Fuel Starvation

[Anonymous]

I have an 1957 Normale with an original Solex carb. The car starts first time and runs well around town, but when pushed harder it splutters then dies. I have checked the following
1. Filter in tank which was clean.
2.Rubber tube coming out of the tank is not blocked
3.There is a new glass domed fuel pump which remains full
4. Rubber hoses to carb renewed
5. There is an new inline see-thro filter which normally runs 2/3 full, but when the engine dies it is empty. On restarting the car it starts to fill up.
6. I have removed the filter on the inlet to the carb (it looked clean anyway).
7. The float doesn’t appear to be sticking, but not sure.

It is as if when the demand for fuel increases, not enough can get through.

Has anyone got any suggestions.
Thanks Ian Gardner

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

One to add to Dens list, fuel tank breather obstructed, i.e. is the fuel cap vented properly?

It could be that air is not getting into the tank causing a ‘vacuum’ restricting the pumps ability to move fuel through to the carb if as you say, the inline filter is empty, or:

The fuel feed line from tank to pump is collapsing internally, possibly due to the effects of ethanol in modern fuel.

You can now get fuel hose that is ethanol resistant to 10% (current UK limit) or 15% and I’m in the process of replacing the fuel lines on my TA and DS as a precaution as the hose I replaced less than a year ago on both cars is already showing signs of ‘softening’ and ‘swelling’

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

A quick check when the car stops to see if it is the fuel system. Slacken the nut holding the carb inlet mesh filter. If there is fuel in the carb it should show.

If it proves not to be a fuel issue then if the car has a normal distributor with points and condensor, swap the condenser as it may be breaking down when it gets hot.

After that if nothing resolved, check/change the coil as again it could be breaking down when getting hot.

[Anonymous]

Does it recover after you leave it for a while? If so that would imply a partial blockage somewhere in the fuel delivery feed which stalls the pump as it sucks more vigorously as the revs increase.
Could be debris in the bottom of the tank that gets drawn into the feed as the suction increases, or a collapsed rubber fuel line. On one of my cars I had similar symptoms and found that the po had fitted a fuel line filter right at the back of the car that was solid.
There is a lot to be said for electric pumps!

Bryan

[Author]

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