British-Cars.org

Welcome to the DMR Site for British Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite General - Fidget, the amazing self -healing Midget

Bit the bullet today and got out there under the bonnet. spurred on by the discovery that clutch and brake pedals have miraculously risen from the dead, with the added benefit of gear selection!. No idea how and why this should be, but I am not going to let it bother me!

Brakes seem to work, in that they stop the car rolling when I apply my foot to them -although it does squirt brake fluid all over the floor when you pump the brake - but I was bargaining on having to repipe anyway - so not really unduly bothered about that.

Engine turns over, and seems to be trying very hard to fire, but no fuel. Investigations revealed that the fuel lines have been replaced with rubber hose - is this normal? They had left the original metal pipe in place, which kept shorting, and led to a bit of a fireworks display, and me banging the back of my head on the underside of the bonnet and swearing horribly- resolved by removing it and lobbing it at the scrap metal pile in the back of my garage

Turns out that the fuel pump is not sucking - did a bit of sucking for it and got a lovely mouthful of fresh fuel with no crud in it - which I was as happy about as a person with a mouthful of petrol could be. When there's fuel in the fuel pump, it blows it out quite happily, but I guess a new one would be the smart move. Have to order one today - am all fired up now, and am going to stop being a wimp and just bloody do it.

Feeling immeasurably better about the car now - although slightly bamboozled about the self-fixing brakes and clutch!
Ally

Sounds good Ally, its always satisfying to make progress and solve a few problems!

Malcolm
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Yes - except for the weird feeling that I didn't actually solve anything, and the car had just given itself a metaphorical talking to, and popped up all the bits that were stuck down!!

Any thoughts about fuel pumps? Standard or electronic?
Ally

Sounds like an air leak the pump can not cope with?

As mutch of the pipe should be metal!
From the tank all the way forward could be metal on a 1500 so I'd make it like that.
The rubber hose is a lot weaker in all the hidden places.
A mechanical fuel pump should be fine on a std engine
Onno Könemann

I can tell that the fuel lines used to be metal - because they are all still there - just not attached any more! I guess they were changed because there was a leak somewhere.

Ally

Bit odd that your original metal pipes "kept shorting". Implies that the engine is not properly earthed and it was earthing via the fuel pipes. Combination of sparks and fuel could be interesting! You need to check for an earth strap somewhere, connecting between engine and chassis. Usually near one of the front engine mounts.

If you unscrew the top of the fuel pump you may find that the diaphragm inside is split. They can be replaced, bit pumps are cheap and it is probably best to just replace the whoile unit. Make sure you get the correct one. There are two different lengths of lever arm. If yours currently has a phenolic spacer between the pump body and the engine, (later cars) then it will need the pump with the longer lever arm, else it won't reach the cam lobe and won't pump properly.
Guy

I did think the fireworks display was a bit peculiar, and inconvenient! Will check for earth strap. Also had a spark and a puff of green* smoke when trying to reattach the steering wheel centre - that made me jump a bit too!
New fuel pump ordered already, and I am reasonably confident that its the right one. Holding up the old one to compare with the shiny new one on laptop screen may not be the scientific way of course!

Another Q. The pump I have taken off appeared to be a sealed unit, but the new ones have bolts, which indicate that they come apart (both sorts - different size levers)Am I missing something?

* It wasn't actually green of course ;-)
Ally

From memory - and its awhile now since I had a 1500 - the pump shgould have a single phillips drive screw on the top. Maybe a hex headed screw. Sounds like your old one was already a replacement item!
Guy

Thats exactly what the existing one has. By sealed unit I meant that you cant get at the lower part of it. Could be wrong, mine is pretty well coated with very old oil! It's the new one that seem to have bolts.
Ally

This thread was discussed on 13/11/2011

MG Midget and Sprite General index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now