turbo starting problem
Turbo Mini Forums

I posted before and have tried tips listed on other posts

The situation is really demotivating I have not been able to start my 1380 turbo since I built it in the summer

I have been stuck for months and haven't done much as i dont know what else to do


Have checked timing about 3 times
There is a spark
Seems to be over fuelling
Have tried a standard carb just to see if I can fire it up, no joy
Have an inline fuel pressure gauge have set to 3 -3.5 psi whilst engine is off
Tried starting without the fuel pump on
I have used the t piece trick for fuelling so return is fed in before the fuel pump ( no return on tank )
It's a 1380 but have worked out the cr to be around 8.5 or something ( I did it months ago )
I am using the metro turbo carb, I have two and I have tried the other one too
Used the diagram to connect up the pipes
Using the metro turbo dizzy

Took the plenum chamber off try and see fuel, should fuel come out of the whole on the back when pump is on?

Best I have ever had was today had a few splutters, put some more fuel in the tank and its not working at all now

I have posted before I have had this problem since the summer, very irritating

If anyone is near Dorset some help soon would be most appreciated

Fuel out of the back? If its the plenum its coming out of then you may have the pipes from the regulator arse about face, if its coming out of the Carb itself that could be the float stuck/needle valve shafted. Under normal operation fuel does not come out of anywhere with the pump running fuel should fill the float bowl and when that's full return to the tank, the vacuum of the engine then draws it out of the carb

Incidentally the tee piece trick is to directly connect the float bowl to boost pressure to negate problems with a blocked passage in the carb or to convert an na carb to turbo use, what you mention is simply teeing the fuel return into the suction side of the pump, a common mod to avoid welding/soldering/ hammering a return into the tank

Edited by oli79 on 14th Mar, 2013.

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

I'm pretty sure they are not the wrong way around as I have taken it off and held and blocked the feed to see if it was correct

The hole the return is on the plenum , it's not a separate blocked off hole what stops it going into the carb?

Tried a carb with no return and no fuel was coming of the return so imaging it is the right way around

With the adjustment nut at the top there are two pipes out of the regulator directly above each other, bottom is fuel to the carb, top is the boost signal from the plenum

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

Yep if the carb is full, think we need some pictures of your setup bud

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

Edited by oli79 on 14th Mar, 2013.

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

What's concerning is that you seem to say fuel is somehow coming out of the carb somewhere with the pump on,either externally or internally into the engine, is this correct?rpm.

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

remove the dashpot from the carb, and with the fuel pump on and ~4psi fuel pressure, there should be NO fuel coming through the jet where the needle would normally be.

The jet should be set level in the bottom of the carb body to start with

What he said^^^^

About time I used paint for good instead of evil, connected like this?

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

The hole with the fuel coming out sounds like the hole that connects the plenum chamber to the float chamber. If you have fuel coming out of there the needle valve is passing or the float isn't working/needs adjusting. Take a picture of the carb and point out where the fuel was coming out.

Edited by metroturbo on 14th Mar, 2013.

have you tried replacing the spark plugs once fueling is near right?
Had a similar problem once and it was where i'd saturated the plugs with too rich a mixture to begin with that they couldn't put up a strong enough spark. They looked fine but it just wouldn't work.

1275 N/A Sprite, 998 T2 Turbo Mayfair
1275 EFi Turbo

I had an issue with mine and it seemed to be similar symptoms to yours. It was sparking and seemed to be over fuelling. Have you checked the HT leads are in the correct order?

I know it sounds silly and it is a school boy error but sometimes the simplest things are the ones that are over looked.

Edited by 1275min on 14th Mar, 2013.

I had the same issue, do you run megajolt? If so clean the crank pulley sensor, worked a treat for me. Cheers, dan

Thanks for the replies

I adjusted the float as per Haynes Manual but sounds like this could be the issue with a combination of saturated spark plugs

I took the dash pot off without need and fuel was pissing out of the jet hole but the top was not level is protruding up into thr inlet

As for the hole on the back it was coming from the hole that adjusts for boost pressure ( the hole that standard hif 44s don't have

Looks like I will have to get a rebuild kit

I think that my fuel pressure gauge may not read correctly as well

Thanks for the replies

I adjusted the float as per Haynes Manual but sounds like this could be the issue with a combination of saturated spark plugs

I took the dash pot off without need and fuel was pissing out of the jet hole but the top was not level is protruding up into thr inlet

As for the hole on the back it was coming from the hole that adjusts for boost pressure ( the hole that standard hif 44s don't have

Looks like I will have to get a rebuild kit

I think that my fuel pressure gauge may not read correctly as well

I gave you some diagnostic help. Up to you if you ignore it

Right well I have inspected the floatchamber the brass nut that stops fuel coming in was loose tightened up and adjusted float, tried it on the car there was no fuel coming out with dash pot removed, however after about a minute fuel started trickling out , is this because it does t completely stop it?float didn't look like it was split

Edited by Jon731 on 15th Mar, 2013.