erratic idle from cold etc...

[snorky]

Anyone more technically minded than me here? (it won't be difficult, believe me!)

The coupe often takes a few turns over before she fires into life despite the usual plugs, leads, points, dizzy cap, battery replacement. Also, when she's cold she'll idle at around 1200 which is fine but this rises to anything between 15 - 1800 for a while before settling down to a sensible 7 - 800 again.

Anyone got any suggestions as to what could be occurring? Was wondering if the old carb could be losing it causing the rubbish starting? (and if so, is there a sensible weber conversion I should think about?).

I guess the erratic idle might be something to do with an ageing auto-choke (which frankly is black magic to me - I did say I wasn't the most techie person out there!).

Any help, ribbings of a technical nature, etc. received with varying degrees of gratefulness

Cheers,
Nick

[snorky]

Class, anyone, anyone?

(one for you FB fans out there)

[TheTwelveQuidKid]

Originally Posted by snorky

Class, anyone, anyone?

(one for you FB fans out there)

Just got that on DVD. Brilliant film.

Auto chokes are complicated and a pain in the @rse.
If you take off the air filter housing, you should be able to manually push the mechanism so the choke goes off. You probably have to blip the throttle to allow the fast idle cam on the side of the carb to release. See what speed it idles at now. If it's normal, the choke mechanism is sticking. If it doesn't make any difference, it might be a problem with the vacuum advance retard on the distributor.
Some of these cars had a DIS (digital idle stabiliser). On mine, it's in the glove compartment. They're supposed to compensate for varying loads on the car's electrical system and keep the idle steady. I can't remember how, but I'm sure there's a way of testing it (maybe unplugging it ?) For some odd reason, Vauxhall Nova SRs had them as well.

[snorky]

I thought a few people on here would get that straight away

Cheers for that fella, I'll print it out and take a visit out to the car next time its not raining! Damn me for having to park my ride on the street. She deserves more although the Dodo Juice does make her look so pretty

[pimpdriver]

fit a Weber.

Nuff said.

What engine is it? You can convert a Weber for a Golf / Audi 1.6 to fit the 5 pot 1.9

[snorky]

Originally Posted by pimpdriver

fit a Weber.

Nuff said.

Currently, "in the shop", having a Weber fitted along with a new cambelt as it's probably the original one on there!

Looking forward to getting her back next Monday...