After I hosed off the engine (second time), on Sunday, I had had starting problems – I had not been as worried about the electrics. Last night, I tried WD-40 to dry wires, without success. Today, I took off the coil wire and with the air gun blew out both ends of the high tension connection to the coil. Brad arrived, he hooked up his spark detector, and we had spark.
The motor started, and we ran until 60 C coolant temp. Then since #3 and #4 were not always firing, we inspected the plugs – #3 & #4 were wet- fuel. We cleaned with brake fluid, replaced, restarted, and it ran smoothly. Time for an around the block cruise, and it seemed fine. As we were coming back, it seemed to “load up”, and in the driveway, it ran poorly. Checked wires, etc. Checked plugs – seemed better. Would start, run poorly, and then die, and not restart. Several times.
Went to the Lorain County British Car Club meeting, and conspired with others.
Back home, we wondered if a rest would have helped – did not. As it almost caught, there was backfire? Removed valve cover, re torqued head – which was needed. Almost, but not quite a start. As we were about to pack it in, I noticed that choke levers were in the on position – a banged them off with a screw driver: old problem, old fix. Brad said: “let’s see if it starts.” It did, and ran.
Could this be THE issue?
On Thursday, I shall:
o charge the battery a bit – lots of starting.
o push throttle down, and SLOWLY pull out choke.
o If it starts, I shall:
– let warm up
– make certain choke is FULLY off
– go for YATD (yet another test drive).
If that is a success – runs well the whole trip, and easily restarts in driveway – what is needed before Sunday AM for Solon is:
o adjust rear brakes
o check right height (not a must), setting it high enough to clear for full lock on left front.
o clean, and detail
o organize spares and credentials
I could use some help with the first two – Saturday any time.
Mini 