project Saved Mazda 323

[vulgalour]

Good compression and fault identified as one cyinder is a good thing, it should help diagnose the issue.  Clean/replaced rotor arm, same with the distributor cap (check for hairline cracks and corroded points) and that might fix it.  Have you tried swapping the weak sparking lead to another cylinder?  If the problem moves with it then it's probably the lead, if not it's probably related to rotor arm and/or distributor cap I'd've thought.

[DoctorRetro]

13 minutes ago, SiC said:

Is the rotor arm incorrect? I.e. does it not fit?

If it does fit, I wouldn't dismiss that it has an incorrect rotor arm on at the moment!

It didn't slide on, but then as I'd seen it look different, I didn't push hard. 

Here is the same one as mine.... 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-ROTOR-ARM-FOR-MAZDA-121-323-626-B2200-276/112775875338?epid=734301367&hash=item1a41f74b0a:g:sbAAAOxyDgRRAD2E

[Rovorsche]

The new one you have looks like it could fit two different types of Distributor shaft, one being a standard D shape and one "With Wings" (but not promoted by Claire Rayner)

If it snugs down with measured persuasion it should do the job.

[purplebargeken]

The compression numbers seem okay to me. I reckon dizzy cap, rotor arm and a duff HT lead. 

I have been known to be wrong though.

It's ok, I lose keys too. I am also a prawn.

[egg]

The lower one is the rotor arm off my 323, Z5 engine...

[DoctorRetro]

Nope, doesn't fit at all. Internal diameter is too small for my shaft. Ooh err

[DoctorRetro]

 

 

I've turned the idle up (intentionally, to try to see what's causing the issue) and twiddled a couple of screws, but no point getting the mixture right until I've eliminated anything misfire related. Will get the correct rotor arm on payday. 

It's definitely running too rich as the plugs are already sooted up. Oh, and this. 

 

[sloth]

air leak. check carb base gasket. spray some brake cleaner at the gaskets etc and see if the idle goes up.  and it needs plugs as its super rich, theyll be fucked now. 

[sierraman]

Don’t throw parts at it while you haven’t properly cleaned and set the carb up. Clean plugs up with some spirits, so long as the electrodes haven’t damaged whack them back in. 

[sierraman]

Could be any number of problems with the carb, varnish and general clogged upness or something like the float 

[strangeangel]

4 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Could be any number of problems with the carb, varnish and general clogged upness or something like the float 

 

This, you wouldn't believe the amount of crust and shite that came out of the beige BX's carb when I cleaned it. As SM says, try this before spending any more £££.

[dollywobbler]

Mucky water out of the exhaust isn't a surprise given it's not going out for long runs.

[DoctorRetro]

4 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Mucky water out of the exhaust isn't a surprise given it's not going out for long runs.

That's not water, it's black powder. ?

 

Got it running a bit better today by bypassing some of spaghetti junction of vacuum pipes and wires behind the carb. 

Drove round the block again once it was warmed up. It feels like there are 3 faults. 

1. Slight misfire - rotor arm should cure. 

2. Overfueling (quite obvious) 

3. Bogs down on harder acceleration - perhaps timing or advance issue? 

 

Funnily enough, tried to remove the carb to take it inside and clean, but it wouldn't budge. I'm going to leave well alone for now as it doesn't appear to be leaking from the base plate, and I don't have a replacement gasket for it... 

[DoctorRetro]

This is tempting - how bad can it be? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carburettor-Carb-Fit-for-Mazda-E3-323-Familia-PICK-UP-Ford-Laser-82/113683986128?hash=item1a7817f6d0:g:h5gAAOSwzaJX4ijc

Looks simpler that what is on it currently... 

 

[loserone]

"we promise NOT to fit your car perfectly".

 

Oh really!

[egg]

I think I'd rather pay for an hour or two of a professional's time at this stage...

[DoctorRetro]

33 minutes ago, egg said:

I think I'd rather pay for an hour or two of a professional's time at this stage...

Have you seen how much a shrink charges nowadays? 

Oh... Not that type of professional? 

