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MG MGA - Trouble shooting assistance

Ok, last Sunday morning took the MGA (driver) out (1960 MK I) to get the family donuts... – short trip - arrived at the 7-11 no problem and restarted no problem. While on a straight away en route home - up to about 40 MPH shifting normally, revving normally - then suddenly engine would not rev higher, tried to downshift, but the engine (still running) would not run any faster - actually started to wind down.... as I turned into the development - complete loss of all power. Tried to pop the clutch (still rolling) and she would not start... rolled to a complete stop and tried to restart. Needless to say I pushed her home (thank God they're small cars!) with the donuts on the seat... Haven't had a chance to poke around (I am NOT an engine guy...) but any suggestions from you great experienced mechanics out there would be greatly appreciated!
Mike

My first guess would be fuel starvation. Most likely a bad fuel pump or possibly a clogged filter screen. Does the fuel pump tick when you turn the key on? If not, you might try tapping on the fuel pump to see if it starts. You could remove the covers from the float chambers and see if there is fuel in the foat bowls.


Jeff

And one other thing, make sure there is fuel in the tank. A neighbor had his car towed to the shop the other day, where they found that the only problem was that it was out of gas.
Jeff Schultz

Mike - first thought is fuel starvation, based upon "still running" but "would not run any faster", so I'd check that first. Electric fuel pump ticking OK?

Logical troubleshooting is just a matter of eliminating possibilities. Any gasoline engine has got to have three things to run: fuel in the proper mixture ratio, compression of this mixture, and a spark at the right time to fire it off. And, just so you know, it's easy to introduce additional problems if you're not methodical.

There are literally dozens of possibilities, but the most likely (based upon your description, and I'm making a lot of assumptions here) is fuel, followed by spark, and a longshot dark horse of compression. Here's a few general things to check that don't require much time or tools:

Fuel - gas tank filled, or has that defective fuel gauge finally caught up with you?
Fuel - gas getting to the carbs? Fuel pump OK? You can remove the fuel line into the carbs and see if you get a good stream into a cup.
Fuel - carb input needle stuck? If dual carbs, it's not likely that both are the problem, but a rap on the float bowl with a scredriver handle costs nothing.
Fuel - did you fill up at the 7-11? Maybe you got a load of bad fuel, or (shudder) water?
Fuel - all the carb linkage look OK? Throttle linkage moving in-time with your right foot?

Spark - coil putting out a spark? Kinda hard to check with a side-entry cap, but a spare lead from the coil, held about 1/4" away from the engine block should produce results.
Spark - spark getting to the plugs? There's been a rash of bad distributor rotors found lately, based on the complaints.
Spark - distributor hasn't turned on you, has it? Instant bad timing would be the result.
Spark - the points have got to open AND close, and make contact while doing it. Has the rubbing block on the points rubbed away? Are the points clean?

Any additional tests, like for compression, valve timing, etc. will take time, and a few more tools to check. But, you COULD become an "engine guy" with a little help.

Best of luck, and please post back and tell us what you find - - Alec
Alec Darnall

Mike - E-mail me and I'll send you a fuel delivery troubleshooting guide. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

With symptoms like that I would check the electrical connection to the fuel pump, and make sure that you have not simply run out of gas. Check that the pinch bolt for your distributor is tight, and that you cannot rotate the distributor. If you can rotate it, you need to retime the car, and do nothing else.

Dominic
dominic clancy

This thread was discussed on 10/08/2005

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