Petrol tank ventilation? Emergency posting. Ideas please!

transexl

transexl

Member
Guten Morgen everybody

Within a few weeks time, Jimmy has driven me to dispair and made three competent mechanics doubt their abilities.

His engine has cut off after not gaining revs (due to fuel starvation), he has not started and not accelerated beyond the 2500 rpm-mark for some impressive distances - all of this happened a few times each.

This has started about a year ago, but was then only temporary and quite rare. I sent harveyp6 a message then, fearing that the auto box was beyond function. as Jimmy seemed to not get into third gear. But it was the engine not revving beyond a certain mark that made Jimmy stutter and shudder for a few metres.

He has now been towed, left by the road and taken apart (on the fuel side of things) more times than ever before in his German life.
The last time was yesterday.

The carbs have been apart three times in the last days, with debris and some astonishing faults to be found.
The entire ignition system has been checked thoroughly, and its components have been exchanged just to make sure. (The "old" components have been kept, as they seem trouble-free and make good replacements to be kept in the boot, as I was advised).

All of Jimmys behaviour is completely erratic :!: :!: :!:
There is not one constant factor (heat, revvs, stationary idling, speed, gear, stile of driving...) to be made out.
As stated above: two of the three mechanics are stunned and completely clueless after performing most of the above in the last days.

(They both have had MANY years of experience with ANY kind of vehicle, especially British ones of all years and makes, one Porsche 911 (that has been completely done over and improved over years) and SD1/Range/Land Rover V8 experience when they were on the road here in Germany.

I´d really appreciate it if ALL of you just "shouted" key words of potential faults here in this thread for me to tell the two guys.
Rover-P6-specific fuel system items are most welcome (Reserve tap???), but ANYTHING ELSE that might JUST seem plausible will be checked.

We might just get Jimmy back on the road so that we do NOT have to start our holidays in the UK in an Opel Zafira... :oops: :cry:

DANKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If you say you found debris, then dirt in the tank and fuel lines is a good start.
Disconnect at the pump inlet and blow back towards the tank side until you pass out from lack of air, or until it flows free. :mrgreen:
Then see how it runs. If it's a bit better, you may be headed in the right direction. Next step, drain the fuel and remove the
fuel sender and pick-up from the tank and have a good clean out in the tank. I had similar issues and removed handfuls of gunk
from my tank.
A good quality in-line filter before the pump after you are done should do the job.
Good luck.
 
Thank you, John!
That would have been my next guess... .
(Of course we topped up fuel in the process yesterday, just to make sure! :roll: )

Where is the fuel tank breather, by the way?
 
The "dirt" is possibly rust from inside the tank surface if the car has been left standing for some time.
There is little point in continuing work on the carbs if they are going to be fed with a poor supply.
I'm working on a car currently with a rusted fuel tank. It was suspected and confirmed as soon as I got the sender out and flashed a light in there. The whole inner surface was covered in rust, plus parts of the sender..
Has anyone managed to soda blast the inside of a 15 gallon P6 tank?
The cheaper options seem to include vinegar/other acid to remove the rust and etch the metal, then seal. I've heard very good things about molasses..
Then there are some very expensive dedicated 2/3 stage products available.

The tank should have one or more breathing pipes attached at the top left as you look at the tank in the boot.
Jim
 
40th Birthday Hickups ...

Guten Morgen everybody

Thank you for your time and advise!
All of the above were checked as good as possible and found to be not the culprit(s).

Only yesterday we managed to bring Jimmy back to his old form - and even better.
After exchanging dizzy cap, rotor arm, condensator and spark leads for new items (partly because they were suspicious, partly because we had planned so in the first place to have working items at home/in the boot), it came down to taking apart the carb(s).
The right one was more suspicious, and he had to be checked/taken apart four times. With the last check the pipe that leads up from the float chamber was stuck with something that appears to be gunk from a dissolved piece of rubber, that was fit into the petrol pipe while the manifold was of to prevent leaking.

Since then, Jimmy does everything he always did, but better: Start, accelerate, shift gear, idle... .

We are on the ferry to the UK tomorrow.
(We had to shorten our holiday a few days, sadly).
Jimmy DOES want to see his home country for his 40th birthday after all!

So much for now,

DANKE!!!

stefan

(Oh yes, for the ones that know Chris York:
When he found Jimmy for us, he bought Magnicor spark leads right away. On completing Jimmy, Colin Gould thought the stock leads to be ok, so we left the Magnicor items in the boot - and in the attic, for that matter.
They were fitted only now, and one of the stock cables was faulty.
Thank you AGAIN, Chris :!: :wink: )
 
Glad to read you've managed to fix it and it's running well!

I changed all my leads for Magnecor ones too. They are not cheap but I've not experienced any issues with them.
 
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