TB42 fouling plugs

[simy]

So after spending the best part of the last 3 months at mechanics my GQ patrol is still not fixed. I will try and keep this short.

So it went to two different mechanics before this one it's at now. Basically starting very rough and then fouling plugs as too much fuel, once it was warm there were no problems. Long story short the mechanic that worked on it last stuffed it as he had no idea about carbys (even though he said he did).

The mechanic it's at now is great, but still the problem persists but differently. I had the carby reconditioned as it was stuffed, new plugs, leads. He kept it for an extra 2 weeks to make sure everything was right on cold start-up. I picked the car up on Friday and it started fine each morning here in Canberra (-2 on all three mornings). Today i noticed when i drove off it was missing when i accelerated too hard, i was braking into an intersection and it decided to stall. Wasn't fun in the wet trying to pull up with no brakes or steering. I managed to get her going again and revved it up for a while trying to free the plug up, NO GOOD. Every other time it has ever fouled a plug i could rev it up to 3000rpm and it would free up, no good today. I managed to drive it to the mechanics again, the mechanic is pretty adamant that it is the carby.

Compression is good and the timing is fine. Do you guys have any ideas? My mechanic seems to think crap is dropping out of the carby and causing it to foul up. He's going to have a look again but he is thinking a brand new carby. I took it back to him three weeks back after the carby was recoed and he got them to reco it again as they didn't do it right the first time apparently. This is getting really old really quick, im so over it now and am at my tether, almost ready to sell it. It's immaculate and never had problems in 10 years until now and it has me stuffed.

The mechanic it's at now is great, and has been awesome, when i took it back the second time he didn't charge me anything as it was supposed to be fixed the first time, the GQ will be staying with him. I'm just after some ideas from you guys, thanks for the help

[threedogs]

is it possible to put a Holley carbie on it??
How much gunk can one carbie hold It may be sucking gunk up from tank, remove and clean tank.
Renew fuel lines {cheap], Might even be a loose wire causing the candle to blow out ,stalling.
I think you can get rotor buttons for this engine, summing up I'm saying sucking up gunk from Tank.
Fix one thing at a time, then you'll know where problem is.

[taslucas]

The carbys in them can be very temperamental. It sucks that you cant be sure that its been reco'd properly. Did the reco include acid dipping? Simply putting a kit through one probably wont do much good. Have you looked at the condition of the Rotor button, dissy contacts, points, coil etc? Is the vaccum advance healthy?

[taslucas]

is it possible to put a Holley carbie on it??
How much gunk can one carbie hold It may be sucking gunk up from tank, remove and clean tank.
Renew fuel lines {cheap], Might even be a loose wire causing the candle to blow out ,stalling.
I think you can get rotor buttons for this engine, summing up I'm saying sucking up gunk from Tank.
Fix one thing at a time, then you'll know where problem is.

You can get holley kits for them. http://recarb.com.au/tb42-holley-330reconditioned-conversion-p-74.html But i think theyre probably too much trouble for what theyre worth. Especially considering its probably only something small that needs attention at the moment.
Yeah Threedogs is right, it may be gunk from the tank. Hows the filters look? (no doubt the mechanic would have checked them first)
Does it feel more like a lack of fuel or a lack of spark? It may be worth tracking down the wiring side of things. As said above; Dissy, coil etc and also all earths and connections

[threedogs]

@ lucas feeling its simple, or an item that been over looked service wise.
Not that many bits in a carbie , does this have the rubber diaphram in it.
Interested to know what it is now.

[taslucas]

I just know that they are very temperamental carbys. Probably simple to someone smarter than me lol. Running on gas will destroy them. Ive heard that backfires can damage the float. There is a small but complicated looking valve on the side that controls the air/fuel when deccelerating rapidly..... cant think what its called at the moment

[threedogs]

maybe concentrate on getting fuel system perfect first, filters ,tank ,pumps lines.
sounds like big bucks but most is just visual checks ATM. Once happy with the fuel delivery system
start on ignition system again not expensive if no problems found, but thats why we're doing this
in the first place. isolate each system until fault found.
@ Lucas call it a thingy for the moment lol
Not faulty PCV valve ???

[simy]

You can get holley kits for them. http://recarb.com.au/tb42-holley-330reconditioned-conversion-p-74.html But i think theyre probably too much trouble for what theyre worth. Especially considering its probably only something small that needs attention at the moment.
Yeah Threedogs is right, it may be gunk from the tank. Hows the filters look? (no doubt the mechanic would have checked them first)
Does it feel more like a lack of fuel or a lack of spark? It may be worth tracking down the wiring side of things. As said above; Dissy, coil etc and also all earths and connections

Thanks for the replys fellas, it's appreciated, i'm pretty over it as my pocket is about to get even emptier now.

