engine and drivetrain Sooo... my car died again. brain teaser?

[autoaloha]

Ok, so my car died. again. I bought it only about a month ago, and I noticed that the cr wanted to 'lag' or hesitate when I applied throttle and RPMs would droop then pick up and away it would go. This really only happened in first (it's an automatic by the way), and it responded well in other gears. The car once died on me a few weeks ago and after removing the top of the air filter case I could see that the port butterfly valve was stuck ajar (in the throttled position, as it can't actually reach full shut). I just pushed it aside and the car started okay and drove fine for the past two weeks, but still displayed the hesitate and lag from time to time. Yesterday, it died while driving home from basketball. It was fine getting there, and then as I left the engine just idled down and shut off. When trying to restart the car the engine would fire a few times, progressively less with each attempt until no firing took place. (suspect then was fuel delivery for me)

I cleaned the dist. contacts and checked the plugs. Everything appeared to be fine. I don't believe spark is the issue. The starter is working and the the engine wants to run, but I really think no fuel is the issue.

Tried disconnecting the hose from FPR to carb and got very little flow when I tried ignition start. I just removed the fuel pump and it looks very clean inside, the diaphragm is intact( no leak from drain), and the mesh screen is free of debris.

So, what next? The car is 99% stock, with no mods other than a new battery and wiper fluid res. and maybe some brake pads/shoes and misc. hoses.

No recent work has been done either and I just ran a can of Sea-Foam in the tank to clean the system. Oil does not smell like fuel.

Is it time to rebuild the carb?

If I am gonna spend $100 to buy the rebuild kit I may as well go 32/36 or side draft 40s like I want. What do you guys think?

[themoose]

when did the price of a weber rebuild kit get up to $100?! For that price it'd better include a crapload of jets for tuning!

[autoaloha]

oh, no... it's a Solex. and a Solex rebuild kit costs ~$90 evidently. That's why I am thinking of just replacing it with a rebuilt Weber for maybe an extra $100.

[Mike Self]

without having to buy a $100 rebuild kit. The sticking secondary indicates the choke isn't pulling off properly as the car warms up, and/or the secondary butterfly (which is vacuum operated) isn't working properly. If the vacuum diaphragm is punctured or deteriorated, the carb's second barrel won't open, and the engine will have little power, 'cause you'll essentially be running a small one barrel carb.

Not sure the vacuum diaphragm is still available; if it's bad you might want to consider buying a Weber 32/36--plenty show up used on the FAQ board and it's pretty much bolt on. Recommend a manual choke; they always work!

Check out your carb and report whatcha find.

Cheers

mike

[autoaloha]

I just tried ignition start with the fuel pump line direct into a Monster can. No flow. So if I assume that the fuel pump is working then there must be a blockage upstream of the fuel pump. and this is truly a newbie question, I will search again, but where is the fuel filter. From what I can tell the fuel line disappears into the firewall. Gosh I hope it's the fuel filter, I know I need to learn, but I really don't wanna remove and replace the carb on the street. But I appreciate the carb info, I am still leaning towards replacing the Solex, but hopefully I can do that later and just get the little guy running so I can take it to the base hobby shop under its own power.

[Guest Anonymous]

Might be the mesh strainer in the fuel pick up inside the gas tank that gets clogged, especially if there is rust sediment inside the tank. You need to remove the tube to check. You remove it by gently tapping one of the tabs in either direction until it loosens. Then you can check the strainer on the bottom of the pick up.

[autoaloha]

ok, i'll do that. is this pretty common then?

[Inka114]

Years ago I had a '70 2002 which was always hard to start, due to lack of fuel pressure. I got tired of this and installed a Facet electric pump in the trunk. First time I tried to start it, gasoline sprayed everywhere. The braided fuel hoses between the mechanical pump and the hard plastic line were full of holes. The mechanical pump was sucking air while it tried to pull fuel all the way from the back of the car. I replaced all the hoses, removed the electric pump, and it started like a charm after that.

[Inka114]

From what I can tell the fuel line disappears into the firewall.

The fuel line is plastic, and runs through the inside of the car under the carpet to the trunk, next to the right rear inner fenderwell.

[autoaloha]

original post:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,325979/

alright, I pulled the fuel pick-up from the fuel tank just now. the gas tank wasn't so bad, but I could see some sediment in there, not too bad. the strainer was kinda poor though. It fell off in the tank when I removed the pick up/ had to use long screwdrivers as chop sticks to recover it. regardless, reinstalled the pickup to see if the strainer indeed was causing the lack of fuel delivery. no dice. I could only get the engine to fire with copious amounts of carb cleaner. And the fuel pump doesn't pump anything as observed into a soda can hooked up while attempting ignition start. So... any ideas?