Post rebuild/storage woes

[durtkillon]

I rebuit my stock 1.7L and installed a stock 1.7L DJet from the correct vintage (1972) last year before I was sent on a one year business assignment. I remember the engine running very well after timing, adjusting the dwell and valves. There was a fuel line leak, however, under the tank, so I drained the tank that is how the car sat for one year.

Just last week, I repaired the leak, reinstalled the tank and added four gallons of premium gas to the tank. It fired up right away, but ran like doo doo at low rpms. I then drove it out of the garage and it had no low end power, but rand well at 2000 or more rpm. I checked the contact points, rotor, cap plugs, dwell and timing and all of them very good. The dwell did not move at high rpms. I then ran the motor again and it is running like crap at all rpms. In fact, it won't even get up to 2000 rpm without stalling. No backfiring. Plugs were clean. It barely starts now.

The vacuum lines are all brand new and tight. I had them inspected at Stuttgart Motors in Phoenix. These were redone last year when it was running well. I don't see any leaks.

Maybe I pinched the fuel line? I'll try to check that tonight. I'm thinking of checking the MPS for vaccuum, replacing the fuel filter and condenser, inspecting/cleaning the injector (maybe rust got in the injector?). I also noticed that there is a lot of up and down play in the contact breaker. Is this normal? I think the breaker is brand new from the FI install. The plugs were clean, but I did not gap them since that was done at install. Any inputs? I'm terrible at troubleshooting.

[hardflex]

does it sound like it's dead on 1 or more cylinders completely? if so, i'd suspect a fouled plug or injector in that cylinder. If the misfiring is more random, than it could be fuel supply, or corroded injector grounding.

I've run engines on old gas and fouled spark plugs in short order. they look good, just don't spark.

Also, a tank that stands empty can build up condensate, so maybe it inhaled a bunch of water into the injectors.

Good luck with it

[durtkillon]

I didn't have time to do the things I said I would do yet, so nothing has changed since yesterday.

The motor doesn't seem to misfire really. It just idles low after start-up and dies if I punch the gas now.

I have a set of good plugs. I'll throw them in. I'm also replacing the condensor - it looks very antique. The contact breaker has a bunch of slop in it. I bought a new one and it is much tighter.

I'm not concerned too much about water. I live in Albuquerque, about a mile up in the air. Raisens turn crunchy here. Also, the tank was removed and empty before re-installing it.

I'm curious where I can find a decent fuel pressure guage. Are there models that you can install and leave in line? Pep Boys carries a GM/Ford type that threads into a metal line port. It is for diagnosis purposes only. It also looked like junk and was the size of a softball.

[Jake Raby]

WATCH THAT OLD FUEL!!

Dead gas turns into a lacquer that will seize intake valves in a heartbeat, just from gumming up the valve stems and guides. I have seen this so many times, get taht old fuel out of the tank ASAP>

[kellzey]

Replace fuel lines and check/replace all vacuum lines. They can deterioirate over one year.

Clean the injectors and replace the plugs. Old fuel = laquer goop.

[durtkillon]

I found the source of my problem. I had the fuel filter installed backwards. EEEK. I hate to think of the crap I may have flushed out of that thing. There may have been a kink in the fuel line as well. In any event, it was related to work that I recently did on the car.

Anyway. I was determined to find the root cause of the problem, so I tested each change I made along the way. It had nothing to do with timing. I installed a new filter and it fired up and ran beautifully.

My learnings are as follows:

1. If you have the tank out, do all the maintenance that you can.
2. When working on fuel lines, triple check your work.
3. If the car runs worse after you made repairs to it, don't take it out on you family. Just fix it right.