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 My 2cv 
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Firing on two.

Joined: June 22nd, 2014, 8:09 pm
Posts: 1179
Location: Reading, Berks UK
Post Re: My 2cv
Fuel quality is a thought. If it has ethanol in it, it has a shelf life of approximately 3 months according to something I read about scientists in the US.
It does absorb water a little.


December 23rd, 2022, 1:41 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: January 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm
Posts: 4695
Location: Disunited Kingdom
Post Re: My 2cv
Thanks chaps. The petrol was fresh on Saturday. I've just spent the afternoon with the car. It wouldn't start again, behaving like the battery was flat (crank slow and get slower until it just clicked and nothing). Battery was on 12.8v and dropped to 12.4v. I had to push the car backwards off the chippings of the front garden, where it currently lives, and onto the road in front of the Golf sitting on the driveway. Unfortunately, the ground is quite soft so the 2CV had sunk into the gravel which made it very, very difficult to push it. Must have took me half an hour to get it in line with the Golf so I could connect the jump leads. it then took ages to get it to finally start. I ended up swapping the original spark plugs back in, and the HT leads, after a few failed starts on one cylinder again. I even swapped the solid-state coil for the old original one that I keep in the boot of the car for emergencies (now back on the solid-state version). Anyway, it did eventually start on both cylinders and I shot off for a drive. I popped over to Tibberton to see Peter, my old-school retired mechanic, and he had a good look around the engine and ancillaries. That included doing a compression test on both cylinders to see if there was any appreciable difference between the two that could account for the 'down on one cylinder', but both showed 150psi. I will say that I was expecting decent showings from both sides as the barrels and pistons were only fitted 25,000 miles ago, at 250,000 miles. Peter isn't convinced it's the contact drum for the ignition barrel as he reckons I'd get the starting issues *all* the time, not just from cold. The engine has been stopped and started with the ignition key quite a few times in the past couple of hours, every time without a problem. To me that means the electronic ignition is working fine. I gave it more thought last night and realised that it couldn't be the ignition module as the system works on the wasted spark principle, so the unit sends a spark to both sides of the coil at the same time. There's two remaining suspects at the moment. 1: the starter motor... it's been making some interesting noises over the last few weeks. We're beginning to think it's on its way out and probably taking much more power to operate it, so less for the ignition/spark. 2: the battery... it might well be showing 12.8v, but does it still have sufficient cranking amps to perform its task?
I've now moved the Golf off the driveway and parked it on the street, with the 2CV taking its place so it'll be easier to move it.

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1988 built (1989 F-registered) Citroën 2CV-Six
2013 (63-Plate) VW Golf SE 1.4TSI BMT DSG7
1932 Morris Minor Open Two-Seater (The £100 car).
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December 23rd, 2022, 7:42 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: October 22nd, 2014, 10:59 pm
Posts: 1994
Location: South-Limburg
Post Re: My 2cv
It's better to have golf on the street.;-))
Try to put some oil on the bushings of the starter motor. See if it runs easier. Also check the spark plug leads. I had a connector that didn't make 100% good contact. So the spark eroded the connector even more.


December 23rd, 2022, 8:35 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: March 21st, 2013, 12:04 am
Posts: 1577
Location: Exeter, Devon
Post Re: My 2cv
You can make tests with jump leads :)

With black jump lead from -ve battery terminal to an engine/gearbox nut.
Does it crank/start any better? (if yes, its a heavy duty ground issue)
At the same time.
With red jump lead from battery +ve terminal direct to starter heavy duty terminal. Does it crank well? (it will try to crank instantantly without the key)

If the answer to both is no, then it's probably a starter motor issue.

There is also a seperate not so heavy ground from the battery to the bulkhead that could be looked at, if cranking is good, but not starting well.

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If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's probably electrical (or, an electric fuel pump!) ....


December 23rd, 2022, 9:42 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: January 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm
Posts: 4695
Location: Disunited Kingdom
Post Re: My 2cv
Yes, we've lubricated the front bearing with a squirt of oil. Just need to see if that improves/cures it. The HT leads were given a check over and both were found to have the electrical contacts further up the leads than is desirable. They're now making full contact with the spark plugs.

I'll see if the two jobs above have helped/cured the starting woes, and will look at the other suggestions if needed.

Thanks Chaps :)

Merry Christmas 8-)

_________________
1988 built (1989 F-registered) Citroën 2CV-Six
2013 (63-Plate) VW Golf SE 1.4TSI BMT DSG7
1932 Morris Minor Open Two-Seater (The £100 car).
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December 23rd, 2022, 9:52 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: January 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm
Posts: 4695
Location: Disunited Kingdom
Post Re: My 2cv
Still getting issues but there's been an improvement since I've started removing the HT leads and bring them into the house overnight. That may well just be a red herring though.

_________________
1988 built (1989 F-registered) Citroën 2CV-Six
2013 (63-Plate) VW Golf SE 1.4TSI BMT DSG7
1932 Morris Minor Open Two-Seater (The £100 car).
Image
Image


December 26th, 2022, 8:47 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: March 21st, 2013, 12:04 am
Posts: 1577
Location: Exeter, Devon
Post Re: My 2cv
Check the ohm on the HT leads. There is a ohms per foot value somewhere on google.....

Try the arcing in the dark thing.

Test stuff. Assume nothing. :D

_________________
If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's probably electrical (or, an electric fuel pump!) ....


December 26th, 2022, 11:06 pm
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Firing on two.
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Joined: January 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm
Posts: 4695
Location: Disunited Kingdom
Post Re: My 2cv
I have stood in the dark and looked very closely for any signs of arcing, but I've not seen any. Once it's running and banging on two cylinders it performs faultlessly.
I don't know how to test for Ohms. I'd better consult Mr. Google.

_________________
1988 built (1989 F-registered) Citroën 2CV-Six
2013 (63-Plate) VW Golf SE 1.4TSI BMT DSG7
1932 Morris Minor Open Two-Seater (The £100 car).
Image
Image


December 27th, 2022, 12:34 am
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Firing on two.
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Joined: March 21st, 2013, 12:04 am
Posts: 1577
Location: Exeter, Devon
Post Re: My 2cv
Probably not HT leads then. but for future reference google 'ohms per foot ht lead'. You set the multimeter to ohms. There may be different scales.

You could have tight valve clearances.

Edit

The more I think about it, the more likely I think it is. This happened in that really cold snap, and everything would have tightened up. When the engine warms up a bit, the valve can close properly. Hence the starting up fine once you have started it previously that day.

_________________
If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's probably electrical (or, an electric fuel pump!) ....


December 27th, 2022, 6:07 am
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Joined: January 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm
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Location: Disunited Kingdom
Post Re: My 2cv
Been having issues posting to this bloody awful forum platform. No other forum I use gives me so much grief.

_________________
1988 built (1989 F-registered) Citroën 2CV-Six
2013 (63-Plate) VW Golf SE 1.4TSI BMT DSG7
1932 Morris Minor Open Two-Seater (The £100 car).
Image
Image


December 27th, 2022, 6:12 pm
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