Engine running

[kevinbush]

Hello, I have just joined the forum. I purchased my 1st E type end of last year.
The car a 1970 series 2 RHD British delivered car is in excellent condition. However the car will not run right, when I drove it home last December everything was good except the tick over was a large range and would nearly stall ( 500 800 rev's range. During the winter due to the rubbish weather I ran and drove the car for 3 short trips. Ive since had a recommended mobile Jag expert have a short look at the car and had it MOT,ed.
The mechanic and I found the off side exhaust running the rear 3 cylinders was the the side fluttering or spluttering. The other side not. We found the SU carb seating valves all to be slightly different setting ? we also checked the timing and noted it has illumination electronic ignition. Following this the car was Mot and the only problem was headlight adjustment this took some while and the car was running on tick over for maybe 20 minutes, after this it ran with a misfire and despite a road running would not clear. I then ran the car a few days later, the misfire had cleared but tick over was slightly improved as the mechanic had adjusted the carbs slightly ( 600 900 on tick over). I then popped back to the car garage to ask a favor and put the emissions tester on each exhaust.The near side is running richer than the offside C0 of 4% volume on off side to 8% volume near side.The misfire returned after this test again due to prolonged slow running at the garage ( 15 mins or more ) The Jag mechanic initially thought we should have the distributor rebuilt and new coil and leads but is this really necessary and the likely problem or is it Carbs or fuel problem.Hope someone can help. Thanks In advance Kevin.

[Nickleback]

Hi Kevin,
Welcome to the forum, some pics of your car would be good to see too.

In your situation I would try to identify the problem before spending out too much. Is it electrical or is it a fuel based issue ?

You say that the car ran fine when you bought it home in December apart from a variable tickover however since then it's developed into a misfire which would suggest a specific cylinder issue.

Have you pulled the plugs out and checked them to see if it is one particular cylinder causing the problem.
If it is, then potentially it could be a plug, HT lead, rotor, distributor head ?

The misfire could be one issue and the lumpy tickover another.

On my car it was HT leads, worn distibutor and over rich "Stranglebergs"

I'm also in Sussex too, where are you ?

Hope this helps

[cactusman]

Check the plugs...lots of soot...over rich. Oil...not good...

Check the needles are correctly fitted and of exactly equal length. Assuming you are running SU carbs they should be fitted to the groove at the base and no further.

Check the floats are not leaky...levels in the float chambers should be the same.

Check the plug caps. If they are suppressed then measure the cap resistance. Should be between about 5 and 10 thousand ohms.

If you have a compression tester check the compression ideally with the engine warm...look for at least 140psi across all six pots and no more than about 10 psi variation.

If you have lumenition fitted check all wires are secure....the lumenition system has three wires from the main box to the opto sensor in the distributor. There is a rather crude 3 pin plug joining the two...prone to corrosion and loose connection.

All the above you can do at home with basic garage tools and a compression tester. You may well find one or more issues are at play but before spending cash the above are well worth just eliminating as possible issues.

[kevinbush]

Many thanks Mike and Julien. Will post pic asap. I'm in Edburton just North West of Brighton. We checked the plugs and gaps all good. Mechanic was going to do compression test next visit. I don't have a compression tester bit I guess i could borrow or buy . I will check the points raised, as the exhaust are giving different readouts I'm veering towards fuel/ carbs . Is there good book or internet how to overhaul and set up SU carbs ?. I will run the car today and advise. Cheers.

[Nickleback]

Just a thought, have you checked the fuel filter, they can get clogged easily and you can see how dirty it is through the glass ?

[mgcjag]

Hi Kevin.....get yourself the Jaguar maintenance manual http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E-Type-Jaguar ... SwkEVXGijr

There is a section on the carbs.....there is also in the kniwledge base section here downloadable copies of all the manual sections

[44DHR]

Hi Kevin, with regards to Mike's suggestion on checking the fuel filter, I'm not to sure on the later series E types, but certainly on the Series 1 E types, you can't tell if the filter is blocked as the fuel feeds from the inside of the filter out into the glass bowl.

Therefore the bowl may be completely clear, but you cannot see the inside of the filter. Very easy to undo and remove the filter to check the condition from inside.

A blocked filter tends to become apparent when you reach a certain speed and the engine struggles as it cannot get sufficient fuel.

regards,

Dave

[kevinbush]

Many thanks for further replies.
The fuel glass does show sediment at the bottom. I will remove and inspect this and obtain the manual. We are doing compression test on Friday so will post the results. Although I stated a misfire this may be wrong use of words. The car last used on Monday after emission test wwould not run at full power and I am sure not firing on all cylinders however it could be so many things I know. I expect when I run the car tomorrow it will fine except the lumpy idling.

[chrisfell]

Many thanks for further replies.
The fuel glass does show sediment at the bottom. I will remove and inspect this and obtain the manual. We are doing compression test on Friday so will post the results. Although I stated a misfire this may be wrong use of words. The car last used on Monday after emission test wwould not run at full power and I am sure not firing on all cylinders however it could be so many things I know. I expect when I run the car tomorrow it will fine except the lumpy idling.

Ah! Sediment at the bottom of the fuel filter wont be dirt in the fuel - that will be trapped inside the filter element. Muck outside the element indicates there has been water in the fuel - the sediment results from rust from the spring under the filter element.

Drain off a little of the fuel tank contents from its sump. If you find water in the fuel, there's your problem. Or (more usually) one of them.

[kevinbush]

Thanks Chris and Dave for input. Update time !The good news first we carried our compression tests 160 0n 2 cylinders and 165 on remaining 4. 170 wet test on all cylinders that would indicate engine good ?
We replaced plugs, they were all same and ideal color but thought it best. Also replaced the coil for Lucas from SNG Barratt and fuel filter. The filter was a bit old but reasonably clean, spring had no rust. The residues/sediment was a milky blue/grey substance, could this be water or separation of the fuel ? The previous owner always used Esso premium unleaded ( he says ). My mechanic still believes the problem is electronic and we should recondition the distributor with the Distributor doctor, a couple of classic car owners friends ( not jag ) believe better to change to a 123 electronic system. Have members experience of the system and which model ?

Thanks in advance for help. I also trying to load picture but haven't found how to reduce picture size yet.

[mgcjag]

Hi Kevin...although many have used 123 and report that they work ok there are some that have had problems with the car not running correctly and taken tbem out.....so its a bit hit and miss......i would go with the standard dissy...with either points or replace points with pertronix