[strangeangel]

1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

This is tempting - how bad can it be? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carburettor-Carb-Fit-for-Mazda-E3-323-Familia-PICK-UP-Ford-Laser-82/113683986128?hash=item1a7817f6d0:g:h5gAAOSwzaJX4ijc

Looks simpler that what is on it currently... 

 

 

If it's anything like the Keihin copies China Ltd. make for old Honda scooters, then the answer to that is "Very bad".

 

Seriously, I wouldn't spend another penny on it until the existing carb has been cleaned. If it won't come off easily when it's unbolted then it probably just needs a gentle sideways tap to unstick it from the gasket.

[sierraman]

You can make up a new gasket from some gasket material 

[DoctorRetro]

I think the weirdest bit for me is that turning what I believe to be the mixture screw makes no difference to how it runs. 

Would there be some sort of tamper proof pin to stop the mixture screw going all the way in? 

[TrabbieRonnie]

What I know about carbs isn't much, but after ten years of Trabant ownership, and various two-stroke bike shite, every problem I've had has been air leaks at the gasket or dirty/sticking components.  I would take it off, strip and clean (solvent aerosols are good for doing the jets etc), if possible resetting the mixture/idle screws to where you found them originally.  I can't see what else you can do, you have done sterling work this far, understand its a bit of a slog though...

[strangeangel]

15 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

I think the weirdest bit for me is that turning what I believe to be the mixture screw makes no difference to how it runs. 

Would there be some sort of tamper proof pin to stop the mixture screw going all the way in? 

 

Unless you suspect that someone has fiddled with it previously, I would reset the mixture screw to where you found it - it won't have moved on its own.

 

Take the carb off and clean it - there's no point trying anything else until you can be satisfied that it's not jammed full of varnish and crap from the bottom of the tank.

 

 

 

[red5]

2 hours ago, TheDoctor said:

I think the weirdest bit for me is that turning what I believe to be the mixture screw makes no difference to how it runs. 

Would there be some sort of tamper proof pin to stop the mixture screw going all the way in? 

Don't turn anything else until you are sure what it/whatever does. Got a picture of carb?

[red5]

A - idle screw

B - mixture screw (tamper proof cap probably long gone but...

[Zelandeth]

Entirely possible the adjustment won't do much or anything if the idle jet is full of crap.
 

At the very least pull the top off, get all the jets out and clean those and blow all the passages through with carb cleaner.

 

Don't drop any of the jets down the back of the engine.

I'd be looking to do this as the absolute minimum before going any further.

 

[Parky]

A couple of degrees of advance on that dizzy might help with the bogging down on acceleration

[DoctorRetro]

The whole 'don't adjust anything' advice would be great apart from the previous owners words, 'someone who knows about carbs adjusted it to get it running' 

In other words, it's already been fucked about with. 

I'll strip and clean it and try to get it back to some sort of status quo to work from... 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Parky said:

A couple of degrees of advance on that dizzy might help with the bogging down on acceleration

Seems odd that the timing would be out though...far more likely the accelerator jet is clogged up.

 

Messing with the timing etc before several years of disuse have been cleaned out of the carb and all the vacuum hoses have been changed seems like a recipe for tail chasing...

[Zelandeth]

2 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

The whole 'don't adjust anything' advice would be great apart from the previous owners words, 'someone who knows about carbs adjusted it to get it running' 

In other words, it's already been fucked about with. 

I'll strip and clean it and try to get it back to some sort of status quo to work from... 

Ah.

Yeah...that doesn't help does it! 

Reckon clean it, set everything to the mid point and then see where you are.  If you've anyone nearby who knows anything about this sort of thing might be worth a second opinion.

On what note... whereabouts are you?  Be more than happy to lend a few brain cells if in the neighborhood.

[atomic punk]

my thoughts for what its worth,

check also the carb float, I had an issue with a carb recently on a laid up car. The float wasn't closing properly, the reservoir overfilled and was somehow flooding neat fuel into the inlet, affecting cylinders 2 and 3 (closest to the carb on the inlet manifold). Caused all sorts of running problems. Took the whole lot apart, thorough clean, reset float level, and new jets & seals followed by a few evenings resetting mixture and idle had it running ok. Vacuum hoses were also perished and needed replacing before it was running happily.

And the spark plugs will be shot running that rich, I got through a few sets trying to fix the above....