idle and starting

Elan Discussions
1

Hey gang:

Had everything going well on my rebuit engine. then, one day, after not driving for a week, the car’s starting characteristics seemed odd. Took a tone of pedal pressed down to get enough fuel to get idle. Then, once it got warm enough to actually stay running, the off-idle hesitation was massive under load. And, once it gets going to 4-6000 rpm, nowhere near maximum power output.
Seems like fuel starvation, right?

Nothing else was changed in the interim, so I’m wondering about the following possibilities in this order of likelihood?

bad fuel pump (most likely?)
stuck valves. (Unlikely, since the rebuild is new?)
some air passageway blockage (could it be this bad?)
plugs? I checked, and also got the carbs synched up at least tolerably once it was running.

Do these symptoms sounds familiar to anyone?

thanks as always.
Jeff

2

What’s the end of your tailpipe look like? If it’s black soot I’d check the choke settings. We own old Lotuses, they love, and need, to be driven. A week in the stable may be too much for yours, do you take it out on the interstate? Wind it out in 2nd on Chicago’s Boulevards?

3

Jeff,

If it’s SHORT of fuel for starting, check for blocked starter pump jets.
If it runs badly at low throttle openings, check the progression holes aren’t blocked.
Or, if the float chambers aren’t filling up properly, check for sticking needle valves (unlikely??), blocked filters (if you have those gauze things where the banjos fit), any other fuel filters you may have, and fuel pump.
I assume there’s enough fuel in the tank (it’s been done before…) ! :wink:

:arrow_right: Matthew

4

I found the throttle cable had slipped on the clamp so there was no full throttle on mine ----ed