Hi george, welcome to the club!
Your symptoms do sound like fuel starvation (loss of power). But backfiring
can also be caused by too rich a fuel mixture (for instance caused by a
stuck choke on a warm engine.... just like you describe), or poor timing
(e.g. over-advanced timing).
Um, well i own a 79B so maybe it's different, but that doesn't look like the
fuel filter to me, that looks like the resorbtion canister. The resorbtion
canister, is however hooked up to the carbs. It absorbs excess fuel vapour,
and returns it to the carb to be burnt.
In your picture you say that fuel trickles out of the canister when the
engine is turned on. Um... that really shouldn't be happening. Was the car
standing for a while before you got it? if so, you could have had some crap
work loose in the fuel tank or fuel line and manage to find its way
somewhere important.... perhaps you have gunk in the fuel filter, or the
carb-bowel has filled with chud and the needle jets are blocked.... actually
could that lead to fuel backing up through the canister?.... max? ed?
laurie? okay i'm grasping at straws now.
Anyhow... don't worry you're in good hands now, some of the sages (rather
than other beginners like me) will probably know exactly what to do.
Oh by the way.. golden rule: if you don't know what it is... don't touch it.
If you don't know what you're doing, stop doing it... Mechanics are
expensive, but they're cheaper than a new car.
cheers
Joe.
___________________________
Dr. Joseph Garner
University of California
Department of Animal Science
One Shields Avenue
Davis
CA 95616
USA
Phone: (530) 754 5291
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Cahlik [mailto:styloroc2000@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2000 2:00 PM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: My First Post, LBC, and...Problem.
>
>
> Hello Everyone,
> Let me introduce myself. My name is George, I am 21 and I've
> been wanthing an LBC ever since my father sold his triumph
> when I was 4. I am new to cars in general, but I've always
> wanted to learn mechanics and whatnot. It wasn't until now
> that I could afford a car and I figured if I were to get a
> car, I'm going to get a car that I actually want rather than
> out of convinience, there is some sort of romanticism to that.
>
> Well I finally got my hands on a '74 MG Midget, it's
> beautiful. Has 50,000 original miles on it, pretty much
> everything on it is original, including interior, paint, and
> engine, and it was taken well care of by a sunday driver. I
> suppose this could be a good and bad thing.
>
> Anyways.
>
> I anxiously awaited the arrival of my MG, and last Sunday I
> finally got it. It _ran_ perfect. I drove it easily (I
> wasn't going to let my dream die too quickly) and that
> evening I finally gave into pressure to teach my girlfriend
> how to drive a stick. The car, in the hands of someone
> accustomed to automatic transmissions, naturally stalled out
> the first couple of times. I also had a hard time teaching
> her how to shift from 2nd to 3rd. So, generally, our ride
> was a little rough, but that was to be expected. After
> about 45 minutes of abuse, and a stall, I tried to start up
> the car, and it startd to run rough and backfired. Scared, I
> decided to quit the lesson and I had a horrible time trying
> to get home, I couldn't achieve the power to go above 40 mph.
>
> I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Yesterday I took a
> few pictures hoping someone could help me out. What I
> think happened (now keep in mind, I know NOTHING about
> mechanics aside from what I learned in physics classes in
> high school) is that the hose from the fuel filter came loose
> or broke and too much oxygen and not enough gas was getting
> to the engine, which caused it to backfire.
>
> I made a small webpage with my images of what I believe is
> the problem at this site:
> http://home.earthlink.net/~styloroc2000/midget.html
>
> I really hope someone can help me, I honestly can not afford
> a good import mechanic and I think this would be a good
> learning experience anyways.
>
> I would also like to know what is the proper amperage/voltage
> resistance for the fuses in the Midget. The car came with
> 25amp fuses (I forget the voltage), but the person who sold
> it to me gave me 30amp fuses. I know 25 amps is safer, but
> what is sufficient?
>
> Thx.
> George
>
|