13 replies to this topic

[[email protected]]

Hi,

I'm complete newbie to Minis and only bought my first one last week so forgive me if I'm asking obvious questions.

 

I bought a 1993 Saloon Sprite. 1275CC Automatic. Crimson Red at the minute.

 

After a battery charge and a bit of trying I got it started. Although she cut out unexpectedly after about 3-4mins. I think the car has been sitting for years and I think the fuel may be off. I siphoned a little out but this being my first car (I can't even drive yet lol!) I know nothing. I've attached a picture of the fuel i siphoned so I wonder could someone help me - is it off and also would this prevent the car from starting / running for long?

 

Also will draining the tank and putting fresh fuel in cure the issue or do I need to clean out the carb too?

 

Any help very much appreciated!

Thanks!

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[cal844]

A simple test.. Dip the specimen with your finger, then taste it,, does it sting your tongue??

If not its off, how much fuel is in the tank?

[jt19]

Just try to get all of it out and put some fresh in.

I wouldn't fill it up unless you plan on driving it, otherwise you'll end up with the same scenario in a few months time when you want to use it.

[stevelane]

just thiinking logically, if the fuel was off i'd be surprised if it started and run for 3/4 minutes anyway. is it possible that there is a blocakage if its been sitting for a while - Is the fuel still getting through to the carb?

 

Sometimes it best to change it anyway to make sure but there could be other issues to also look into and I know ive spent money on a change of fuel only to find that it wasnt the issue

[HarrysMini]

If it has been sitting for years, the fuel will definitely be stale. Over time, fuel loses it's octane rating. Meaning your once 95 octane fuel is now 80 or something (I don't know how much it drops by). Some people have reported pinking (knocking) after driving a car that's been standing for a few months, this is because the fuel has now a much lower octane rating.

 

I would be draining the tank and putting £10 of Shell V-Power or similar high octane fuel in. This keeps for longer and will help balance out any stale fuel left in the system.

[dklawson]

There is a lot involved with what makes fuel "go bad".  It's not exclusively time related.  It has to do with both time and the environment in which the fuel/car was stored.  

 

As mentioned above by Steve, the fuel may be bad but you would not expect the engine to start and run for a while, then stop suddenly because the fuel is bad.  However, it may not run well with the old fuel.  It is likely (as suggested above) that other things have gone wrong during storage.  For example, it is not uncommon for fuel left in carburetors to turn to gum and varnish while sitting.  If this car has a carburetor, expect that you will need to clean it out to remove those deposits before it runs properly and can be tuned.  

 

Disposing of old fuel can be a problem.  You can mix small amounts of the old fuel into the fresh gas added to other vehicles and/or yard care equipment to burn it up rather than finding a way to safely/legally dispose of it.  You are certainly justified draining the tank of your car and starting with a small quantity of fresh fuel to eliminate old fuel as a variable as you troubleshoot this car's running problems and bring the car back to life.

[sledgehammer]

If the car started on the fuel in the fuel line / tank & run for 4 mins  -

 

I would say blockage in filter / fuel pump valve leaky / tank vent blocked / water in fuel

 

squirt good fuel into carb (a small bit) does it start ?

 

as above - drain tank into clear container see what it looks like at the bottom -

 

is the pump pumping well ? is float chamber full & clean at bottom ?

 

other things like a spark at the plug to eliminate the electrics

Edited by sledgehammer, 01 June 2014 - 03:43 PM.

[KernowCooper]

Shell reckons fuel looses 1 ron point left standing in approx 3-4 weeks

[[email protected]]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the very fast replies,

I dismantled the carb and the jet was as clean as a whistle which I was shocked at.

I then drained the fuel tank - to my horror. It seems as if the tank has been left with no cap on outside as the inside of the tank was a horrible red colour. The fuel that came out of it was mostly water and without a doubt completely off. I drained it out (as much as I could) and rinsed it out with new petrol three times.

It seems a lot better now. I ran the fuel pump and got any bad fuel out of the pipes so tomorrow I hope to put in fresh fuel and get her running.

The engine is sparking so fingers crossed...

Thanks very much the response from this forum is amazing 😄😄

[sledgehammer]

if the tank is rusty - I would find a better one

 

in the mean time - get a few cheap fuel filters in line - you will get rust creeping into the fuel line if you don't

 

best of luck

[Captain Mainwaring]

Here in Indonesia we suffer from this a great deal - I keep an old pajero V6 for lugging junk about and had left it standing for 6 months - it started as normal but died after a couple of minutes.

I pulled the high pressure pump out of the tank and it was coated in what looked like bostik glue and had died. The fuel sender was gummed up completely too. 

A new fuel pump and the car would run but was missing all over the place. It took a pull of the injectors and a good soaking in fuel injector cleaner over night before the car would start to run OK. I ran two bottles of injector cleaner through the thing, leaving the car idling for an hour with fresh fuel and then stuck a new filter on it - the filter was gunged up solid.

 

I run 5 big bikes - a triumph bonneville, Kawa ZX10, Honda Fireblade and a Honda CBX, and once a month they get a shot of injector cleaner (even though 3 of them are carbed) and this keeps everything nice and clean. The improvement in the running has been amazing, particularly the CBX, with 6 cylinders and 6 carbs, it was difficult to see if a cylinder was misfiring and once a plug fouled it was necessary to drop the engine to get them out - running injector cleaner once a month has stopped all of that.

[mggregg]

Okay got clean fuel into engine but now no spark!

What could have disturbed the spark. I cut out an aftermarket alarm but I doubt this would have prevented spark....

[sledgehammer]

Okay got clean fuel into engine but now no spark!

What could have disturbed the spark. I cut out an aftermarket alarm but I doubt this would have prevented spark....

sounds like an Immobiliser in the alarm

 

run a wire +ve BAT to +ve on the coil  - see if it runs

 

(don't run for long as if ballested coil it will overheat)

 

on the alarm wiring , look for a +12v feed when ignition on - this MAY be the ignition feed note the colour - look for another  wire the same colour

 

check for a connection to coil +ve this MAY be the other part of the cut  wire

 

use caution when doing the above

 

the above is a guess as I havn't seen the car / wiring  -  best of luck

Edited by sledgehammer, 03 June 2014 - 08:36 PM.

[mggregg]

I eventually got it going! In the end my dad thought it was best to cut out the alarm (it was aftermarket anyway).

She runs surprisingly well actually. Now that it's going time to start stripping it down to the shell!

Thank you so much to everybody this is the best forum response ever