L series running Rough

indy · Post by **indy** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:51 pm

Hey guys been having some issues with my 88 L series as of late. when i start it up will idle fine, and then idle will slowly detoriate and the car will just die. all within a minute.
heres a video i took.

just looking for some ideas of what it probably is/troubleshooting advice. i have limited tools and my mechanical knowledge is pretty basic but willing to give anything a crack!

[youtube]ZrLsCJ2Cho0[/youtube]

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:07 pm

Hmm I've had this problem myself as recent as two weeks ago. The carby is letting petrol through various passages that it should'nt, causing flooding which is why the engine dies off and wont hold idle but revs.
This happened to me after running out of petrol, hmm makes me think

Remove the air cleaner cover and look at the primary and secondary passages in the carby, whilst the engine is running. If you see a heap of fuel just coming out randomly then you will need to remove the top cover from the carby, clean everything you can get access to with carb cleaner or similar and reassemble with a new top cover gasket unless its in good condition.
You need to be precise with reassembly at this stage, as if the gasket partially obstructs a passage or the accelerator pump plunger aint in properly you will have more headaches.

J

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:24 pm

FujiFan wrote: Remove the air cleaner cover and look at the primary and secondary passages in the carby, whilst the engine is running. If you see a heap of fuel just coming out randomly then you will need to remove the top cover from the carby, clean everything you can get access to with carb cleaner or similar and reassemble with a new top cover gasket unless its in good condition.
You need to be precise with reassembly at this stage, as if the gasket partially obstructs a passage or the accelerator pump plunger aint in properly you will have more headaches.

J

If you go this route be very careful of little things falling out onto the ground or worse into the the engine, springs, balls etc. If EA82 carbs are anything like the 81 and have a big float bowl there will be fuel everywhere. If you take screws or needles out make sure you only take one out at a time, clean it and put it back before the next. Or at least write down where each one goes and with which screw.

indy · Post by **indy** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:57 pm

cheers thanks for the replies guys, i just took the air cleaner cover off and heres another little video, sorry about the quality its off my phone.
Right at the end when the car dies there was a big puff of vapour.
Does it look like the problem you encountered FujiFan?
[youtube]kxngJqHAYUo[/youtube]

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:47 pm

From what I can see down the carb in that vid it looks like there is way too much fuel getting into the engine from somewhere. I noticed especially the bit circled in red below, looks like there is a puddle of fuel sitting there. Could be from a leaky top gasket perhaps?
Then the bit circled in blue (down through the secondary venturi) looks like there is fuel dribbling out of there sometimes. My old EA81 Hitachi did this (but on the primary) but didn't stall like yours does. The replacement carb I got doesn't do this.

In my limited experience

I'd say you've definitely got excess fuel leaking out of the carb somewhere and getting into the engine. Perhaps it runs ok to start with but as the leak builds up it just floods the engine.

MBinns · Post by **MBinns** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:22 pm

This seems to be the same problem I'm having, but I have an 89 EFI so it obviously has nothing to do with the carb.

It was running fine until one afternoon I went to start it and all power was lost. I disconnected/reconnected the battery and it started but doesn't run well...

Mine idles at about 200rpm and stalls if I use my headlights. I got a new battery but that made no difference (although the old battery failed a load test). Took it to a mechanic who had the car for 3 days and charged $250 to replace spark plugs & leads and fuel filter and said 'it ran fine' but it has the exact same problem.

This may be completely unrelated, but the past few weeks I've had to run it on that 10% ethanol fuel as that's all I could find (I live in a small town). It's always been inefficient using this fuel but I'd be surprised if it would cause such a big issue...

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:50 pm

MBinns wrote:This seems to be the same problem I'm having, but I have an 89 EFI so it obviously has nothing to do with the carb.

It was running fine until one afternoon I went to start it and all power was lost. I disconnected/reconnected the battery and it started but doesn't run well...

Mine idles at about 200rpm and stalls if I use my headlights. I got a new battery but that made no difference (although the old battery failed a load test). Took it to a mechanic who had the car for 3 days and charged $250 to replace spark plugs & leads and fuel filter and said 'it ran fine' but it has the exact same problem.

This may be completely unrelated, but the past few weeks I've had to run it on that 10% ethanol fuel as that's all I could find (I live in a small town). It's always been inefficient using this fuel but I'd be surprised if it would cause such a big issue...

Hi MBinns

your engine needs to idle at around 750rpm in neutral (a little higher if automatic). Your RPM will drop slightly when you put load on the battery/alternator but you'll hardly notice this if your idle is set right. Does the check engine/ECS light come on when the engine is running? How does the engine start/sound/run first thing in the morning?

MBinns · Post by **MBinns** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:13 pm

When I first start it (even now where we are getting -6degrees overnight), it actually sounds fine - it does its usual warm-up (where the rpm increases gradually before going down to standard levels). This would be why the mechanics thought it was fine. After a while (maybe a minute) it gradually gets lower and sounds a lot like the video posted by indy. Although I've had it running at the 200-300rpm mark for quite a while and it only stalled when I put a load on (ie headlights).

When I drive off there is a power lag - kind of like its running off 3 cylinders until I get speed up. The mechanic said one of the spark plug leads was very damaged which would explain this issue but the shiny new leads didn't seem to help.

The check engine light did come on a bit a few months ago but I had badly leaking tappet cover gaskets so I assumed it was from that (hasn't come on since fixing those).

Also, this is probably a long shot, but over the past year or so I've had a faint crackling noise coming from the bottom-right area in the drivers side (where the computer and fuse box is). It sounded like a leaf blowing around in the vent so that's what I assumed it was... I checked that area out but there were no burning smells or melted cables. The computer's LED isn't complaining but I guess if it's malfunctioning it could explain the issues..?

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:53 pm

Leaking rocker cover gaskets shouldn't make the ECS light come on. I'm guessing there's some codes in there that need to be checked out. I would plug the diagnostic plugs in and grab the codes out. Then cear them and see how it goes. I had issues with my RX turbo sedan that had similar issues and it turned out to be corossion on the PCB inside the ECU. Yours might be something else, so it's worth checking all sensors and switches.

Running low off the start is usually a sign of low compression in 1 or 2 cylinders. I'd have a hot & cold compression checks done.

MBinns · Post by **MBinns** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:05 pm

Thanks for the suggestions,
Been at the mechanics again, they adjusted the idle so I can use the headlights without it stalling and didn't charge me anything which was nice. Unfortunately they couldn't pinpoint the issue.

Earlier today I had some interesting noises, the crackling noise from near the fusebox that was faint is now quite loud and consistent (but still no burning smell). And a new crackling noise which was kind of exciting in a way - came from the rear right of the car. It's kind of exciting because I hadn't checked the wiring back there and It's leaked in the back for years so there's a good chance of corrosion.

I'll take a look back there over the weekend but I'd still be surprised if a corroded wire in the back could have such a major impact on how the engine runs (although I'm reading the 'more grief L series major electrics' thread with interest).