juddering in London

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kittyonwheels
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juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

Hi. Is there anybody in the London area that can offer any assistance. Car is juddering and changing sparks has not made a difference. Garages trying to upsell new engine/head gasket and I am not convinced. Don't want to start changing everything. May be timing or some problem with distributer. Any help greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
Rasputin
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Re: juddering in London

Post by Rasputin »

Condensor?
bmcecosse
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Re: juddering in London

Post by bmcecosse »

We need more clues than 'juddering' - could be anything.
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simmitc
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Re: juddering in London

Post by simmitc »

^^^Agreed. On reading the title my first thought was a clutch or rear spring problem; but then you talk about garages saying engine.

Can you describe whether the "juddering" relates to movement of the vehicle or running of the engine? Does it occur when cold / warm / both? Does it idle OK but lack power? Are there any noises - please describe. Do you have any mechanical knowledge and tools? You mention timing and dizzy - why, has anything been changed? Did the problem start suddenly or build up gradually?

Sorry for so many questions, but we want to help and need a bit more detail in order to offer suggestions. I think that you are right to be suspicious of garages wanting to dive straight in with a new engine.
youngcamper
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Re: juddering in London

Post by youngcamper »

Where abouts in London are you located? I'm in Manor House atm. Haven't got any tools or spares as the car is at home but I'm more than happy to have a look at the car over the weekend to see if I can help diagnose the fault. :D
Will
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kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

Thank you one and all. We have sent a PM to Will and shall keep you all updated.
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Re: juddering in London

Post by MJacobson »

I'm also based in north London and do have all my tools/diagnostic bits in the car, I'll be at work till 6 today but would be happy to lend a hand this evening if there's anything I can do to help.

Mike
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Re: juddering in London

Post by youngcamper »

MJacobson wrote:I'm also based in north London and do have all my tools/diagnostic bits in the car, I'll be at work till 6 today but would be happy to lend a hand this evening if there's anything I can do to help.

Mike

Sounds like Mike will be much better versed at fixing it, I'll hand over to him!
Will
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SteveClem
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Re: juddering in London

Post by SteveClem »

I always judder when I go to London. Scares me to death.
kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

SteveClem wrote:I always judder when I go to London. Scares me to death.
Yes, Steve, too true! Lol.
kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

Thanks to all ... especially Mike who, despite the rain, did some very impressive diagnostic tests - all from the back of his Minor! Plan to follow up in next couple of days. Diagnosis: head gasket. Advised to keep current engine!!!! Will keep you posted.
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Re: juddering in London

Post by hdavy »

Ah so. If you had called me back if condensor didn't work I would have feared head gasket. Anyway not too hard to fix on a minor. Good luck.
kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

Hi all.
We are still having problems. So far we have had a new head gasket, newish points and new condenser.

We are hoping to get new high tension leads and a new distributer cap on Weds.

We think we may need a new fuel pump for the following reasons:

1. Sometimes the ticking doesn't stop when turning on the ignition.

2. Sometimes she doesn't tick at all (when starting or whilst driving).

3. Sometimes have to give the pump a thump.

We keep having a flat battery and have had to push start her several times and she also takes a long run before kicking in. Is this just battery problems or also related to fuel pump issues?

If we leave the car running longer than 5 mins she appears to run on 3 cylinders again.

She is idling really low and until she warms up a bit we have to keep foot on the accelerator at all times. The choke does not appear to be doing anything. This is strange because when she was running on 4 cylinders she sounded as though she was idling a little too fast.

We had a compression test last week and all 4 cylinders were reading around 155.

It might be worth noting that when the head came off 3 pistons were covered in carbon and No.3 was shiny although the cylinder we keep having problems with is No.4 (the head gasket had split between these two cylinders).

We know we have an electrical fault as the switch for the headlights gets really hot with headlights on. The bulb for the speedo has blown. Do you think this could be related or is it more likely to be an isolated problem?

