The Alan Bird Guide To Shooting the Troublesome Cats

Once you are satisfied that the problem is with the carburettor you may find the following process of elimination and checks wil restore your cars youthful good performance. We also assume that by now most of the dealer modifications have been done and we are looking for faults due to wear & tear, and not those inherited from new Check all rubber vacuum hoses for correct order of connection, detatchment, cracks and leaks. Especialy cars with black hoses. S ee Fig. 1 Fault Not found l

All Faults Riva & Samara

Fault Found

Remove air filter pan

Proceed to next Club event.

Choke not working properly

Check screws around top of carb (5) often come lose Check choke linkages are not seized or bent, and have not become disconnect ed. Check solenoids are tight in carb body Check choke is fully open when engine is hot Fault not found

Note: if screws have been lose for a prolonged period damage may have occurred to the gasket. Fault Found

Runs Ok at high revs Poor at idle / low revs Runs OK at low / mid revs Poor at mid / high revs

Note: When doing the following operation care should be taken not to touch the wires on anything as a short will damage the AFR ( 244 ). Start engine and stall leave ign. switched on, You should hear two solenoids ticking, Check by pulling off the wir es one by one to establish they are both ticking, if one is not ticking swap the wire to establish it is the solenoid at fault not the wiring see note REM. Replace solenoid if not ticking. Top so lenoid controls idle / mid revs. ( Idle grey wire ) Bottom solenoid controls mid / high revs. ( Main blue wire )

Fault not found

Fault Found

Runs Ok at high revs Poor at idle / low revs

Engine at full working temp . Attach a dwell meter to the top solenoid. Start engine Wait 30 seconds . Reading should be approx 4 6 Max 50 Min 38 adjust this with the mixture screw . See Fig. 3 Below 38 is too lean, this will send the Lambda reading high c ausing MOT fail and poor idling, and will cause engine to stall when returning to idle from high revs . Above 50 is to rich MOT fail and can bring on Check Engine light.

Fault not found

Fault Found

Erratic idle

Remove carb! Check nuts on the end of the throttle spindles are tight to avoid end float. Check both throttle butterflies seat properly when closed . Unscrew stop screw. Loosen screws on spindles let butterflies slap shut. Retighten spindle screws turn i n throttle stop screw until it just touches arm then screw in a further 1 turn for Riva. 1.5 turns for Samara. Check condition of gaskets.

Fault not found

Fault Found

Heavy misfire/hesitation when moving away from junctions

Accelerator jet. Remove top of carb! This operation should have been done under warranty. The longer brass spray tube should be rerouted to spray down the main barrel. Pull out the whole brass unit and bend accordingly ensuring that both tubes spray cleanl y down the barrel and dont spray onto the sides

While you have the top off the carb you should also check the following as these cover some faults with similar symptoms

Misfire/hesitation on acceleration mid range

Emulsion tubes & jets situated in -between the two barrels. Take out individually to avoid confusion . These often come lose remo ve tube then the jet below check for dirt. The main jet in the barrel can be replaced with an .85 in a 1.3 engine or a 100 in a 1.5 engine Samara and a 100 in a Riva , but only if no other faults are found and misfire/hesitation persists. Check second choke is opening . Carb off car! Or engine switched off. Hold the choke fully open and apply full throttle second c hoke should open . If it doesnt see Fig. 2 and proceed as follows: Remove and discard lever A Alter spring on shaft B so it pushes and holds point C into D so it catches lug every time throttle is pressed. Also check the distributor vacuum advance is w orking, and the diaphragm is not split

Runs OK but lacks Zip / power

Dist. vacuum unit

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

B C
Correct connection of vacuum pipes Riva & Samara Standard Jet Sizes Riva Samara 1.3/1.5 80 23/165

Fig. 3
Primary Barrel Main Jet Emulsion Jet Secondary Barrel Main Jet Emulsion Jet Mixture Screw Solenoids Idle (Upper ) Grey Main ( Lower ) Blue 85 ZD/165

110 ZC/135

100 ZC/125

50 97

50 (45 in 1.1) 85

Very Rich, Lots of black smoke, eyes watering

This usually indicates that some soldier has dropped out of a drilling near the front lower part of the carb, this can be replac ed but is very tricky. Phone for advice.

Tip: These cars benefit from a very high speed drive to the M.O.T. station to give the engine and cat a good clean out before
they are emission tested !!!

Engine check light on

Check the earth connection ( black) on the AFR unit is good If this remains lit after all checks and adjustments are complete an d the car runs ok the AFR (under the passenger seat ) may need replaced. This unit is non adjustable but can be checked by an e lectrician ( TV. repair man) for dry joints

R.E.M

This is usually fitted and normally gives no trouble but it can be disconnected if under suspicion, i.e. if the carb solenoids are not giving a strong clear tick, or if you are ha ing trouble at the MOT station.

v-

High Lambda Reading

The lambda reading is a theoretical calculation taken from the C.O. and the H.O. So any of the previously mentioned faults can c ause a high reading. Also a common cause of a high lambda reading is a leak on the exhaust system, even the smallest blow at a j oint can be enough to cause a fail.

The lambda sensor, thermo valves, w.o.t. switch, and road wheels! are very reliable and rarely the cause of any problems. The m ain problem when repairing these carbs is diagnosis as many of the faults cause the same symptoms, or is it that many of the sym ptoms have many faults ? Even after many years of fixing hundreds of these carbs we find that in most cases we end up doing al l of the checks and adjustments to achieve a satisfactory result in all driving situations.

Alan Bird

ECU now 70 + vat Cat now 70 + vat Solenoid 13 + vat Tel: 017687 79794 Fax: 017687 7997 E- mail alan@alanbirdcarsales.fsnet.co.uk