Seems like my Series 2a is getting intermittently fuel starved

[millivanilli]

Disclaimer: I can turn a few wrenches, but I'm NOT a mechanic by any means. I've had my '69 Series IIa 109 for about 5 years. Always ran well with some light maintenance and topping of fluids.

No idea what engine I have other than it appears to be a four cylinder petrol. Engine number from the block stamp is 30600490K

Recently, while driving she's not getting fuel. At random time she'll get fuel starved. I'll stomp the gas pedal to the floor with out much response kinda like idling and then, suddenly, she'll get fuel and get going again.

So far I've replaced the fuel filter and the entire fuel pump, but no real change.

When idling she sounds and revs up just fine. No issues starting right up.

Any thoughts as to what to do next? It's fine to tell me, "you're out of your league man. Take her to a mechanic."

I'm always willing to try within my limits and I'm hard to offend.

Fire at will (My name is not Will thought...)

Thanks!

[jp-]

Did it just start doing it when the weather warmed up? A lot of these trucks seem to have vapor lock issues when using/running a metal fuel line up to the carb. How dirty was the fuel filter? When I replace one, I tap the inlet end against a block of wood to see what comes out. Before I replaced the old gas tank in my 109, it was so rusty I was replacing a fuel filter every hundred miles! But if you already changed it, that's likely not it.

Will it rev up nicely after stalling, if you take it out of gear? If yes, then it's not getting enough fuel from the line under load. That could be a bad/weak pump, old fuel lines that are collapsing under load, or a blockage in a line, at the carb, or the tank itself.

[millivanilli]

Thank you for the reply. The fuel filter was not the worst I've ever seen, but as you said the problem persisted even after changing the filter and the pump. It does seem to rev up fine when out of gear. I think my next action will be to try to check for blockage from the tank.

Again, not a mechanic, but Series Land Rover youtubers haven't steered me wrong so far.

I'll let everyone know what I find.

Thanks again

ck

[lcdckr]

If it is a vapor lock issue it will only occur when the engine bay is warm. If it occurs under load while not fully up to temperature, it's not a vapor lock issue. It could also not be fuel related and possibly distributor, coil, sparking plugs leads, etc. Which carb do you have?

[jimrr]

Sometimes i've suspected vapor lock, particularly with rubber fuel hose but in this case i'd suspect first a moving fuel blockage in the tank, I guess it could be intermittant electrical but with that you have to catch it in the act, usually on the trail someplace.

[roverp480]

Sometimes i've suspected vapor lock, particularly with rubber fuel hose but in this case i'd suspect first a moving fuel blockage in the tank, I guess it could be intermittant electrical but with that you have to catch it in the act, usually on the trail someplace.

I once had a Diesel 88" with similar problems and it turned out there was a plastic cap, the ones used to cap pipes to prevent dirt ingress during transit, inside the tank which occasionally was sucked onto the bottom of the pick up pipe , restricting the flow. The problem was exacerbated by it falling off when you stopped the engine so curing itself for a while thus difficult to replicate.

[charles1943]

Pump

There are a lot of aftermaarket fuel pumps out there...that don't function as intended. They are known to be absolutely awful. A genuine rover pump always works well and lasts for years. Pressure wants to be ~ 1.75-2.5 psi for petrol or 5-6 # for the diesle pump. I recommend your checking your fuel pressure, preferably at the carb.

[vlad_d]

@Millivanilli
All of what these fine folks said is true. I’ll add one more thing to try…

Had a similar thread here:

https://forums.roversnorth.com/showthread.php?17907-Adventures-in-Vapor-Lock&p=113831#post113831

I think my issue turned out to be vacuum buildup in the fuel lines due to not venting the tank. I put a rubber gasket on my venting gas cap, thereby blocking the venting. It was so insignificant, I forgot about it. Ran without a gas cap for a week and the truck ran great! That’s how I found out. Removing that gasket fixed my issue. Dumb, but it worked.