Hi

Ive got a 50,000 mile 2cv thats recently had electronic ignition installed. Whether thats relevant to my problem I dont know.

On its first fast outing (60 mph+) while overtaking at 70, I started to lose power and had to limp home at 30-40 mph. There was a smell of burning oil at this speed.

The nice chap at the 2CV shop said it sounded like it was overheating. So I removed the muffler and took it out for another spin.

Same problem everytime I hit 70mph. Car just lost power and kangarood home.

While the bonnet was up I noticed that there were loads of air bubbles in the fuel line coming from the fuel pump and the fuel filter capsual was only a quarter full.

Since then, the car now loses power and dies, even at 40mph now. Then 10 mins later its fine.

Its currently in the garage. A new fuel pump made no difference.

So my questions are these:

Is it normal for air bubbles to be in the fuel line or have I got a split somewhere?

or is the car overheating? And if so, whats the solution? (fan is working and everything behind looks clean)

Thanks for any advice.

check the bit of fuel pipe on the chassis leg as that tends to split. mine did that and i had similar problems that you have described.

We need a sticky for this

Have you got clear pipe between the fuel pump and the carb, if so and you can see bubbles coming up the pipe then that's a problem. Having air in the fuel filter is quite normal, although I'd expect it to be a bit more than 1/4 full.

I'd expect that there is a leak in the fuel pipe and air is being sucked in, check the section down on the chassis leg under the left hand cylinder head, but if it was this I'd expect there to be some sign of fuel leaking out. More likely, the usual culprit is a short length of rubber pipe on top of the fuel tank that has split and is allowing air to be sucked in.

The resulting fuel starvation will be what's causing the engine to run hot. Not sure what you're referring to as a 'muffler', I believe that's the american word for an exhaust silencer. If you mean the grill muff, then it should be removed when the ambient temperature is over 10 deg C, I'm not sure where you are but it's certainly that in most of the UK.

Is the ignition timed up right? Electronic ignition in itself won't cause over heating, too much ignition advance will.

have you had the car long?
has it been re chassised?
who fitted the electronic Iggy and what make?
which "2cv shop"?

classic symptom of "hapenth of tar" the old bit of rubber on top of the tank may have perished and split allowing the fuel pump to draw air as the bit at the top of the syphon is at the lowest pressure.

An in line fuel filter never seems to be more than 1/3 full as long as the end of the "dip tube" in the upstream side is in the fuel thats not your problem

poorly set up electronic ignition can still lead to "Pinking" or "knock" and some of the units have a range of advance that is slightly more than the original points and may have too much advance at motorway speeds.

combined with a weak mixture from the fuel starvation then its far from ideal for the engine.

Sean

I'd second (or third or fourth!) the above re. fuel starvation, and agree it's probably that bit of pipe. When you get these symptoms, does it seem to recover almost straight away if you pull over and let it idle for a bit?

Shamelessly pinching a tip Ken has posted a few times, it's worth checking the level of fuel in the carb when you're experiencing problems. You'll have to see how much fuel is in the carb when you're having problems, so when it's struggling at speed, you want to pull over and kill the engine as soon as possible. Don't pull the key out while you're moving!!

You can then remove the top of the carb (six screws) and have a look at the fuel level. It might be worth having a look before you leave home as well, so you can see what it should look like. When I had fuel starvation problems recently, the level in the float chamber was low enough that the secondary jet wasn't covered up!

I don't know where in the country you are, but you REALLY don't want the muff on at the kind of temperatures we've been having daahn sarf over the last week or two.

Official Citroen temp for the swap was about 15deg. I reckon that's a bit high.



That's not a problem.



If you've got a split in the pipe, you'll find it'd suck air not fuel. Next time it starts coughing & farting, dip the clutch & turn the ignition off, then coast to a stop. Take the lid off the carb (it's not as scary as it looks), and see if there's any fuel in there.



I'd be looking at the timing as a start, especially given the recent ignition swap.

Check the vaccum in the tank running the car without the petrol cab

Hi Everyone.

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

The consensus seems to be a fuel line split, causing fuel starvation then overheating, so thats where I'm going to start.

In reply to Sean and Luke - Ive only had the car a few months, its got its original chassis, the 2cv shop is The 2CV Shop.co.uk, they supplied the iggy and a local auto electrics specialist fitted it. (the timing is ok).

Yes the car recovers very quickly when I stop.

Ive checked my fuel cap is beathable, so I dont think its a vacuum and that wouldnt explain the bubbles in the fuel line would it??

Thanks again.

Rob

Darren Arthur, used to run Frome 2cv, UK reseller of Cassis stuff.