Loss of power while driving
Discussion
After my first near faultless summer of driving the Spitty, it almost...almost let me down today. Driving along nice little A road, when all of a sudden the power just went, and there was a slight chugging. Managed, thank God to free wheel into a pub car park. When idling the revs still seemed to be pretty high, but maybe that was just my imagination. Opened the bonnet and there was nothing obvious...left it no more than 5 minutes, and thought I'd give it another go and it was fine again.
What could it have been? Air bubble in the fuel line somewhere? Overheating? It's just been converted to electronic ignition, and has been running better than ever until now.
It's a '69 Mk3 Spitty
What could it have been? Air bubble in the fuel line somewhere? Overheating? It's just been converted to electronic ignition, and has been running better than ever until now.
It's a '69 Mk3 Spitty
Grumbly said:
Do you have an in line fuel filter? if so it would be worth checking that it's not become blocked with sediment from the tank.
I do. A small, see through, egg cup sized one. Couldn't see anything obvious, but thinking about it it's been on a few years now. Might be worth changing it?Grumbly said:
I had this problem on my TR6, grinding to a halt every so often only to restart once enough fuel had eventually made it through the filter. Only finally really solved by a new fuel tank.
Bloody hell. Ok thanks. Got some new filters on order. I'll try them first and see if that fixes it. I have an 1147cc Spitfire engined Fairthorpe.
I'd go for a new fuel filter .... then if still failing and it has twin SUs unscrew one of the float chambers (three screws) - have a friend quickly crank over the engine and check you have fuel flowing. Do the same on the second.
If no fuel and filter changed go for a blocked fuel line or tank.
My car had loss of power - sounded like a Subaru as it only fired on two cylinders - dragged itself along - ended up being a float chamber needle valve got a bit of gunk in it (despite a good fuel filter and pressure regulator)
I could leave it a while and the bowl would gently fill up .... ran for a while .... then starvation again ...
I'd go for a new fuel filter .... then if still failing and it has twin SUs unscrew one of the float chambers (three screws) - have a friend quickly crank over the engine and check you have fuel flowing. Do the same on the second.
If no fuel and filter changed go for a blocked fuel line or tank.
My car had loss of power - sounded like a Subaru as it only fired on two cylinders - dragged itself along - ended up being a float chamber needle valve got a bit of gunk in it (despite a good fuel filter and pressure regulator)
I could leave it a while and the bowl would gently fill up .... ran for a while .... then starvation again ...
Edited by 838HNK on Wednesday 14th September 18:54
Initial thoughts were maybe the condenser, but has that gone with the swap to electronic ignition? Other thought was fuel pump points if you have gone to an SU electric pump. I think Spitfires, were mechanical pumps like Heralds originally.
Can you look down into the petrol tank and see any sediment etc in it?
Hope its an easy and cheap fix for you.
Can you look down into the petrol tank and see any sediment etc in it?
Hope its an easy and cheap fix for you.
Thank you all for the helpful replies. It was a hot day. Today actually, and even in deepest darkest Wales it got to about 27 degrees. I only stopped for a few minutes, and then it drove the last few miles home without a hitch. Was just a bit unnerving as there was no warning at all, and I was lucky to be on a stretch of road with a pull in.
Carb referb is definitely on the wish list, but hopefully it was just the hot weather then, and I'm fairly confident that won't be a problem very often.
Carb referb is definitely on the wish list, but hopefully it was just the hot weather then, and I'm fairly confident that won't be a problem very often.
838HNK said:
Oooppss - Guilty Murder One - forgot the obvious ! - also does your inlet manifold have the heat shield as this sometimes gets lost or left off ?
I would say exactly this - fit a heat shield if there isn't already one. I think there was more than one type over the years and it may be that the later ones are beefier. Did the problem go away when cooled down? Norfolkandchance said:
I would say exactly this - fit a heat shield if there isn't already one. I think there was more than one type over the years and it may be that the later ones are beefier. Did the problem go away when cooled down?
I don't have a heat shield fitted. Worth getting one then?The problem went away almost straight away. I could only have been stopped 4/5 minutes max which I wouldn't have thought was enough time for anything to cool down any decent amount?
Mk3Spitfire said:
Norfolkandchance said:
I would say exactly this - fit a heat shield if there isn't already one. I think there was more than one type over the years and it may be that the later ones are beefier. Did the problem go away when cooled down?
I don't have a heat shield fitted. Worth getting one then?The problem went away almost straight away. I could only have been stopped 4/5 minutes max which I wouldn't have thought was enough time for anything to cool down any decent amount?
Willhire89 said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
Norfolkandchance said:
I would say exactly this - fit a heat shield if there isn't already one. I think there was more than one type over the years and it may be that the later ones are beefier. Did the problem go away when cooled down?
I don't have a heat shield fitted. Worth getting one then?The problem went away almost straight away. I could only have been stopped 4/5 minutes max which I wouldn't have thought was enough time for anything to cool down any decent amount?
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