G'day guys,

I've been having a running battle with my '74 1098 clubman......It has been breaking down on me like its run out of fuel. It would only happen when I was idling for a while, it would idle then die.....to restart it I was having to shoot some fuel into it manually either down the throat or in the vacuum advance port.

Thinking it was the carby, I bought another SU of a forum member, had it pulled apart and sorted out so it should be right.

Anyhow after a few break downs with the old carby I decided today is the day to do the swapover.......everything fitted up fine, I still havent worked out the mixture setting procedure yet but it's still falling over at idle.

I've replaced the fuel filter, and tried to restart it, I've injected some fuel manually to get it running and it's used up the fuel in the float bowl and then died. The filter is showing a small amount in the bottom of it which I thought there would be more in there. It seems as if the fuel pump is not pumping hard enough at Idle to supply fuel to the float bowl.

So do I dig through a mountain of crap in my shed to find another fuel pump to try (i do have one somewhere but ive moved sheds since and it will be a mission) or is there something else im overlooking??

Its a mechanical pump by the way feeding a 1.5in SU into a basic standardish 1098. Also can anyone tell me what my mixture setting is determined and how to go about it?

Cheers Pete

is the pump actually running on the cam properly?

I had a van once, had this battle for about a year. Electric pump fixed it all.

Is your fuel cap venting ok?

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

I do have a Facet Electric sitting on the shelf here but wanted to avoid that due to the noise they make and more load on the electrical system.

The car was running fine up until a few weeks ago, And has gotten progressively worse ie. it wont idle for very long before it empties the float bowl and carks it. If you keep the revs up it seems to be fine.

How do the fuel caps vent? is there a breather tube I should check to make sure its clear? It's just a standard chrome locking fuel cap on there at the moment.

Cheers Pete

If a fuel pump could pump fuel

couldnt figure it out for the woodchuck, so i dont know this one either

Put a proper SU type electric pump under the boot floor ala Cooper S.

Daniel

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Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol

Check your tank breather isn't blocked. The one on my RH tank was, after I repaired the neck and de-rusted its interior.
For a week I couldn't get any fuel out of it, I was baffled until I checked the breather.
The hole in the pipe on the top of tank where the hose goes is tiny, only 1.5-2mm diameter. I stuck a drill bit in there to clear it.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Thanks guys for the replies,

I've pulled out my spare pump and it's cactus so no point in swapping it over.

I pulled the fuel cap off and tried to start it and it didnt make any difference, the cap says "Non-Vented" type underneath.......is this anything to worry about?

I saw the long thin black pipe running from the top of the tank and held against the body by the metal tab.......Should I pull that hose off and make sure the hole is clear like you say Doc?

It's a frustrating situation I just hope I can sort it out before I start thinking irrationally and get rid of all these old cars here and buy a newer one

Yep pull the hose off and blow through it, then stick a coathanger or drill bit or something into the tank to ensure it's clear.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ok.......I used a pin punch and also a drill bit to clear the tank breather......got a tiny amount of gunge out of that. Ran a bit of carby cleaner into the breather hose and sure enough its clear and coming out the other end underneath the car.

The car won't start now without me injecting fuel in manually, the fuel filter appears half full and there looks to be fuel in the top part of it that goes to the carburetter through the fuel line.

Is it possible for the fuel pump to be pumping some fuel but not at enough pressure for the carburettor to work?

I was hopeful it was just a tank breather dilemma as the car has had a bad fuel smell for weeks. But this doesnt seem to have sorted it yet.

Maybe I should post a pic of my carb installation and fuel pump etc and see what yas think.

Cheers Pete

Ok here's some pics.........tell me where I've gone wrong



See what I mean about the filter.......one would think it would be enough for the engine to start.







The mixture adjustment nut.......does it need to be turned clockwise or anticlockwise for it to lean/richen the mixture?

You said you cleaned out the carb, is the float valve sticking shut? The fuel in the filter will be just a dribble of fuel that is too small to make it out on it's own.

Other than that there isn't much else except the pump to go wrong here...

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I took the carb along to my mechanic who pulled it apart and cleaned out the gunge, I had it started and running for a while but it then started the idle problem where it would die if I left it at idle for an amount of time which seemed pretty much the time it would take to empty the float bowl.

When I got it running I took it out on the street to test drive it and found the car stumbled a fair bit when you almost through a gear, like take off in first and just before the second gear change it would cough/splutter, then change into second and it would be ok until I brought the revs up a little then the same cough/splutter etc.

Maybe I should try and get a hold of a pump in the morning and swap it over and see. Does anyone know if you can buy them new from Coventry or Supercheap etc like an old Holden 6 ones you can get?

I think I have an idea....

Remove the plug that I have circled and see how it runs.

Maybe if you are lucky, but you may spend a long time on the phone finding one. Plenty of mini parts guys in Brisbane/ Ipswich and the bay area however who will have them on the shelves in great numbers.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Good thinking 99.
If da air can't get out da fuel can't get in....

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.