well my '78 Brat has been running GREAT for the longest time but now, something is going on. At first I thought it was the acellerator pump going out so I replaced it with another one I had. It got worse so I had another one that was almost brand new. Well its still doing it and now it won't stay started. Here's what it does:

1. I can start it up runs great for about 10 seconds and then dies like lack of fuel

2. When I can get it started, if I give it ANY gas whatsoever, it dies immediatly

3. When I had it running and driving, I had to floor it in order to move or it would want to die

4. Sitting at a stoplight, I had to floor it, let off, floor it again, let off and then take off with it almost floored or else it would almost die

 

So, what can it be??? I am at a total loss and I have no money right now to get a rebuild kit for it. It started off getting gradually worse with the acellerator pump that was in it before I started swapping but now I can't even start it......

Sounds exactly like what mine did when the primary jet was partially clogged. Either that or fuel filters.

 

The jets can be removed from the bottom of the carb. Because of the design of the Hitachi, the jets act like a drain in the bottom of the float bowl and it sucks any impurities right into the jet.....

 

 

GD

so I might have something stuck in the primary jet? That means I get to pull it apart again to fix it. I just had this carb torn down about 200 miles ago and I cleaned everything with either chem-tool or carb cleaner. Well here we go....Let the FUN begin......NOT!!!

But I still don't understand on how it could get gradually worse. I would believe that it would happen almost immediatly but not gradually....

Yeah - what you say is true - and it very well could be something else. That's just what happened to me. Mine would come and go, as the junk floated in and out of the jet. hehe.

 

GD

well I pulled it all apart and blew all the jets out with compressed air but I didn't see anything unusual. The other thing I remember it doing before I started switching the acellerator pumps around was it would take it awhile to come back to idle if I revved it past about 3k. So...I'm about to put it back on after tearing it down. I hope this works.....

I would do the easy things first. Change the fuel filter.

 

Bill

I'd say fuel filters or clogged CAT maybe? He says it takes a while to rev down? Maybe because too much back pressure?

Keep us up to date

It worked but only a little. It still has a slight fuel problem so it has the hesitation like it did before but not as bad. I'm guessing the fuel filter also but that means I gotta come up with some cash to get one. Well the exhaust is custom. It has a custom y-pipe to a resonator, to about 2 feet of flex pipe and a Blue Streak glasspack with a BIG chrome tip on it. No cat whatsoever:D

I'm gonna check the fuel filter tomorrow and get a new one probably. Currently I have a fuel filter out of an '85 turbo parts car but I was in need of one and well when you have no money, you gotta do what you gotta do....

Have you checked the fuel pressure? It sounds like the pump my be bad to me.

ok so I replaced the fuel filter. It is better but it still has a slight hesitation. I could change the fuel pump but I don't think its the problem.....

Pop the distributor cap and make sure everything is clean and corrosion free. Meaning don't just look at it and thinks it all good. My brat was having a similar problem last year. I changed the filter because that worked before. Well it didn't completely fix the problem. Took off the cap, cleaned the rotor and the button in the bottom of the cap and scraped the terminals on the underside of the cap and the problem was fixed. Still haven't purchased a new cap/rotor because it runs so good.

 

Bill

well that might work if I hadn't already changed the cap and rotor. When I did the electronic disty conversion, I replaced the cap, rotor, plugs and wires. So I've done a tune-up already but it still has this slight hesitation. I think the next thing I'm gonna do is rebuild the carb with a full rebuild kit.