[T2] the other running 'repair'

[Robert Mann]

      On my way home from the school reunion 450 mi away, as I came over
the Bombay Hills entering Auckland province (about 50 mi from home) I
rather suddenly experienced stumbling which I had experienced last month;
that had been cured by replacing the petrol filter – clogged with debris
from the fuel tank and now here I am cursing myself for not taking the tank
out for POR-15 rustproofing when the engine was out a decade ago.
    I had brought along a spare fuel filter and so I thought the new one
must have become clogged already.   I assume I have to replace the new
clogged filter with a brand-new one.  I pull off on the shoulder just as
the motorway levels off heading into Auckland.  Then I see a nice grassy
swale just to the left and I think that'll be a much nicer place to get
under my bus; but then along comes a midget truck with a man spot-spraying
weeds amongst the grass, so it's just bad luck I could not prudently use
that lovely grassy swale.  I therefore have to lie on the little pebbles on
the hard shoulder.  At least I could see the filter but to get at it with
the relevant tools was a serious challenge.  I got the distal end of the
filter disconnected and only then realised that unless I have a good plug
for that distal end, or have 3 hands, I can't make the filter change that I
have in mind.  And so after about an hour (I didn't time it) I had to admit
this is more than I can manage.  I then try to work my cell to call the
AA.  A young man Mandan answers, obviously coming from India (nobody ever
actually arrives from India)  so I begin to tell him where I am and what I
want done, stating I would prefer to be towed home.  Mandan politely
informed me you are only reaching Vodafone.  In the retail shop of that
brand in my district where I got instructions on how to work this Alcatel
cell, a very pleasant young man seemed entirely helpful & competent had put
the AA number on it kindly but when I try to call that, all I get is his
firm saying my SIM card has not been registered so I'm not able to get
through to the AA.  That annoys me at the time, but it turns out to be a
blessing in disguise: I then decide to proceed along, reasoning if I go
slow enough the fuel feed rate required may be so low that maybe I can
avoid the serious stumbling.  Having headed north with intent to arrive at
the rim of the Auckland traffic-jam region before 3pm to avoid the rush
hour, I'm now deeply grateful for being *in* the rush hour; the fact I can
only do at most 15 mph is no embarrassment since all the vehicles around me
are similarly slowed.  I stumble my way home stopping now & again to let
the carburettor float chamber fill with petrol, wondering whether the
sometimes vicious 'bunny-hop' stumbling was harming the engine or the
transmission.
     Then the next morning I suppose I'll see how it's going  – just drive
a mile along to the supermarket.  Trying to get home from the supermarket
the stumbling becomes much worse, embellished with pistol-shot backfires.
I have to stop for five minutes several times.  Then after one of those
stops the starter is cranking the motor happily but no sign of firing.  I
think: my motor is either *completely* out of fuel *or *completely out of
spark; so I go back around to the engine and find that the HT lead from the
coil to the distributor has eased out of the coil.  (This did happen to me
within the past year, and I thought I'd then fastened it.)  There is plenty
fuel feed; cruising is back at the normal 45 - 55 mph.
*           Conclusion*: what simulates a partly blocked fuel feed *e.g* a
clogged filter can be a totally different failure, *viz*. an 'extra spark
gap' developing as the HT lead going to the distributor eases its way out
of the coil.  The two failure modes can produce exactly the same jerky
running.   Secondary conclusion: fasten your HT lead firmly into the coil.