Symptoms

Journey from Torbay to Folkestone (UK) 340 miles approx. Just made it back.
100 miles into the trip with an '87 240 suddenly had minute "outages" from
the engine. These gathered in frequency to add up to some serious power
loss. 40mph at full throttle (2.3 engine). Pulled in to Gordano services,
had a coffee... "Do we call out Britannia Rescue? Well, we tried to carry
on. Surprisingly, things went fine for the next 140 miles. Fuel consumption
up though. Then it started again. Power loss, engine still smooth, just
gutless. Down to 40mph on the M25. Pulled over again, waited 2 or 3 minutes,
tried to start her up and it seemed fine... 20 miles and it went again. Had
further to go till an exit this time. Down to 10mph by the time we chugged
off the motorway. Filled up the tank, should've had enough to get home but
it was on the red sector on the fuel gauge. Anyway, filled up, set off...
same story. Fine for 10 or 20 miles, cruising at 80mph then as the mystery
problem struck again we had major power loss, engine even though, not lumpy.
But as soon as we pull over, give it a few mins we were fine again.
I've checked HT leads, all connected. Distributor cap seated well. Fuel
tank full. Oil level ok. Battery terminals fine. Engine temp normal
throughout. No dodgy smells, no abnormal exhaust.
Recently had it in the garage and had distributor, points, fuel filter,
thermostat (had been inoperative for years), air filter renewed.

Any ideas? We have one major theory but don't want to tell before we hear
some others in case we send someone in the wrong direction if you know what
I mean.

Les

 

My 87 240 did something similar the day I bought it. It turned out to
be a blue wire rubbing on the metal bracket that holds the ignition
coil. Insulation had been worn bare and eventually it shorted
completely, stopping the car dead.

Pete

 

I'd check the air mass meter. Sounds like the car is going into "limp
home" mode.

 

UK spec 1987 240 would have K-Jet.

I'd suggest the symptoms are more typical of an ignition problem.
Check under the distributor cap, make sure the wiring to the Hall
Effect sensor (I doubt you have points) are sound and the rotor arm is
OK. Also check the coil - if possible swap it for a known good one.
--

Stewart Hargrave


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

On 5/1/05 4:13 PM, in article , "Les & Claire"
<> decided to come out from under the bed
and slurred:
..

Does this machine have a fuel pump? Listen to hear if it is running when
the next outage occurs.

Best of luck

H

 

Can you tell us what engine exactly? If its a carb'd 2.3 i'd put rather alot
of money on it being carb icing- perfect symptoms.

Tim..

 

An interesting possibility! It "fixing itself" after a couple minutes of
idling is strong support for that theory.

Risk factors for carburetor icing include fairly high humidity and
temperatures somewhat above freezing, even mild. The ice is caused by the
temperature drop in the venturi frosting the jets with moisture from the
air.

Mike

 

I would suggest either fuel tank not vented properly, or more likely,
clogged exhaust system.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Yes, carb 2.3 Gritters were salting the roads and we has fog as well...

 

We were thinking that if when the fuel filter was replaced some crap was
dislodged and fell down the pipe then as we drive the filter clogs slowing
the fuel until it start to starve the engine. Then when we stop gravity
clears the filter and it clears again... as the new filter is half way up
the engine with the fuel feed pipe coming up from below to meet it.

But the carb icing could mean we were in just the exact wrong conditions for
the car... steady 80mph, lowish outside temp with high humidity. Any way of
curing carb icing? It would be one thing out of the way...


Les

 

Water in the fuel??

 

Yes, fix the exhaust stove and check the thermo valve moves to the "hot air"
position and that th pick up tube is present (!) and connected ok.

Tim.

 

.. Any way

Exhaust stove? So, thermo valve means some kind of automatic flap or
something. OK, thanks.. I'll spend tomorrow morning taking the air intake
assembly to bits. I think the garage changed the air filter recently so that
area has been disturbed recently.. could I test with a hair dryer and see
if the flap closes? I've not seen these parts before... off to browse the
Haynes manual..

Les

 

Look inside the air filter box for the system that connects either hot
air from around the exhaust or cold air from behind the grille. There's
a wax pellet thermostat that moves that door back and forth.
Interestingly, they usually fail into the hot air position.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)