TheSamba.com :: View topic - Troubleshoot: Intermittantly dies while driving

Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:38 am

Help! My '62 1200 dies while driving, but it it only does this once the car has warmed up (or so it seems). I will be cruising anywhere from 35-50 when it will just lose power and die. It normally takes a bit to get it fired up again, and will normally only make it about 100 yards before it dies again (as much gas as is in carb bowl?). I initially figured it was my fuel pump, so I pulled off the top and cleaned out all of the crap that had built up in there, but to no avail. I also unplugged my fuel line from the carb and turned the motor over with a wrench and found what seemed to be a decent amount of fuel streaming out. Any answers? My thoughts are the fuel system someplace...

Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:50 am

Does it die right away? Fuel problems will usually cause bogging or hesitation at first. Might want to check to see if all the electrical is ok. Check the battery, coil, points, etc.

I had a very similar problem recently and it ended up being that the battery was more than 5 years old and the battery terminals were rotted. It actually hesitated a bit also, but it usually just died right away.

Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:53 am

While I am driving, it will just lose power all of a sudden. When I put in the clutch, the motor just dies to a sputtering stop. There was an aweful lot of crap in the fuel pump when I cleaned it out...Kinda leaning towards pulling the filter at the tank to see if there is crap in there. Can't do too much at midnight, though...

Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:11 am

I've seen an intermittent coil act just like that. Good luck.

Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:13 am

Definatley check the electrical...keep us updated when you get the chance :D

Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:57 am

Same thing was happening in My notch, ended up being my Ignition barrel.

N!

Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:26 am

Leftlegonfire wrote: ...Kinda leaning towards pulling the filter at the tank to see if there is crap in there....

You might be onto it. If the tank is getting rusty or has a lot of crap in it, it can cause those problems. When the car shuts off the suction stops at the tank and the crud that gathered around the screen falls away until next time... Definately worth a look.

-Kent

Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:28 am

My v80 was doing that... turned out to be a bad condensor.

Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:59 am

So much sage advise for such a vague problem...I think that I have gotten equal amounts of advise saying its a fuel starvation problem as I have for it being an electrical problem! I remember now that the first time that this happened, my coil came loose from its bracket and "grounded out" on the intake manifold (at least thats what it seems to have happened). Perhaps this shorted it out for good...It still has plenty of juice running through it, but would a bad coil go out intermittently???

Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:56 pm

Just as a tip, I had a similar problem with a type 181. It turned out to be a faulty electronic points replacement made overseas. In my zeal to save a few $s, I foolishly bought one of those wanna be's. I replaced it with a genuine compufire and it started and ran immediately. It hasn't skipped a beat for several months now. :D

Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:24 pm

Next time it happens, before you try and restart it, take the top of the carb off (5 screws) and check for gas in the bowl. That will rule out a fuel delivery problem or not.
If you have someone with you next time it happens, immediately get out and remove a spark plug wire, hold it close to ground and have that person crank the engine while you check for spark.

Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:01 pm

I had the same problem with mine... I ran a Compufire ignition for awhile it burnt out ( My fault)... SO I decided to put points back on it. Mine would drive for awhile then die and it ended up being the points and condenser kept burning... I put a new electronic igiton and it ran fine after that....

Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:09 pm

67 Florida Deluxe wrote: Leftlegonfire wrote: ...Kinda leaning towards pulling the filter at the tank to see if there is crap in there....

You might be onto it. If the tank is getting rusty or has a lot of crap in it, it can cause those problems. When the car shuts off the suction stops at the tank and the crud that gathered around the screen falls away until next time... Definately worth a look.

-Kent
This is what happened to my ride. I changed the distributor, points, & so on.....It was just running out of gas. I blasted out my tank at the car wash and replaced the tank screen and no problems.

Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:20 pm

Quote: 69 Jim Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:11 am Post subject:

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I've seen an intermittent coil act just like that. Good luck.

UPDATE: I replaced the coil, since I figured it was old and worth a shot, but no luck...This time I was smart and had a screwdriver with me so that I could take off the top of the carb...what I found was very little gas in the bowl. That tells me that it is a fuel problem. Now, I also pulled off the top of the fuel pump, and it was full, so that leads me to believe that the problem is farther down the line. Any thoughts? How hard is it to change that screen in the tank? Thanks for the help!

Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:18 pm

Check the botton part of you fuel pump. Springs get weak and cause fuel delivery problems when you are driving. This does not always show up just at idle. I chased all of the screens, filters, etc. for a similar problem with mine and it turned out to be the fuel pump. You could work the operating lever up and down by hand with little resistance and it would try to pump, but not enough pressure. WIth a new pump you can hardly move the operating lever with your hands. Easy to remove and worth checking. Good luck.

Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:31 pm

It happened to me once, just as described. It ended up being my crappy as plastic fuel filter, which was completely clogged. Changed it and never had a problem again. It does mean I should clean the tank and the lines, and the pump, which I'm planning to do soon.

Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:45 pm

Update #2: Changed the filter in the tank, made sure lines were clear - new coil, points, rotor, cap...I guess the only thing left is the fuel pump? Could it be the carbuerator itself?? The bowl is always empty when it dies...Don't know much about carbs...Does it determine how much gas goes to it or is that the job of the pump?

Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:42 pm

Update #3: So I have changed the fuel pump, rebuilt the carb and it still is doing the same thing. Funny enough, I had metal hose clamps on the lines at the fuel filter which had melted the plastic on the fuel filter which fixed one problem, but it still persists. Could it be the Generator or the voltage regulator? Please help! I am tired of throwing parts at this car with no success! I think my car just wants to stay in the garage where it is nice and warm....

Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:51 pm

When you changed the tank screen, did you clean the rust out of the tank?

Take it one thing at a time- I had the same issue- it turned out to be a broken spring on the fuel pump intake valve.

Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:56 pm

Yeah, I guess that would have been an important bit of info to include...I did clean out the tank, and I checked the lines with the suck/blow method. Nothing in the lines, fuel tank is clean...Ugh. Thats why I'm trying random crap like generators and electrical probs...