I've been driving my Pop-pop's van for the last 2 weeks or so with all the snow we've been getting. On Thursday, I decided to take the Midget out for a short spin to make sure all was good in preparation for taking it to work the next day. It was supposed to be a (relatively) nice day.
I stupidly took off sans cell phone and in my sweat pants for a short bop around the block. When I was out, I decided to head up to Walgreens which is about 5 minutes up the road. But as luck would have it, the car began to sputter to a stop. I pulled off to the side of the road and a few attempts at starting it up failed. I checked the electrical connection from the fuel pump first, since that was the cause of similar symptoms twice in the past. It was fine. Then I noticed the fuel filter was quite full. I took it off, emptied, and reinstalled. Upon trying to start it, my battery died. I had my AAA card, but like I said, no phone. So the plan was to walk the mile or so home and come back with the van to jump it. (Unfortunately, I also didn't bring my battery jumper box.)
As I was pushing it off the road into the snow, a van pulled up behind me. A gentleman in a full business suit got out and eventually I agreed to let him jump my car. This was successful. We talked a bit and he followed me home to make sure I got home alright.
So this morning I decided I should replace this fuel filter. I bought and installed one and took it for a spin. This time I stayed within the immediate surrounding roads from my house. After a few minutes, it started to sputter. And just as my house came into view, the car went wild. The RPMs started to rise rapidly. I semi-blew a stop sign in order to get the car into my driveway and turn it off before (as far as I know) the thing blew up. I gave things a good lookover under the hood and saw nothing askew. I went ahead and swapped in the old fuel filter and that didn't fix the situation.
I called my Dad, who called a friend/client, who said it is most likely the carbs. The carbs were just tuned and the timing adjusted. So I knew it couldn't be the adjustments. Dad suggested I take a look at the butterfly discs inside each carb to make sure they weren't stuck in an open position. Now, as you may recall from Work Completed Part II, these carbs were purchased NEW in early 2007. And as you may also recall, one of these butterfly discs were incorrectly affixed when I received them. So I took off the air cleaners, but I couldn't see well enough inside of them. So before pulling them, Dad suggested I start the car and cover each carb opening one at a time. When I covered the front one, the engine settled to a more reasonable idle. Meaning the rear carb was fine (since the car operated normally with it working on its own). When I covered the rear carb, there was no change and the car still ran like nuts. So something was off with the front setup.
I removed it, looked inside, and there sat a loose spring. Upon closer examination, the two pieces used to keep the spring affixed to the disc were missing. Below is a shot of the new, broken carb next to my old carb. Quality item I got there for $300.
So now I'm in the process of finding someone who can fix this thing. But my main concern is where those missing pieces went. I dread that they went into the engine. I don't even want to think about that right now.
So as of now, I am both Midget-less and Mini-less. Things can only get better, right?
