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+--- Thread: A Puzzler For You (/showthread.php?tid=6476)
A Puzzler For You - Colin Wilks - 06-08-2021
A friend has a Ruby which he was having trouble starting. I visited a few months ago and got it going without much difficulty, but only after identifying that the pick up pipe in his petrol tank has probably been damaged by the people who cleaned it out, since it stops drawing fuel when he has about two gallons still on board.
He is now having a different problem starting the car. The priming lever fills the bowl but the car won't start. However, if he removes the bowl from the Zenith carburettor (which he says is full of fuel) and refills it, the car then starts and keeps on running.
He comments that fuel consumption seems excessive, but has not quantified this. He does not use any choke once the car is running.
The only explanations I have come up with are:
- He is mistaken about the bowl being completely filled by the priming lever.
- The removal of the bowl and the resultant shaking about is clearing a blockage in the jets or their passages. (He has not yet removed the jets).
- Due to a faulty needle valve he is actually flooding the carb by priming it and this problem is alleviated by the removal of the bowl and giving the carb an airing. A faulty needle valve could explain his excessive fuel consumption once running, i.e. fuel is overflowing into the choke passage due to gravity, as well as being pushed through by atmospheric pressure.
Any guesses, logical explanations or wild ideas?
RE: A Puzzler For You - Peter Naulls - 06-08-2021
Is the fuel he's using to fill the bowl from the same source? Just wondering if the fuel in the tank is stale. Mine is a pain to start on old petrol but runs fine once it is going.
RE: A Puzzler For You - Colin Wilks - 08-08-2021
The same new fuel in the tank and for filling the carb. Apparently the problem has now resolved itself!
RE: A Puzzler For You - Duncan Grimmond - 08-08-2021
I'm always a bit wary of problems that "fix themselves". In my experience they often come back and bite you on the bum!
RE: A Puzzler For You - Colin Wilks - 08-08-2021
I admit I was hoping for a rather more interesting denouement!