At 10:47 PM 7/13/2007 -0400, isensee@aol.com wrote:
>I drove my Bricklin quite a bit today because my daily driver had a problem.
>It ran fine most of the time, but I had an infrequent intermittent problem.
>I was driving at highway speed and the engine started bucking for several
>seconds as if it was missing badly then it smoothed back out.
>Later, when I started the car it died immediately several times even when I
>gave it quite a bit of gas. Then I turned off the AC and it started fine and
>ran fine the rest of the day.
Scott,
Do you have a fuel filter in the gas line? If so that could be clogged.
When is the last time you drove the car, and put gas in it? The newer
gas mixtures have a tendency to go flat within a few months. I have this
problem with my Morgan all the time. In fact, about 1/2 the time, I have
to drain and flush the fuel system and clean the float bowl in the spring.
>Since the problem is so intermittent, I can't be certain it is the AC, but
>it seems like it may be. Does it sound like the problem could be the
>compressor locking up?
I doubt it, as least based on what you've said. If the compressor locked
up, you hear an awful squeel from the belt. I had the compressor on my
Van go. In addition to the very loud noise, you'd be getting smoke as the
belt slips and burns/melts.
>If so, would that be caused by a low freon level or by a problem with the
>compressor itself? The AC is cooling as well as it ever has.
Not normally. There is a low pressure switch that will open and not all
the AC clutch to engage the compressor if the freon is low. So the clutch
just free wheels like normal.
>Any ideas what the problem is likely to be and how to troubleshoot it?
There are really only 2 things it can be: fuel or electrical. :)
Intermittants are the hardest things to track down. So you have 2
choices, either do a lot of work to the car, or wait and see if it clears
up.
Trouble shooting:
1. I'd start by carrying a phillips head screwdriver and a can of starting
fluid. If it doesn't want to fire, spray some starting fluid into the carb.
and try to start it.
a. If it fires and dies, then it's fuel.
b. If it doesn't fire, then it's electrical.
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va
Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1106)
75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887) 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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