Chris A

Thanks Nick, I will try as you say - I will make sure no neighbours are about to see me sniffing the exhaust ? I also like your reasoning about temporary ignition fault or flooding Thanks for the leads

Thanks for he replies so far. Tomorow I am going to start the car and do stop starts at home until the problem occurs again. I will then check that I am getting a spark, just in case there is some weird electrical snag. Again I don't see what as the car performes fine until switched off and left for a few minutes. I will also blow through the pipe between pump and carb to see if this is clear. Another thing I will try is having a botle handy and as soon as I stop the engine put the connected to the intake of he pump in it to see if he pump drains, i.e. the valve in the pump isn't working. The flexible pipes in the engine bay to filter, pump and carb are Gates R9 and were replaced last year, although the one from tank to petrol filter is old red stuff.

I had started to wonder if the problem might be at the carb end of the supply. I will think this over and look into it. I don't want to start dismantling a carb though, yet. Maybe a sticking needle?

If somethng was getting sucked onto the outlet pipe I would expect fuel starvation when driving not after the car has stopped and the engine switched off. Interesting point though

sorry, should have said - the pump is the original AC item

Hi all I think the problem I am going to describe is fuel related but don't let that influence you. Yesterday the car started as usual, first turn of key, ran as usual did 10 Kms to a meeting and left car for about 1 ½ hours. After meeting I and a couple of others decided to go to the local aero club open day. Car started as usual etc. Got to the air strip and we had to wait until there was someone to let us through into the VIP parking. After a couple of minutes at tick over I switched off the engine. There was a further few minutes before we could move on. The car refused to start, not a cough or splutter – turned over without any problem but not a singe attempt to fire. After several repeated attempts to start we pushed the car to the parking area, again no joy after a few tries, not even the smell of petrol as if the carb had flooded. Left the car for about 10 minutes and it then started on the button. Drove home (didn’t want to risk stopping the engine) no problems at low revs, high revs, under load or on overrun. Once home stopped engine and immediately restarted without a problem. This morning the car started as usual, went for a short drive to try and reproduce yesterday’s problem. Did exactly the same thing. Petrol filter fitted just before pump looed empty, it is usually about ¼ full. Took out the filter and the connected pipe work blew through it, not blocked, but didn’t seem to have petrol in. Took the filler cap off the petrol tank, full of petrol so not short of fuel, blew though the petrol line and could hear bubbles in the tank, no blockage then. Reconnected everything started car and repeated the run. No improvement. Car left to stand for 10 to 15 minutes and presto! Life. Did another run but this time instead of letting the engine idle for a few minutes switched off straight away. The car needed to be left for a good ¼ hour before it would again start. First turn of key. Could it be petrol is evaporating? Haven’t noticed a problem all through the summer when it has been far hotter than yesterday and today. Carb flooding? Why and how? Petrol pump problem? The car runs fine, I would have thought that any problem would show up during a run. Spark problem? The coil isn’t getting hot, Accuspark system fitted – if it was the electronics why would it behave like this, Distributor isn’t hot or showing signs of burning etc. I think the fault must be recent as earlier in the week I filled with petrol and stopped off to see someone for a few minutes as well and there was no problem. I am sure the car is running rich, is this a clue? Sorry this is a ‘bit’ on the long side but wanted to give as much detail as possible. I would certainy welcome any/all help possible. In the meantime I will:- 1. Take the jerry can and modern next time I need petrol for it. 2. Make sure when I go out and park up I will be staying for 30 minutes at least. 3. Cross my fingers.

My 13/60 is fitted with a Smith's heater. Yes the difference without the blower is not massive, more so in a convertible with the hood down. With the blower on and hood down & set to give hot air to feet there is a noticeable difference.

Since fitting a new one to my car I have used the heater a couple of times just to try it, luckily the car is a convertible so the heat dissipates, I have also left in the 'on' position a couple of times between runs. I will leave it on during the winter when the car isn't used. I regularly start the car in winter just to turn the motor and dry it off. Time will tell if the valve lasts, it looked fit for purpose.

