Berlinetta 1.8 1986 Problems

[Fc4ster]

Hello,

Started having problems with manta last week. The car started to pull back on the motorway but didnt stall and gradually got worse when engine warmed up! Driving home from work it stalled a mile from home. I have been using the car to travel to work 70 mile round trip and has just gone through MOT. I had to replace the varejet 11 carb recently. have checked all plugs and leads and fuel is being delivered through to carb. Car starts but cuts out when warm but wont drive! Had been having trouble with the timing before hand, could this have caused the problem? Just thought id ask for any advice before I give up and take it to the garage???

Thanks

Chris

[cam.in.head]

hi.this is one of those problems that could realy be anything so best to start with the basics first.is there water in the oil?,is there oil in the water?,do all the plugs look the same & okay?(may as well gap them while theyre out!)

if you have a compression tester test all the cylinders to see if they are within 15 psi of each other.probably around the 180 ish mark but guages do vary a lot in my experience.

once you have established that the engine is basically ok move on to check ign timing which should be slightly retarded on the standard setting(pointer on lower case & notch in pulley)for unleaded petrol or MAY be ok dead in line ??

after that you need to check arm ,cap & leads.

if yours was a gradual deteriation of running i would also check any in-line fuel filters you may have.

also worth checking is the crankcase breather mesh in the rocker cover.these can totally block up & lead to a big internal build up of pressure that can stop everything working.

now your problem may not be anything here but at least you will know that stuff has been checked .

no doubt others on here will add some more suggestions. good luck. chris.

[Andy18s]

has this started with the warm weather this week?

sounds like fuel starvation to me.either a fuel pipe is getting warm (you mention a new carb,re-routed pipes?)

or possibly airlock in the fuel tank breathers not allowing air to enter.

Andy

[mantadoc]

possibly airlock in the fuel tank breathers not allowing air to enter.

Andy

Easily proven, take cap off, listen for the sucking sound and / or car should start easily.

I thought weather too, fueling or maybe a marginal amp / coil breaking down.

Eliminate second by watching coil lead spark.......... safely!

If it isn't spark, it's mixture (so pipes, pump, carb, tank in order of cheapness and probably liklihood too)

Head gasket is a tail end option as are all the heavy mechanicals, but if runs even till hot otherwise fine I wouldn't let compression test outcome worry me.

[Leon]

I had exactly the same symptoms on my 1.8, in my case the fuel hose between the carb and pump was slightly kinked and had collapsed in on itself.

[garymanc]

i had the same problem when i had my 1.8 the cure was new ht leads

[Fc4ster]

Thanks for all the advice folks, going to spend some quality time looking into your ideas in the next week!! Will let you know how it goes!!! Fingers crossed!!

[Leon]

i had the same problem when i had my 1.8 the cure was new ht leads

Leads are notoriously short-lived on SOHC Vauxhall engines

Luckily all these things are pretty cheap to replace.