backfire and die

[Lowlanddog]

I was driving up north on the highway and everything was fine. Suddenly I had a couple of backfires and my 1970 series IIa dies. It starts, runs badly but won't get up to highway speed dies again.

I connected the oil fill tube to the base of the carburator yesterday morning, and it ran OK but not better. I also adjusted the tappets and it ran pretty good. After it died I noted the plugs are coated and a little greasy. I wonder if I should just disconnect the base from the oil filler and forget about it?

The other thing is I leaned out the carb and I read that may be the reason for the backfire, so I will make it a little richer and see if that helps.

Hope it starts later after new plugs.

[east high]

Running lean will cause your vehicle to backfire and run hot. I'd also look around for a vacuum leak. I experienced the same symptoms when the vacuum hose for my power brakes came loose.

[Lowlanddog]

I found that the black condensor inside the distributor was loose. The little piece of wire that is supposed to hold the end of the wire was broken and the wire was just making contact. Whenever it was jarred it would loose contact. I souldered the end of the wire and now it is running great. I also adjusted the carburator afterwards.

[SafeAirOne]

Running lean will cause your vehicle to backfire and run hot. I'd also look around for a vacuum leak.

If I'm not mistaken, a lean mixture is also one of the leading causes of cracked exhaust manifolds.

[Lowlanddog]

It is running much better although I am still struggling with the timing. I repaired a hole in the exhaust and now I seem to have lost some power, something I am short on anyway.

Peace,
James

[thixon]

How are you going about setting the timing? Also, be careful running it lean, in addition to the other problems mentioned you can also burn valves. If you've noticed a big loss in power, its possible you're timing is out of whack along with your carb settings (sounds like you've fiddled with both). Nice work on the condensor wire by the way.

Also, the repair in the exhaust should'nt have effected power that much (not on a rover 2.25 anyway!), unless you restricted the pipe somehow. What part of the exhaust was repaired?