I recently cleaned out the heater on my 13/60, it too was blocked with a white goo which I put down to scale. T flush mine out I removed the heater valve and connected a hose pipe directly to the inlet/outlet with another length of hosepipe on the other to drain any liquid to a bucket. The mains water pressure was enough to clear out the heater matrix, after several flushes in both direction, getting rid of the old brown water that was 'sealed' in the heater. I fitted a new valve as the old one was completely blocked. Take care to make sure you refit the rubber 'o' ring with the valve. I then took the opportunity to flush out the whole system using a commercial rad flush product as per instructions, keep the heater in the on position, refilled with the coolant mixture and hey presto! All good including a working heater.

Olive or Flora? i don't care who cooks for me.

I normally fill up at 150 mile intervals, which leaves a good margin.

New unit fitted, gives an output of 9.98v according to my voltmeter,. Took car out for a good run of mixed roads & into town to do a little shopping and get petrol. Water temp gauge sits virtually straight up, occasional movements to either side but only slight deflection. This ties in with temperature readings from Infa Red Ray Gun Thermometer. Tiopped up with fuel, gauge needle was on the '1' of '1/2' and took just under 20 litres, so maybe a little bit inaccurate. With the tank full the needle sits between 3/4 and full, happy with that.

I fitted a new voltage stabilizer today - see otherlink on VS - no difference to dial light problem so fitted a new earth wire and "let there be light". The dial light works whether the ignition is on or off, just like the other dial.

Yes that is obvious but worrying, it will lead me into a false sense of security ?

Toxic ?

To bring a bit of stability back to this thread I received mine today, same as other people have ordered by the Bay. I hope to be able to fit it tomorrow. My existing stabilizer has 2 connections for both B and I. The I terminal has 2 green wires for the gauges so I've made a short 'Y' cable to adapt the new unit with a single output to suit. Looking at the wiring diagram there should be white wires for - Feed from ignition switch Feed to Heater switch Feed to oil pressure light Feed to ignition warning light All there are are 2 white wires from the same spade connector, where they go/ come from I shall see better tomorrow. The heater switch is now fed from a feed to the radio. Where the 4th is any which it is is a mystery, but as everything has power I'm not really that bothered, but there is s dreaded Scotch block on a white wire so it looks like sometime in the past there was an 'upgrade' done. Simply transferring the wires to the new unit (in the right place) shouldn't upset things

The stabilizer on mine is mounted on the back of the speedo. I had the same reaction why there? Difficult to get at & the gauges it serves are on the other dial, I guess lack of space on the other dial. From memory, the existing unit has 2 of each connector, I'll know for sure when I replace it later this week.

Pete & Mike, an earthing problem is my suspect number 1 linked to a problem with the voltage stabiliser. The back light works until the ignition is turned on. I think I will rig another earth wire from the speedo, a test cable in the instance just to see.

Great minds think alike, fools never differ. I am thinking along the same lines. I started another thread before this one ( voltage stabiliser) as I am getting what I believe to be high readings on both fuel and temperature gauges. A new VS is on order and when fitted I hope all will be sorted. I had thought of running a new earth from the bulb holder itself but decided to wait. I bougt an infa red thermometer and used that to check temperatures on hoses, radiator and housing the readings were not overly high even though temperature gauge was close to the hot zone. Hopefully your diagnosis is the correct one.

I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the post, it takes 7 to 10 days to get bits from the UK to France using normal postage, should arrive Monday or Tuesday. The waiting time will allow me to do do exercises to limber up to get under the dashboard to swap the wires over.

More made in China rubbish then.

Hi everyone, I have to admit that I am scratching my head over this one at the moment. There is probably a simple answer out there, so here goes: The light for the dial works fine when the light switch on the dash is pulled out, but when I turn the ignition switch to on, engine running or not, the light goes out The warning lights for oil pressure & charge work as they should. The light in the other dial isn't affected at all. Removing the bulb holder from the dial and earthing it elsewhere solves the problem. So, a conflict of interests between the various bulbs and earthing I assume. Thanks for your thoughts. Oh, I should have left well alone. Had the car 3 years and never driven it at night. I was bored last night so said" I wonder if the dial lights actually work" Now I know! ?

When the weather forecast on the TV here in France talks of bad weather coming in they invariably say it is coming from Britain. When Brexit is over and done with willit mean your nasty weather won't be allowed in? ☔⛄

I '8' jokes like that

I'm not going to stoop to this level ang make some doubious remark, however . . . . .