OK guys... What is going on?

[Krax02]

I know if I am going to get a straight honest answer, it will be from here. I've had my '73 02 back from the mechanic for about a week and something is not running right... again... ya, It happened another time just before this time with the same mechanic, after spending $3300.00 total with him you'd think the thing would run decent... long story that just pisses me off. But anyway, It doesn't do it so much when I first start out driving, happens after I've been on the road for while. Basically in any gear if I am not above 2500 rpm's the car coughs, sputters, and shakes... acts like its going to die unless I'm heavy on the gas pedal then let out the clutch... SO, what is going on? Is it my carb? The mechanic thinks its the timing... He explained to me over the phone how to adjust the timing by rotating the distributor clockwise to advance or counter clockwise to retard... but he just adjusted the timing before I picked it up about a week ago. Could it be bad already? And if it was the timing wouldn't I have a hard time getting the car started?... My friend and I think its the used carb he put in. Please, anybody with any suggestions... It would be much appreciated.

TIA...

[cj]

Bring it back to him. There are many things that he could've missed. Something as simple as a vacuum leak or he did'nt tighten the pinch bolt at the distributor housing. Timing typically won't change unless that bolt is'nt tightened or your dist. is worn.

Cris

[ray_]

What did he do for $3300?

Best,

Ray

[FL02]

Might be ignition issues. Does it still have points? I upgraded to an electronic ignition and it solved a similar problem, plus new spark plug wires & plugs helped. You can get an pertronix electronic ignition online for a good deal & it's easy for the mechanic to install. Timing should be set upon tuning and your problem is probably an air/spark/fuel problem. Air: Clogged Filter, Vaccum Leak- Fuel: Clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump, bad gas, dirty carb, etc. -Spark: Coil (bosch Blue w/ internal resister), Plugs, Spark Plug Wires, Points/Ignition. You should probably not mess with the timing too much until you narrow down the problem. Off hand, I think it's your ponits...good luck & you might want to start fixing your own 02, shop prices are expensive & there's a lot of info about the lil' bmw online.

[RandyMolson]

Observe your tach needle during the sputters. If it flails around alot, especially dropping to zero like rock, the problem is ignition. Faulty condensers and coils will often act up as the car heats up.

[Guest]

Be nice to have a little more info.....tii or not, after market carbureation, stock ignigition, only under a load ?

I'm leaning towards a fuel problem from what I read....cold start inrichment comeing off so it leans out.

Yes a dist. could slip it's timeing at any point, if not locked by the clamp. Electrical,,,, Condenser short to ground ? What engine rpm dose the condenser lose it's affect guys ? Other then that, my experiance is electrical parts function as they should, fail when warm or fail period.

Keep us posted...Daryl

[02fanatic]

Well, if you had problems after taking it to this particular mechanic tha "last time" why in the $#@& did you take it back to this guy??????

I'd demand that he make the car run as sweet as it has "ever run" after spending $3,300!! My Lord, what did he do for that kind of money?

Seriously, don't bother with him telling you over the phone how to adjust the timing....sheesh! This mechanic sounds like a total idiot to me!!! Any good businessman would ask you to return immediately and see what is going on....if it is a coincidence that something else broke, then, sure, maybe he's due more money...but, if he's any good at all, he'd fix you up at no charge!

I know how you must feel, but don't roll over and play dead "and dumb". Demand satisfaction from this mechanic!

Only other thing I'll offer is re: the carb. I once bought an "almost new" 32/36 Weber off a guy to replace my old Weber, and once installed it ran like absolute crap. I checked everything, including the jetting...this carb was new (but obviously flawed in some way). I put a rebuild kit on my old Weber and reinstalled it, and it's been running wonderfully ever since (7 years or so). I returned the carb to the guy I bought it off of too - he took it back no problem; fortunately there are honest people out there still!

See how honest your mechanic is!

[Delia]

Had some probs like this with an MGB.

Turned out it was sludge in the fuel tank that would block the fuel pick up after driving it for a while. Required new tank, fuel pickup and sending unit. Oh yeah, needed a new trunk floor, too!

Are you running an in-line fuel filter in the engine compartment? Is it dirty?

When was the last time you had the fuel tank cleaned out/resealed?

Did you "back-blow" the fuel line?

Is the fuel line pinched anywhere between the tank and the fuel pump?

Is the fuel pump (tii or non-tii) new? The fuel pumps for carb'd cars are notorious for failure after 40K or so. They won't fail catastrophically, they begin to make the car starve for fuel.

Any of those sound familiar???

Cheers!

Delia

[_z_]

wow like others have said for that kind of money the car could have had a complete new engine installed.

If you can limp down to Eugene try David Lumbra at 2002 restorations

http://www.2002restorations.com/

he'd be able to fix you right up.

[PeterVarga]

I had this for a while. I thought it was sludge in the tank that blocked the filtetr. Low RPM fine, choked on accel and more RPM. Turned out to be the points. The points were burned through and the metal that supported the contact had melted. Talk about pitted!. True story. Put in correct points, and condenser. Worked fine after that. A month later when the idel got crappy I sprayed carb cleaner through the jets and float/bowl. Cleanted it out and worked. What I have found is that since everything is fuel injected these days....only certain mechanics know how to fix carb'd engines.

[adamm]

I've just "got over" a problem very similar to how yours sounds. My car would run great for almost a quarter of an hour then it would just run (or not!) all over the place. Spitting and popping with an erratic tach. Tracked it down to the condenser. My mechanic says to always stick with OE with stuff like that - it costs a few quid more but is loads more reliable.

I have since replaced the condenser/points with electronic gear and it's 100 times better. If it's not your condenser that's gone it certainly sounds like your ignition is at fault and it's an easy place to start. Let us know how you get on...

[mikekoch]

Hey there Krax02

I also think you should bring it back to the mechanic to have them correct the issues, but if you get fed up with them:

- Borrow a timing light or pick one up from Harbor Freight and check your timing per the service manual. There is one in Portland on Interstate. It's a useful tool that you'll be glad you have.

- Pull your idle jets and blow them out with compressed air.

- Check all of the vacuum lines to make sure you don't have a leak somewhere.

I'm just North of you in the 'Couv and would be willing to help if I can. Mail me directly at unixhazard at gmail dot com

Mike

[SachsRacing02]

I know if I am going to get a straight honest answer, it will be from here. ...Please, anybody with any suggestions... It would be much appreciated.

TIA...

I see you didn't get answers yet, just opinions.

There are too many variables to answer your question. Cris was correct, take it back and make him fix it asap. He needs to see what's changed.

My "opinion" is your distributor is probably worn and if you have a 32/36 Weber, you may have the wrong jets.

When it warms up, the dwell angle is changing due to wear.

The carb is starving out due to air/fuel ratio insufficient for the size of the engine. Those Webers come stock with jets for a 1.6L Ford engine.

[scottiesharpe]

I think the points are bad or adjusted wrong. But frankly, you should have gotten a new motor (and probably the rest of the car too) for $3300.

What is on that repair order???