So it has had 2 new fuel filters as the first one was a little dirty and then replaced it again after a couple of weeks and it was spotless. I'm not really interested in putting a holley carb on it, The mechanic said it was dipped and he said 99% of the time it works. He said crap may have dislodged and that it will continue to do so. I'm not keen on paying for a brand new carby and then finding thats not the problem. I will suggest to him tomorrow that maybe we should clean the tank.

So it only used to foul a plug on startup when the auto choke wouldn't engage and then rev low and put too much fuel in. This is why im unsure about it now, it started fine but then fouled the plug. It feels like lack of spark more than lack of fuel, misses and loss of power but still putting fuel in.

This mechanic is very clued on, really good bloke and been working on them for years, he has tried a lot of things, i just wanted to get some more ideas going. I think my biggest concern is that i will pay for a new carby and the problem will still be there.

All vaccum lines have been replaced as well, and a pertronix, so no points. Mechanic said coil and dizzy are fine.

[simy]

The main reason i don't think it has anything to do with fuel is because when it had the old problem at start-up in ran like a dream once warm, never had any dramas. If it was fuel it wouldn't cut in and out and only be a problem when it was cold. Also now moving to canberra where it is freezing it has magnified every problem times 1000.

I'm thinking i might try a new pertronix as well now? but if a pertronix went it wouldn't half work would it?

[taslucas]

yeah i wouldnt buy a new carby. If yours has been dipped it should be right. If theres nothing in the filter then i wouldnt worry about draining the tank. What do you mean exactly by "foul" a plug? I take it your not pulling them out each time to check them? Id say the dissy, points, coil could be worth a look. What does the the tacho look like when its missing? Does it flicker eratically? If so that may suggest an electrical miss

[simy]

Yeh im not pulling the plugs to check as they usually sort themselves out, i guess to much fuel is going in and then not sparking and causing the plug to foul. When it misses the tacho stays in the same spot, but it's only a very very quick miss, jolts the car and that's the end of it. It doesn't have points as i fitted a pertronix electronic ignition about two years ago, i might buy a new one and try that.

I'll talk to the mechanic tomorrow arvo and see what he says, i will double check that the dizzy and coil are fine. It's just that my gut is telling me its not the carby as it doesn't seem like something the carby would do.

The car is petrol only as well, not duel fuel.

[taslucas]

Yeah could be the pertronix. Do you have the old points that you could throw in there to try?

If too much fuel is going in then it must be the carby? But its doubtful that the newly refurbished carby is at fault.
Id be looking at the spark side of things. My Pertronix (ignitor2) was faulty out of the box when i fitted it. It would be fine at start up but 5 minutes into the drive it would skip and miss badly.

[Ben-e-boy]

Have you run a vacuum gauge through it?

[simy]

Update,

Got the car back today, had the fuel tank cleaned, it was completely filthy, had heaps of sandy like stuff in the bottom of it that was fluro purple. $200 to fill it back up wasn't fun when i had just filled it up before i gave it back to them. Also put new plugs in again, but used the ones recommended to me on the other forum.

It seems to be running fine but tomorrow morning on cold start up will be the big test, im not convinced as of yet that it is fixed.

What leads are you guys using? and what it the best coil to use that goes well with the pertronix?

[taslucas]

hopefully thats the fix mate.

as for leads, i dont think the leads make too much difference. Just a good quality set of 6mm should be fine?

in regards to the coil, which model pertronix do you have? The pertronix Ignitor 2 recomends a high voltage coil

[threedogs]

How is the oil level in your Patrol??
Any updates at all
Filthy fuel tank eh

[simy]

It's just a pertronix 1.

It drove perfect today, best it has ever run at idle as well. It used to have a very slight miss and that seems to be gone as well. Loaded it up when it was cold and planted the foot, didn't miss or fart then either. Fingers crossed for a good start tomorrow.

Oil level is fine, engine is 100% as is the carby and fuel system. If it stuffs up again it can only be electrical


hopefully thats the fix mate.

as for leads, i dont think the leads make too much difference. Just a good quality set of 6mm should be fine?

in regards to the coil, which model pertronix do you have? The pertronix Ignitor 2 recomends a high voltage coil