Just managed to get my Vitesse running again, sounds sweet!

But.......
I have to pump the throttle while cranking the engine to get her started, is this a common problem with the EFI cars?
Also the engine will stall when the throttle is pressed when running, to compensate you have to pretty much bury the pedal to keep the engine going.
As yet I haven't had the chance to get her warmed up, I was going to give her a bit of a road test(just down my street & back!) after she has warmed up, but dont want her to stall in the middle ofthe road & certainly don't want it doing that on the way to the MOT station!(which is way accross town!)

Any thoughts?

Chris, Observations in RED

chris_derby wrote:

I have to pump the throttle while cranking the engine to get her started, is this a common problem with the EFI cars? No! It sounds like one of the cold start aids may not be not functioning. EITHER The CSI and or TT switch. OR Temp sensor is malfunction OR EAV is not fully open OR Rogue air leak weakening the starting mixture. OR Ignition timing off. Also the engine will stall when the throttle is pressed when running, to compensate you have to pretty much bury the pedal to keep the engine going. Again sounds like an airleak causing too weak mixture so burying the throttle richens it and keeps it alive (just). As yet I haven't had the chance to get her warmed up, I was going to give her a bit of a road test(just down my street & back!) Get it warmed up on the drive if possible and see if things settle down sufficiently to make it idle, but you dont need a road test if its AFU. TWO WAYS FORWARD Use a scattergun approach on any component under suspicion OR Redo all the air leak tests and methodical component tests as specified. Don't want it doing that on the way to the MOT station!(which is way across town!) Perhaps not worth the risk, and with the mixture playing up it may not get thro the emissions test anyway. Any thoughts? The majority of all Efi faults are due to electrical connection problems and rogue air leaks so its a good bet to address those issues first.

Apparently the temp sensor was at fault a while ago, according to the guy who owned the car before me, & I'm told he replaced that, I will see if I can get my hands on another one of those & also another thermotime switch.
How do you check if the cold start injector is working or not?
The air leak thing makes sense, it does make some odd kind of sucking sound just as the revs start to die off...
Ignition timing is the next thing to be checked, I'm just not sure which cylinder is number 1, as I need to hook my strobe light to it!

Just a quick thing for you, I tried altering the idle speed but there seems to be no change in idle speed at all, no matter how I adjust the idle speed screw....

Ramon, just a quick one for you, just had the rubber pipe off that connects the AFM to the plenum body, & the throttle pipe is full of muck....
Also poked a screwdriver into what I suspect is the hole for the idle adjuster, also full of s***e.....

Had the plenum off this afternoon, its full of muck! The inside of it is literally coated with oil & dirt. I assume the oil is from the flame trap/breather pipe?

Ok, update on the Vitesse running malarkey!
Had the plenum and the trumpet base off, you wouldn't believe how dirty they both were!! Cleaned them up as best I could, put it all back together, making sure that the mating faces between the plenum & trumpet base were mega clean, managed to get her started again this afternoon, still running rough, got the timing adjusted & now she runs like clockwork!
Still a bit of an issue with starting though, still need to pump the pedal to get her going....

Those damn oil breathers muck everything up. After 100k miles of driving the plenum and intake look horrible. A good idea is to fit catch tanks to the breathers so the grease doesnt enter the plenum so easily.

Well, think I need to have the plenum off again, so I can put some instant gasket on the mating faces, just to make sure it's sealed & no air is leaking in that way.
Had a go at cleaning out the galleries, but still no control over the idle speed!!
For some reason the idle speed increases a little bit when unscrewing the idle screw, although removing the idle screw completely from the plenum made it hiss...
Does screwing in the idle adjuster slow the idle speed down & unscrewing it speed the idle up?
Yeah was thinking there might still be an air leak, after I got the timing sorted I could still here an intake hiss every time I gave it some gas, but couldn't pinpoint it from listening, I thought that might just be coming from the intake?

Ok, another update!
Had the front wheels back on this evening, so I thought I would give her a quick up the close & back again to see if everything was alright.
Also today got another water temp sensor, believed to be good & from a working set up, this was duly fitted BEFORE the road test. Also, I started the engine before changing temp sensors, & removed the connector from the in situ sensor, the engine revs picked up straight away, but fell again when the connector was replaced.
After fitting the replacement sensor, engine was started, put into reverse & backed onto the road, straight away the engine started to misfire quite badly, back into drive & back onto the drive, still misfiring, then stalling.
Removed the connector, started ok but still misfired, replaced the connecotr, stalled straight away, tried altering the idle speed, but to no avail, unscrewed the CSI to see if it was firing when the connector to the water temp sensor was removed, but no joy, am assuming the CSI is not working, have a spare...
Any thoughts guys?

The cold-start injector will only fire when the engine is cranking, it
will cease once the ignition key is returned to position '2'. It will
also only fire for a period of time governed by the coolant
temperature - to a maximum of 12s, and never above 35C.

Ok, update to the dodgy EFI situation!
Fitted a replacement Cold Start Injector, which now fires, also have obtained and fitted another Water Temp Sensor. It's still running rough though, I will replace the Thermotime Switch later this week....
Should all of the rubber hoses around the plenum all have jubilee clips on them? As a few of them don't, & I've discovered a small split in one of them.....