QuestionQUESTION: I just bought a Midget and it ran fine while I was test driving it. One day of ownership and the clutch slave cylinder went out. I bought a kit from VB that included a new master, slave, and line. Waited a week to get it, and replaced them all. One more day of driving and the carb started to act up. The car will crank fine (almost always on the first attempt), but immediately revs up and then drops off and dies. Usually, the car will not idle. It will run fine as long as it is in gear and being driven, but as soon as you let off of the accelerator and start coasting, the revs drop and the engine dies. I have driven it like this. At every light and stop sign, the car dies. I wait for the light or traffic, re-crank, and take off. Some days, if I keep the engine revved and let it warm up, it will idle without dying. Some days, it will die no matter what. Is this maybe a bad choke? Thanks for any help you can give.
ANSWER: Hi Ryan,
I agree, the choke sounds like the problem and is a common failure on the Stromberg carbs. Try adjusting the fast idle screw.
Howard
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QUESTION: Howard,
I just got the Midget back from a local shop (most around here don't really want to work on cars this old). The mechanic said he found that the EGR valve was leaking. He said this caused the car to run very lean (and said that the plugs verified that it was running very lean). He tried to get it off to clean it, but said he couldn't get it free and was afraid he might break it off. So, he plugged it with a freeze plug. He said this caused the car to idle very fast and so turned down the idle. What are the long term ramifications of having the EGR plugged? Will this hurt my car? Thanks,
Ryan
AnswerHi Ryan,
EGR Returns some exhaust gas into the intake to dilute the mixture mainly to cut down on NOX. Due to emission control the combustion chamber is over heated which tries to clean up the hydrocarbons and CO (Carbon Monoxide) However, this overheated combustion tends to burn the Nitrogen in the air which produces NOX, a more poisonous gas than the ones they were trying to clean up. By reticulating some exhaust into the intake it diluted the mixture to lower the temp.
If you eliminate EGR you allow the combustion chamber temp to raise which can cause other problems. Normally if you eliminate EGR you should richen the fuel mixture a little to lower the combustion chamber temp. This will allow you to run a little more ignition advance too. This will give you a little more horse power and cool the combustion chamber down a little. However, now you may be violating your state emission laws so you need to check with your local law to see if it is legal.
Howard
