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Anon
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New to this Bedford business

Hello everyone.

My dad and I bought a 1974 CF250 about a month ago to use as tour van for our band. Previous owner had had it since late 80s and had fixed the bodywork but then got tired and it's been standing in a barn the past 15 years. Now, we've been working on it every minute of our spare time since we got it and last week we drove it to SBP (Swedish equivalent to MOT test) and it passed! Woohoo!

But now we have problems. The last couple of days it's been running bad and stopping. It starts easily and runs great but after ten minutes or so, it starts coughing and eventually dies. Feels like it's not getting enough fuel. I've blown out the fuel line, changed the fuel filters and cleaned the fuel pump but it didn't help. Any ideas? It's a 2.3 petrol engine with, i think, a Zenith carburettor.

Also, the headlights tend to cut out every once in a while. Probably a bad connection somwhere. Are there any especially weak points or could it be anywhere?

Most grateful for any help!

Linus

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Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 19:30 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Change the points and condenser paying attention to the earth wire on the base of the dissy.

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Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 19:53 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Headlights.

Hi and welcome to the club,

The most common problem to cause the lights to have a mind of there own is the fuse box, dampness and bad connections, even the fuses go rusty and fail to make contact.
The fuel problem could be water in the carb, or a perished fuel supply pipe being sucked flat by the pump, (you said it had been unused for a long time).
Cleaning out the fuel tank might be worth while, old petrol depleats in strengh with age.
Hope this helps you out.

Doug.

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Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 19:53 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Thank you for your replies!

The breaker points and condener are brand new so that shouln't be it. The ignition cables however look quite old. I'll replace them tomorrow.

The fuel line is also new, replaced it first thing. But there could be some dirt or something in the tank so might as well clean it out.

On the ful pump there is what looks like a water separator (glass dome with petrol inside). I'm not quite sure how it works. Could it be faulty?
Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 20:27 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Just a thought but a good clean up of the battery earth wouldn't hurt either

Steve
Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 21:04 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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The glass bowl fuel pump is the original pump. No water separator, just a screen filter inside the glass bowl. Looks lovely, but fails even lovelier.. To test it, remove the outlet pipe (the one that goes to the carb) from the carb side, hold it into a suitable container to catch the fuel (no smoking or open fires) and crank the engine. Strong squirts of fuel is what you should expect. If it's just dripping, or the squirts are not strong enough, it means that it's on its way out. There's an impossible to find repair kit, but a new fuel pump to fit is dirt cheap. A weak fuel pump will cause fuel starvation.

As for the points, they might be new, but are they properly set?

A test to eliminate the possibility of a faulty fuel pump is to gravity-feed the carb directly from a fuel container, without using the fuel pump and the tank on the van, and see if it makes any difference. If it runs like that, it's the fuel pump or the fuel in the tank being too old or dirty.

Good luck!
Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 21:27 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Headlights cutting out could be push-pull lights switch if the early type with thermal circuit breaker is fitted; circuit breaker is a bi-metal contact strip on the circuit board, to one side of the metal switch. 1974 model should have 12-way fusebox & lights switch doesn't need the circuit breaker.

If lights switch is ok then check stalk dip switch on the steering column for dirty contacts or faulty wiring connections or melted plastic around terminals.

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Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 22:25 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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hi there hope you get your van going i was wandering wot music you play and how about popping some on here so we can have a listen
guy
Mon 17 Oct 2011 @ 10:02 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Hello again and sorry for not replying. We've been working on the van non-stop (plus, I accidentally bougt an olf fiat that needed some work)

Pleased to say that it's running great now, electrics are fixed, the body's just about ready for some paint and the interior is almost finished. It'll soon be out on the road on tour!

guypjfreak wrote:
i was wandering wot music you play and how about popping some on here so we can have a listen
guy


Well of course! Here are some low quality rehearsal room recordings
http://www.youtube.com/wallesgang
Sun 13 Nov 2011 @ 22:41 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
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