I started having some issues with the engine losing power and stuttering after hard cornering a few weeks ago. I went to this years first autocross and died twice on course with what seemed like I just ran out of fuel. It made it if I just slowed it down a little bit. So I went and changed the fuel filter and looked around, didn't see much. The filter looked pretty dirty. I drove it for a few weeks and never got it to hesitate or anything, and on several occasions we took it out and tried to recreate the problem from that autocross. Nothing, seemed solid as a rock. Today was the 2nd event of the season. A long course and she was running really good up almost to the end even where the problem suddenly reappeared. She died again. It takes a little bit to get her started again after this, a little time turning the engine over, but she'll light and then run perfectly after that. I cannot begin to think what this issue is.

Any help?

Thanks guys

 

possible that your fuel pump is starting to go?

 

Yes. Your fuel, is literally being siphoned back into your fuel return line line as you go around a right hand corner, and it all sloshes to the back side of the bowls and out the input resevoir. The resevoir connects the two bowls and is where fuel enters from the "in" hose, and also exits thru the return line.
PM me and I can tell you how to fix it. (It's a secret, dude!)

 

Hey HEY!!! None of that. We all want in an the goodies and tidbits of info... Speak up.. No secrets.

 

Yeah no secrets!

 

No secret... the fuel pump is getting weak.

 

I've heard of stuff like this happening with holley carbs. There is this fuel-cell-like foam stuff you can put in the float bowls or something to keep fuel in the carb during hard cornering.

But....since the problem disappeared after you installed a new filter: sounds like a fuel pump going bad. Are you running a stock pump?

Peejay, I love that avatar pic! Is that photoshop or a real capture of your tac?

 

I hope it's a photoshop Peejay, that's some crazzzzzy shiznit!

 

Well, look at the bottom, where "RPM X 1000" should be... hee hee

I have some video of my '80s tach pointing well past 8000, no photoshop (or in my case Photo-Paint) required. The stock tachs stop at 8200, I did my burnouts at 84

 

Actually, the problem hadn't dissappeared after I replaced the fuel filter. I'll admit, I have to be driving pretty aggressively. Obviously, when I'm using my race tires, it's a bit easier to push the car to the limit of it being able to stay running. Before yesterday, I had never put my race tires on to try to kill it.

As for the pump, I talked to the previous owner about it. He said it was an aftermarket holley that puts out about 9psi (I don't know the flow rate).

 

Get a regulator! 9psi - OUCH!!! That's probably your problem then. Set it to something like 3psi to start with.

 

There is a regulator there too. Believe I saw it in victoria british the other day. Supposed to be a .5 to 5.5 psi regulator. It is currently set on 2. When I got the car, it was set on 2.5, but when I changed the fuel filter, it would flood on 2.5, so I knocked it down to 2 and it has been running well (well, the same, fine except with hard cornering) since I did that. I tried bumping it back up to 2.5 on sunday when she died on the track and she flooded while idling on grid, so she's back on 2.

 

If you got it from Vic British, throw it away and get a Holley regulator. IIRC the VB part is the Purolator dial-adjust job.

 

Seeing as you say you have a pump and regulator, what about fuel pick up IN the tank? You said it happened during hard cornering and after the long race towards the end. Wouldnt this mean you were getting low on gas by the end of the race, and during hard cornering, all the gas might be moving away from the pickup? If you corner "wrong", the fuel pickup will just suck air and no gas, the engine will continue to run with the gas thats in the lines for a few seconds or so, until the air pocket in the lines hits the carb. This would make it feel like its running out of gas, and eventually die. It would also explain the cranking to get it going again, the air pocket would have to be worked out of the lines before the carb would get gas again. Just my thoughts. Go do some "hard cornering" with a full tank and see if you cant do it...if not, my money's on the pickup in the tank .

~T.J.

PS - I think the fuel filter thing was coincidence. Think back, all the times it seemed to work fine, did you have more than half a tank or so?

 

RotorMotorDriver, I see exactly where you are coming from. It was my theory too because like you said, it seems like it was out of gas and just needing to get some up to the engine. Especially the way it would lose power a bit shortly before it died.

The only problem is that in preparation for this, I filled the tank up the night before. It had maybe 20 miles on the tank when this happened. I had thought down those lines since it is really what it seems to be

Peejay, yeah, that seems about right for that regulator. It's basically a big **** that has some numbers in it. It was on there when I bought the car. I am not impressed with it. Which holley regulator should I be looking at, or is it pretty obvious?

Thanks guys.

 

i've only seen 2.... one that adjusts up to 5 psi, and one that's 4.5psi to 9 psi adjustable. get the smaller one. check summit racing or a local speed shop.

 

Noone considered the gas tank could be RUSTED TO ****?!! cletus, you said the fuel filter looked dirty? As in BROWN w/BIG CHUNKS OF CRAP? Next time you change the filter blow through the INLET so the fuel comes out the OUTLET. Then you can see whats clogging the things up.

 

I've considered it. The fuel filter on there now is one of those see-through type. It's still clean after what has probably been almost a month now. But I'd think that that problem would also arise under normal driving too. It is something to keep in mind though.

 

No matter how shitty the fuel pressure regulator is, you should'nt be experiencing this type of irradic behavior. I'm inclined to think your needles are shot.
I think you need a rebuild.

If the regulator says "2", it does'nt mean necessarily that it's been calibrated to two psi. (You could be running 3 for all you know.) But adjusting it incrementally, it's not like you jump to six...you know what I mean?

Get a junkyard carb and a rebuild kit. Try what I suggested only use rolled up gasket paper. Look back several pages for my write-up called "Carb Crap...Nikki Mods".

The mechanical secondary conversion would be good for you, but I don't recommend the accelerator pump modification until you have this problem licked. It would just help to flood you out, right now. Works great though, if everything else is in order.

 

Yeah, I kinda had the impression that the actual numbers on the regulator were more of a reference point than an actual pressure. She runs good on 2 now, so I run her on 2. Maybe that's 3 at the carb. I need to put a pressure gauge on there at some point.

I think I'll try tracking down a junkyard carb. Hopefully it isn't too expensive. Should be fun though (seriously) Plus I'll still have the one that's atleast good on the street as a backup.

Thanks guys.