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A year ago I bought a 144 (1973), with automatic transmission. I wish I could say it has served me well, but it has been nothing but trouble since I bought it. I have had a lot of work done on the fuel system, but as soon as one thing is fixed, another crops up. I am hoping someone here can figure out the latest problem.
Work I had done:
New distributor
New coil
New plugs
New electrical cables
Installed electric fuel pump for carbureted engines (high volume, low pressure)
New fuel filter
Replaced Timing Gears
Had the SU HIF6 Carburetors rebuilt (broken float in one chamber, sticky needle as well)
I stored it in my garage over the winter in order to avoid getting salt on it. When I had the block heater plugged in, it started like a charm. But if it hadn't been plugged in, very hard to start. The engine just wouldn't want to catch. It gets down to -30 Celcius here in Ottawa, but even on days when it was around the freezing point, very hard to start without the block heater.
So today I took it out for the first run. It's a few degrees above freezing today, and no snow on the roads. I had plugged it in, so it started like a charm. Then I took it and filled it up. This is where the problems start. After I filled it, it didn't want to start, just not catching, so the battery ran down. I got a boost, and even then, it took about 30 seconds or more to catch and start. So I drove it on the highway to charge up the battery for 40 minutes. When I came off the highway, all of a sudden it didn't want to idle well at the stop lights, and stalled out a few times. It started immediately each time it stalled, so I was able to limp home. Sitting in the garage, same deal. If I pulled the choke out, it was alright, but without it, it stalled. I left it for about 5 minutes, and tried to start it again, and no way will it catch. I left it when the battery showed signs of running down again.
Why is this happening? I think I have pretty much replaced or repaired everything I can think of in the fuel system. What's left!
Very frustrating.
Greg MacIsaac
gregory_macisaac@carleton.ca
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