breather in the filler cap. As fuel left the tank, air as unable to replace it, thus causing a vacuum, which eventually prevented any more fuel being delivered to the carb.
Just one of many possible solutions to your probem. Good luck.

 

[Max Walter]

As regards your Avitar, you have to download your new sized version from the page where Al (who did all the re-sizing for us) posted them. A quick search should find them all)

Great, someone comes along and vandalises it, then expects me to spend my time fixing it! Obviously he uses your signature as a motto!!

 

[Ian Anderson]

Max

Please see
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18254&highlight=avatar

It is about the avatars that disappeared

you need to find yours and copy it for the new forum

cheers
Ian

 

[Max Walter]

Done - in fact I loaded a new one instead, hopefully it won't get vandalised again.

Though now they have to be so small it's almost not worth having anyway. I guess that's progress for you.

 

[Keith]

The Avitars had to be re-sized as the old ones on the previous forum took up half the screen. Despite many entreaties from Ron & Al, not all members either a) knew how to re-size their Avitars or b) were bothered.
This forum software does not automatically size them as the last one did. In your case, of course, you were missing on parade when this momentous move took place...sooooo, here we are!rockonsmile

 

[Ron Earp]

Done - in fact I loaded a new one instead, hopefully it won't get vandalised again.

Though now they have to be so small it's almost not worth having anyway. I guess that's progress for you.

None of the avatars were vandalised, it is the situation as Keith describes it. During the move to the new software they did not translate. As for size, an avatar isn't meant to display a full blown picture of you in detail, but is of course meant to be a small recognizable picture. They are the same size as the old forum, 80x80, and supporting members can have larger avatars if they like.

Your profile picture can of course be much larger than 80x80, 640x480 if you want a high detail picture there. Posted attachements in line can be 640x480 and the Gallery pictures can be basically a few meg each if you like.

Ron

 

[Max Walter]

No worries, think I was just being a miserable git as I felt really sh*t yesterday (not beer related either).

Apologies if I cranked someone's handle the wrong way!

 

Hi Max

I would check to see if you have a blockage or restriction in your fuel line from tank to fuel pump,

regards

Chris.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

If it was quote "stinking hot" unquote it could have been vapour lock.

 

[Doug S.]

Fuel Filter

Check your fuel filter to see if it is clogged up. I had the same problem once and soon as I changed the filter the problem disappeared. It seems that the grit in the filter was clogging up the flow while under pressure, but soon as the motor stalled there must have been some way the trash detached from the filter element--the car would start easily within a minute or two and drive a while before the element became clogged again, which of course resulted in the predictable stall.

Good luck!

 

[Peter Delaney]

Max - here's another possible twist which I experienced a while ago.

Very much the same symptoms - engine dies, let it sit for 5 mins, starts & runs ok for 5 mins, the dies again - repeatedly.

I finally found that it was a crook connection in the modular plug-in fusible link that powered the ECU. When it got hot enough, it went high resistance & only let the ECU have 8V. Once cooled off a bit, it went low resistance & all was ok until things heated up again.

It sounds like a simple problem, but it took me most of a day to find it ! The give-away was when I ran a log of the ECU volts on the PC - you could see it drop to 8V about a half a second before the engine died.

Interestingly enough, the fusible links were not from Lucas (!), but from Narva (Taiwan, I think). A complete new set of original GM links solved the problem. The Narva units just slid in & out easily on their spade connectors, whilst the GM ones were a much tighter fit.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Peter, the tighter the fit the better. Old Chinese proverb.

 

[Ryan]

With that kind of hot weather day, it may be a vapor lock of some sort. Pressure difference due to the heat?

Good luck.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Max

Check the air inlet / breather in your tank - could it be creating a vacuum and thus stoppin fuel outflow?

Ian