That good or bad?
Both.
I like your methodology to problem solve, and I always prefer to fix things rather than replace them. My family calls me the patron saint of lost causes.
But, 80kph with a can of gas tied to your windshield wiper? Thatās a bit risky. I must be getting old.
If you need to regularly start that with choke or butane, Iām guessing you have a vacuum leak somewhere. What is the compression like? Have you done a leakdown test?
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There was an element of risk, sure, but I had my Guiness cans at the ready.
I gave the petrol can a good shake (actually lashed to the wiper spindles rather than the wipers, which I removed) and it seemed pretty secure. Iāve done some sailing, and I was in the TA Royal Engineers (sounds better than Boy Scouts, though that would also do) so I have some faith in knots and lashings.
Compression is OK, though the tester (bought in Japan) was supplied with the wrong port adapter and I canāt get the right one unless I go to Japan and steal it, so for now Iām relying on the conical push-in thingy which isnāt very accurate.
Donāt think a leak-down test is a DIY proposition, AFAIK.
To find a leak the next step might be to make a smoke machine, not impossible but a hassle.
An alternative would be to run butane into the sealed off air intake and then look for leaks with a naked flame, but that does seem a bit too riskyāsince there might be quite a lot of gas in a sealed-off space.
Over the last couple of months, when I didnāt have time to fiddle with it, Iāve painted the carb and intake manifold a couple of times with sunflower oil, in the hope it would seal off any leaks. Seems it hasnāt, but there might have been some improvement. Donāt think Iāve ever heard of any commercial gloops for sealing off vacuum leaks.
OOPS! ANOTHER patent opportunity gone. There goes my luxury yacht AGAIN!
Iāll give it another coat and then Iāll take it in for inspection, since Iām already rather late.
At least you were prepared!
Reverse engineering that idea, if I could get some dry ice, and put it in the sealed-off intake tract, could I look for a leak based on the naked flame going out?.
Seems safer
Hmmā¦dunno if I can get dry ice though. Perhaps scooter exhaust. With a 2-stroke it might work as a smoke machine too.
Have to avoid over pressure which could actually cause leaks though
Ducked, just replace all your vacuum lines. Thatās the culprit most of the time, and your car is an antique in a hot climate (hence hard non-compliant vacuum hoses and leaks at every junction).
I disconnected and blanked of all the complex snakepit of vacuum lines and gizmos (which I dont understand) apart from the vacuum advance, as work-around to running problems about 2 years ago, when I stripped the carb.
I labelled them, but the labels have fallen off, so I probably couldnāt re-instate them if I wanted to.
I believe this is a Taiwan-only car, so of course its undocumented, but I have manuals for similar related Daihatsu cars, which have a variety of (entirely unexplained) vacuum line diagrams for various markets, none of which is quite the same as this one.
I tried to understand it and it gave me a headache, plus my choke stopped working, so I took it all off, and I donāt want to think about it ever again.
lol. ah well, vacuum lines suck anyway.
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