At the moment Claudette is giving us some grief. She has developed a habit of intermittantly cutting out, then lurching to a restart. This means that at times we progress down the road in a series of kangaroo hops - not dignified, or comfortable, or even good news for her gearbox (which is fragile on a Traction).
So far we have replaced the coil (bobine) and checked the ignition timing. Her spark plugs have been replaced, and all the electrical leads checked. After that we took her for a drive or about 80km, and she started playing up after 10km, then she behaved impeccably for the next 20km, before shuddering again.
On our return she was difficult to start, then shuddered after 25km, before behaving like a lady all the way home.
Because it's an intermittant problem we need to work through all the possible causes. Our next stop is to check the fuel system, because the electricals all seem good. As far as we can tell the fuel pump is working fine and the fuel filter is clean, so it's not dirty fuel. We have ordered a kit to overhaul the carburetor, and replace the air filter.
We are also replacing her ignition key, because that's always been a bit dodgy, and I am pretty sure I could start her using an old teaspoon.
Cars, eh...
So far we have replaced the coil (bobine) and checked the ignition timing. Her spark plugs have been replaced, and all the electrical leads checked. After that we took her for a drive or about 80km, and she started playing up after 10km, then she behaved impeccably for the next 20km, before shuddering again.
No, Claudette hasn't changed. This is Jean-Louis' 1939 Cabriolet.
On our return she was difficult to start, then shuddered after 25km, before behaving like a lady all the way home.
Because it's an intermittant problem we need to work through all the possible causes. Our next stop is to check the fuel system, because the electricals all seem good. As far as we can tell the fuel pump is working fine and the fuel filter is clean, so it's not dirty fuel. We have ordered a kit to overhaul the carburetor, and replace the air filter.
We are also replacing her ignition key, because that's always been a bit dodgy, and I am pretty sure I could start her using an old teaspoon.
Cars, eh...
2 comments:
Dear Simon, I drove a '68 VW beatle for over 20 years, and went thru just about everything that could go wrong. I had a problem where the car would go 20 miles and then die, had everything replaced or looked at. It turned out there was rust in the gas tank and as the fuel sloshed around it would allow for the fuel to flow until the rust collected on the exit hole and would starve the engine. Had the fuel tank removed and cleaned, and repainted and that fixed it. best regards, William
Hi William - we had the same problem with Celestine. We were replacing her fuel filter every week. The filter on Claudette is still absolutely clean - luckily!
Post a Comment