Capri 2.0 Pinto Carb issues

[79Caprigl]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2.0 MK3 capri automatic which was sold to me as needing work due to a misfire.

It drove well for most of the journey home but cut out on the way back upon braking - it soon became clear that it was running rich as it was difficult to start and eventually had to get towed home.

It now won't start at all despite it having a new battery, distributed, rotor arm, plugs and an accuspark ignition kit.

I'm now starting to suspect the coil may be gone or that there is a blocked jet in the carb. Somebody suggested a split vacuum hose but these look to be intact on closer inspection. I also wondered if the timing could be out or if it could be a fuelling problem. I'm not best happy with Capris at the moment given that my 1.6 is also having issues!

My question is; should I purchase a 32 36 weber carb kit as according to the previous owner it's had the misfire for some years and local garages have been unable to diagnose it!

Any help appreciated!

Cheers

[Paul G]

Before paying out for a carb I would go through some basic checks first. I assume you have got a workshop manual to help you with the things I'll mention.

1. Has it got a spark.

2. Is sufficient fuel being pumped up to the carb.

3. In view of the misfire is the distributor cap clean inside and out. I know you say it's new but if someone's covered it in WD40 that can cause more problems than it solves. Visual condition of plug leads including their terminals?

4. Get plugs out and see if they are clean and gapped correctly. If one looks different to the other three that may be the cylinder that has the problem.

5. Remove the rocker cover and check the valve clearances.

See if it runs after this but it's still likely there are further problems such as carb settings and or needing a compression test to check for valve recession or head gasket.

[Arnoldhar]

Hi, may i make a suggestion, before you start pulling it apart or spending money, first carry out a compression test on all cylinders, if all cylinders are giving equal amounts, i think 160 is good, then you know your misfire is not caused with an internal engine issue. After that check the static timing is correct ie rotor arm is pointing to HT lead one when cylinder one closest to the rad is TDC, to confirm this make sure that you turn the bottom pulley through two full rotations and one of them should line up the TDC point with the number one lead. When this is correct just check the HT lead sequence, just in case one of the leads has been swapped.
To check the coils just plug a spare spark plug or a lead from the coil to the plug, hold the plug on the block (with a pair of insulated grips) and turn the key (need two people). If that hasn't thrown up any questions is does sound fuel related.

[79Caprigl]

Thanks both for all of your help and advice. I'll take in look in my Haynes workshop manual and check all of the areas you have highlighted and report back with the outcome

[Not_Anumber]

Have you checked the main, air correction and idle jets in there are the right ones ? Its worth checking as there is always a chance that 32/36 has been re jetted sometime in the past for use on either a modified engine or a 1600.

[Mc Tool]

Check that the float in the carb actually floats . The black plastic ones can get a leak in the outer shell and the foam inside soaks up fuel and then don't float properly . Kept me busy for ages ...... runs rich , specially if its facing uphill. And a set of plug leads if it hasn't already been said . I also had the tacho fail on me , something shorted out inside and earthed the coil ( tacho gets a signal from the coil neg ) and in hind sight the thing was playing up for ages ,the engine would suddenly lurch /die for a half second every now and then , and then I noticed the tacho needle would do wild thing while the fault was happening ..... so maybe removing the signal wire from the coil to eliminate the tacho and see if that helps ( green wire )

[79Caprigl]

Thanks for your advice, come to think of it did only begin to run rich on an incline! The revs dropped erratically on the tacho when it began to splitter so that could be it too. The fuel gauge isn't working although I doubt that's related to the issue...

[nigecapri]

If you've been able to drive it at all with occasional smooth running then the problem is likely to be crap in the carb. Some of these cars have never had the carb opened up ever. A bit of crud in there can cause an intermittent starvation - especially when uphill/downhill & the crud can move. You can undo the top of the carb for a shufty but beware the gasket might drop to bits.

If the fault is totally regular then more likely to be ignition related.
As already said - Spark plugs out first to see if one is obviously different to the rest (dizzy cap, leads, plugs or possible worn dizzy shaft)
Let us know how you get on.

[Not_Anumber]

If there are other Capri owners within a sensible distance see if you can borrow someone elses' carb for a few mins to compare the difference. I put up with a faulty Weber a few years ago despite cleaning and tinkering several times. I was really surprised at the instant difference a new one made.

[pbar]

If you've been able to drive it at all with occasional smooth running then the problem is likely to be crap in the carb.

Very true, I had just this issue a little while ago. Here is a post from another thread from back then, might be wirth a try as it's easy enough to do -

Sounds similar to an issue I had a few weeks ago, whereby my carb's idle circuit was blocked, sort of a random blockage which wasn't always a problem, but a lot of the time when using the clutch and rolling to a stop the idle revs would lower a lot and often stall.

I removed the primary idle jet and also the mixture screw (you may wish to 'count' it's position so you can put it back the same as) and blew compressed air through both apertures a few times. I used a can of compressed air but you can also use a compressor if you have one. That cured it for me, been fine since.

This is actually also a suggestion on the Weber troubleshooting guide by the way.

Only takes a few minutes to do so might be worth it in the hope of an easy fix.