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Vauxhall Royale running problem
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Richard H



Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 2148
Location: Lincolnshire, UK

PostPosted: Sat May 12, 2018 1:50 pm    Post subject: Vauxhall Royale running problem Reply with quote

I have a problem with my Vauxhall Royale. It always has been quite lumpy at idle, better once the overrich mixture was weakened off but still not great, but one thing it was was reliable. Until October, when the fuel pump stopped working and left me stranded.
I managed to buy the last genuine mechanical pump Derek at GM6 Spares had on the shelf, fitted and back up and running. Only it now cuts out occasionally, but starts up again a few seconds later and runs well enough. Sometimes it just loses power, then the power comes back, then it loses it again...etc. It was also very difficult to start when cold and required a lot of churning and adjustment of choke.
The car has a very old Lumenition electronic ignition fitted which appears to have been one from nearly new. I noticed the carbon 'chopper' which sits under the rotor arm had a couple of cracked and wobbly blades - one of which had already been glued. So, I set about trying to find a replacement. Took ages because it transpires that particular kit hadn't been sold for 30 years and there were no parts available. Eventually I managed to locate what must be the last new old stock 'chopper' in the country.
I fitted it and it started much easier with a quick jump (it had been standing in the car port for seven months!) and idled and ran much better. I took it out for a spin and it did cut out a couple of times.

Can anyone suggest anything to check? I'm at my wit's end with it! Could it be a fuel or carb problem rather than electrical? It has an old Weber carb with manual choke which has obviously been fitted in the past due to problems with the autochoke.
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Richard Hughes
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MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 2464
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Sat May 12, 2018 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Lumenition distributor told me they'd check mine out for a fee when it looked as if I was having trouble with it, but they also told me that the boxes are pretty reliable - if they give trouble, they tend to just die completely. I didn't send it in the end - it turned out to be a bad power connection to the Lumenition box.

Another thing to look at - does it have a rotor arm with a spring-loaded contact to act as a type of rev limiter? My old Audi coupe had one of those, and would sometimes lose power to a point where I wasn't sure if pressing the accelerator would cause it to accelerate, or die. That was a bad rotor arm, which sometimes earthed out.

On the fuel pump, if that's the only one available anywhere then I'd be considering swapping to an electric pump and fuel pressure regulator, just so I know I could do something about it if it failed again. Mine are both on mechanical pumps, but they're pretty easy to find replacements for.
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