Many thanks once again.
simmitc
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Re: juddering in London

Post by simmitc »

1. Sometimes the ticking doesn't stop when turning on the ignition.
Can you just clarify that. With the ignition OFF the pump should NOT be ticking. When you turn the ignition ON then the pump normally ticks for a little while and then stops until after you have started the engine. You seem to expect it to be ticking until the ignition is on. and then stop :o

How old is the battery? Try disconnecting it whilst the car is not in use, then reconnect next time you want to start. Has it still gone flat? If yes then batteyr faulty, if no then you have a short circuit on the car.

Do you have multimeter to assist is diagnosis?
bmcecosse
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Re: juddering in London

Post by bmcecosse »

Quite a list of problems there - not all connected. If the pump ticks all the time then the carb float valve is sticking open..(or perhaps there is an air leak on the inlet side) Clean the points in the fuel pump. Run a flow test into a bottle to see what it can do. Was the head retorqued (44 ft lbf) and valve gaps re-set after the first heat cycle? Was the head checked for 'flatness' before refitting?? Worry about the headlamp switch - it may start a fire. Either something is draining the battery (so as above - disconnect overnight) or it needs a new battery - assuming the Red 'charge' light goes out when the engine is running at decent revs. Adjust the idle speed as per the Workshop Manual....... one screw is for normal hot idle and the other is for use with the 'choke'. Is the choke cable connected to anything??
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kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

simmitc wrote:
1. Sometimes the ticking doesn't stop when turning on the ignition.
Can you just clarify that. With the ignition OFF the pump should NOT be ticking. When you turn the ignition ON then the pump normally ticks for a little while and then stops until after you have started the engine. You seem to expect it to be ticking until the ignition is on. and then stop :o

How old is the battery? Try disconnecting it whilst the car is not in use, then reconnect next time you want to start. Has it still gone flat? If yes then batteyr faulty, if no then you have a short circuit on the car.

Do you have multimeter to assist is diagnosis?
We don't have a multimeter but the fella who has been working on the car may have one.

Before the problem started we would turn on the ignition, car would tick for a few seconds, stop ticking and then we would pull the starter lever. The other day, however, we turned the key and the fuel pump just kept ticking rather erratically for a couple of mins. We turned the ignition off and tried again and she did the same thing. She would not start and we ended up getting a push.

The battery is under a year old.

How will we know if there is any charge in the battery before disconnecting it after use as we don't have a reader? How long does it need to be disconnected for as perhaps this is something we could do whilst with the mechanic?

Thanks.
kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

bmcecosse wrote:Quite a list of problems there - not all connected. If the pump ticks all the time then the carb float valve is sticking open..(or perhaps there is an air leak on the inlet side) Clean the points in the fuel pump. Run a flow test into a bottle to see what it can do. Was the head retorqued (44 ft lbf) and valve gaps re-set after the first heat cycle? Was the head checked for 'flatness' before refitting?? Worry about the headlamp switch - it may start a fire. Either something is draining the battery (so as above - disconnect overnight) or it needs a new battery - assuming the Red 'charge' light goes out when the engine is running at decent revs. Adjust the idle speed as per the Workshop Manual....... one screw is for normal hot idle and the other is for use with the 'choke'. Is the choke cable connected to anything??
Hey bmc. Yes, the head was retorqued and Mike said it looked flat. Had the valve clearances done once. Was told it was advisable to do them again after a short run but not had the equipment to do so.

Will check the things you have suggested and see if we can glean anything. However, do not have a workshop manual but perhaps between our Haynes and the mechanic's auto data we can find what we are looking for.

Many thanks.
Declan_Burns
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Re: juddering in London

Post by Declan_Burns »

You can download the workshop manual for free.
Regards
Declan


Regards
Declan
kittyonwheels
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Re: juddering in London

Post by kittyonwheels »

Thank you Declan.
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Re: juddering in London

Post by JOWETTJAVELIN »

Sounds like fuel vapourisation, which would be exacerbated in the warmer South and city traffic. Modern petrol is also much more volatile with a lower boiling point. If the correct spacer is present between the carburettor and manifold, the best you can do is check the route of the fuel lines in the engine bay and fabricate a heat shield to deflect heat away from the carb.
Some members recommend mounting the fuel pump lower down, but I believe the problem lies within the carburettor itself due to its physical location above the hot exhaust.
If the car behaves itself after driving away from a cold start and only misbehaves when hot, I would be thinking fuel.
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