My landrover has a serious cough!

[primerib]

Hello Everyone!

I would like to start this post off with a huge thank you! All the advice that I had for the lights, master cylinder, and pinion where a huge help! They have now all been successfully fixed.

Today, however, I am faced with a new, and seemingly large, problem. I have had the car running well for a while and I have been driving it daily and I started to notice a slight sputter/inconsistency during Idle. This problem has become increasingly worse. I can barley start the car now and it will not idle. I thought I had dirty fuel/clogged filter, but today I am not so sure.

The symptoms:

at low revs, in each gear, the car sputters and lurches as it gains speed. at high rpms I can feel it cough ever so slightly, similarly to at low rpms but not quite as noticeable (this too, is getting much worse). I took the air filter off from the carb when I got home today and the inside of my carb is black with soot ( I think exhaust residue). And, when I moved the butterfly smoke came out. Now,my mechanical knowledge is limited, but I do not think that is a good sign. I am wondering If there is anyone that may be able to help me with a diagnosis. and perhaps a plan of attack. As I mentioned before I am a mechanical novice and know very little about this so any/all info will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

[SafeAirOne]

First thing I'd do is pop the valve cover off and make sure everything looks OK in the lifter rod/rocker/valve stem/valve spring department, then make sure the valve clearances are correct and that none of the adjuster jam nuts have come loose. Then I'd check for sticking valves. If that all didn't help, I might put a vacuum gauge on it and see if it indicates a leaky/burned valve. Just for the heck of it, I'd knock out a quick compression test too, though it probably won't tell you a whole lot related to this issue unless you use a leakdown compression tester. I'd also check to make sure the ignition timing is correct and hasn't loosened up and wandered all over the place, thoughI don't think this is your problem.

I'm not sure whether timing chain stretch/tensioner failure could cause your symptoms or not--I'll let somebody else chime in on that...

[primerib]

Thank you. I will start there and report back!

[Kiloengineer]

I would check the easy stuff first. Points. Condensor. Maybe some new spark plugs. Distributor cap and wires. These are all more likely to wear and fail as compared to a problem with the valve train or carburation.

[SafeAirOne]

...These are all more likely to wear and fail as compared to a problem with the valve train or carburation.

That's true, but I can't think of a way that these would cause exhaust gasses to visibly come up trough the carb and make the carb all sooty. There may be a way, but I can't think of it right now...


[EDIT]: Just thinking more about this--The 'smoke' coming from the carb may be a red herring--Especially if it isn't smoke, but rather just atomized fuel.

[siii8873]

a cmpression check would be a good check for a blown head gasket. If you have two adjacent cylinders with low compression that is a good indication of a blown head gasket. This condition will make a vehicle run like crap

[jonnyc]

Check your valve clearances. After spending a month or more with a similar problem, and checking everything else under the sun (and moon!), it was the valves. It's an easy, free thing to try first.

[yorker]

Have you done a compression test? Sometimes when the valves have burned you'll get a chuffing or blow back through the intake, it can get so bad it will blow oil out of the oil bath air cleaner.

[primerib]

Hey thanks for the advice! It was much needed. I checked all my gaps, and cleaned my distributor and checked my valve gaps (every thing looked pretty good in there). However, when I checked my spark plugs I was only getting spark on one cylinder, I changed the wires out from the distributer. But, the following day, I am getting no spark at all any more. I am wondering If perhaps my Ignition coil is gone, could that have yielded the symptoms I listed? or is that my wishful thinking. I have ordered a new one and it should be here tomorrow so then I will know for sure! I agree SafeAirOne, I think maybe some of that smoke blowing out of the carb may have been due to some of those cylinders not firing, and a bit of a herring. It did make me panic though.

[yorker]

Double check that you have the right leads on the right terminals on the new coil.

[jonnyc]

How's the rotor?

[stomper]

Last year, I had a no start issue, and went through the whole coil, points, condensor, etc. It turned out to be a bad rotor. Yes, that single little piece had lost continuity , and I had no spark on any of the plugs. Take the coil wire off the center of the distributor cap, hold it near the metal heater box or something grounded, and crank over the engine. if there is a spark, everything upstream is working properly. them move downstream to the spark plugs.

[primerib]

Thanks for the help. I believe that I have now replaced almost my whole ignition system. I have replaced the distributor cap, rotor, coil, leads and spark plugs. I am only getting spark on one cylinder, the #4 spark plug position from the distributor. On the others I get no spark at all. I am all out of ideas on this one. does anyone have any thoughts on this?

any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[primerib]

I have one quick thought. I have an alternator in there but whoever put it in left the voltage regulator on there as well. I believe that means I am being double regulated. It worked fine for a while but maybe some amount of power/something is getting lost there? Is that a possibility or not really? the reason I think this, is because I replaced the solenoid three weeks ago and it worked fine. but right as I got this problem it stopped working again. I have installed a switch to jump the solenoid and the engine turns... Is my solenoid just dead again ( I find that hard to believe)? or is there a certain amount of resistance that needs to be reached before the switch will flip? I have no idea how a voltage regulator works or a solenoid for that matter. So I may be chasing a red herring. any thoughts?

[primerib]

Alright, It looks like everything upstream of the distributor is working now (I get blue spark out of the coil). But, I am now getting no spark. Let me tell you why. I adjusted the points to the book standard. .015. before the gaps where closed (then I only got one spark on the #4 plug). Now I am trying to figure out if the points are bad or the whole distributor needs to be replaced. The reason I wonder if the whole distributor needs to be replaced is because the whole plate that the points and resistor are mounted on seems to move as I tighten the screw. Which changes my point gap again. The distributor is rather expensive, so I thought I would get some input first. What do you think?

[yorker]

Are you getting no spark at the plugs at all? or at the points? The plate moves a little IIRC because of the vacuum and or centrifigal advance.

Check your wiring in the distributer if you removed the points & condensor etc, sometimes people put them together wrong and place a connection on the wrong side of an insulator. It looks ok but you'll get no spark. Which distributer do you have?

[jonnyc]

A Crane electronic ignition is one of the best investments I ever made. If the only savings was time spent playing with points and the dizzy, that would be enough.

[primerib]

I have an early type distributor (dome top). But was not getting any spark at the points. I did not know I needed spark there. The wires are poor but connected correctly. So now she is up and running again. phew! it was a close one. There is street cleaning on tuesday and I would need to move it! Now that it is running that will be much easier. That must have been the reason for the cough as well. So thank you very much. Your advice was very helpful! Today's problem....Solved!

[SafeAirOne]

I have an early type distributor (dome top). But was not getting any spark at the points. I did not know I needed spark there.

Hmm...If the condensor is working properly, I dont think you should be getting a spark at the points. In fact, I believe that's the sole purpose of the condensor--To prevent an arc from jumping the gap when the points open, thereby cleanly disconnecting the electricity flow from the primary side of the coil circuit, causing a tidy collapse of the magnetic field of the primary circuit, triggering LOTS of voltage out the secondary wire from the coil to the center of the distributor cap, blah, blah, blah..

Maybe you said it but I'm just not picking up on it, but what did you do to solve your problem?

[primerib]

ahhh, right I see what your saying about the spark. Well yes it does not spark when turning, but when touching it with a screw driver It does now! I replaced the points and it seems to be going well today, maybe I will make it to the brookline car show this weekend after all!