2.0 Pinto running poorly

[cjhillman]

Hey all,

I've got a 2.0 Pinto with a sierra electronic ignition and weber 32/36 carb (auto Choke) . It's not a fan of first starts and likes to backfire if you give it too much gas. Once you get it going it likes to cut out occasionally if you press the foot break or the revs drop etc I just took it for a spin and its really hesitant now when you accelerate (changed the HT leads yesterday) I havent been using it in my 2 weeks of owner ship due to doing other jobs and life...
Its all new to me and I'm trying to diagnose it best i can with my limited knowlage. I'm really short on cash since buying the car so i've got to make every part count if i'm replacing things. So far i've only swapped the HT leads and waiting on a distributor cap to arrive. I'm guessing i should check the timing or maybe mark it and adjust it slightly to see if that changes? Anyone got any suggestions where i should start so i don't just end up chasing my tail?

Cheers
Chris

[fraudownersclub]

Check carburettor ie jets rubber diagram etc. You can get replacement parts in kit form from e bay

[nickwheeler]

That sort of fault has always been ignition related in my experience.If it's had electronic fitted, go over the wiring carefully, paying particular attention to the earths: they need to be firmly BOLTED to good clean metal. Self tapping screws into sheetmetal simply aren't good enough.

[Rebuilda]

Diagnosis by parts swappage is expensive. In my experience its normally the points wearing or getting burnt or the dizzy 'slipping', then spark plugs get dirty and it snowballs down hill from there.
Dirty petrol can also grot the plugs up really quickly.

[kevins]

I'd start with the basics, ignition timing, is the choke operating correctly,are the plugs clean, does it have the right coil and are there any manifold leaks.

[squonk]

The symptoms you describe could point to a lean mixture. This may well be due to an air leak somewhere on the induction side. Before spending any money I'd take a look at the condition of any hoses that are attached to the carburetor and inlet manifold (vacuum advance, brake servo etc).

Also check that the vacuum advance is working by taking the pipe off the carburetor end and sucking on it, see if the base plate in the distributor moves as you suck - a split diaphragm would not only cause an air leak but would also prevent the ignition from advancing.

[dodgerover]

Check the pipe that runs from the crankcase vent to the inlet manifold, they will often split and cause an airleak along with other issues, spray it with wd40 or similar whilst it is idling and see it the engine note changes

[spookies]

another thing to possibly look at are the valve clearances. if has been run on unleaded and does not have hardened seats you will get valve seat recession. i had a sierra which had this issue and the symptoms were similar to yours.

[cjhillman]

Only had chance to whip out one spark plug today and check... completely black with soot ! The manual says over rich mixture so i guess it'll be carb settings then. Pervious owner said he'd rebuilt it so i'll probably have to go over all this again.

Couldn't get the first plug out which was a little worrying, any tips on how not to sheer them off when they get stuck like this? 

Other news i went to a garage the other day about something else on the car and they think the coil has been hot wired as the ballast might be   all rocket science to me at the moment but they also told me go away and look at the plugs first. 

[kevins]

For the stuck plug try it with a hot engine and try doing it up a little first, being an iron head you should be able give it a fair bit of brute force before you strip any threads.

does look a bit rich but it's fairly glean around the electrode, could just be lots of cold starts and short runs, I assume it is a carb with the flap type auto choke?

If so you should be able to see if it is working with the air cleaner off, when cold the flap should be shut then as the engine warms up it opens, the flap is sprung loaded so will open with the airflow, you will need to turn the engine off to see where it sits.

[cjhillman]

Cheers for the info, I got them all out and clean them up... i was just being a bit soft i think.

As the ignition system has been upgraded from a Capri to a Sierra one, does this change the gap for the plugs? I've been gapping them as the manual says (0.25 of an inch) but i guess thats for a points car? or doesnt this change.

[kevins]

I hope its not 0.25" !!

Either should work but the optimum would be with the sierra gap, that is assuming it also has the sierra coil, many of the electronic ignitio set ups used specific coils, if you still have the capri ome this could be your problem. If i remember rightly the electronic set ups used a discharging capacitor and thus a coil with lower primary resistance.