flaminia rough running

[Dave Gee]

hi everyone

My Flaminia starts fine from cold and will run perfectly well at normal running temperature. As soon as the temperature starts to rise above normal running temperature, it starts to misfire. It is a 2.8 running on a triple Solex carb. The petrol pump is in the boot and is a facet red top.
I have just fitted a Filter King and new rubber fuel pipe to the carbs. I have checked the petrol pressure at the Filter King and it is 3.5 - 4 psi.

Does anyone have any suggestions of the cause of the misfiring, as I am running out of ideas?

Best wishes
Dave

[Jay]

When you say ‘above normal running temperature’, does the car generally run hot when cruising or only when stuck in traffic? Does this happen only in the hot weather or can it happen during colder days? Do the radiator flaps work or are they stuck shut?

The reason asking, talking to other owners some have had real problems with hot running, and with my limited experience when these engines get hot they can pink and lose power.

When I first got my car (2.5 3c Weber carb) it tended to run hot-ish and suffered from slight pinking. But a good service including tappets clearance, timing, distributor cleaning, and HT and LT wiring checking and cleaning of contacts and carb cleaning with the usual spray, including the filters in banjo’s and finally a good engine flush with a 2 part cleaner. Didn’t touch the carb setup, but after that the engine runs nice and cool and ticks over at 600 and picks up really nice. My next point of call was going to be a rolling road but the engine is so sweet I didn’t bother.

Another problem is that the numbers on the distributor cap does NOT correspond to the cylinder number, but to the firing order. This caught me out once when I wasn’t thinking and car ran fine at lower revs but didn’t pick up when you put your foot down, swapping a couple of leads made all the difference.     

[Dave Gee]

Jay
Thanks for coming back to me. I have taken the blinds off the radiator and fitted an electric fan several years ago prior to a trip to Italy when it was very hot. She behaved reasonably well then, though I did make sure that when we stopped I opened the bonnet.

This problem started when, having MOT'd the car and the tester had had the engine running for a long time with the car standing still, when I tried to pull away, she started to misfire. I squirted some brake cleaner in the air filter housing which cleared the misfiring, and I was able to drive.

I hope this helps and look forward to any further thoughts you may have.
Best wishes

Dave

[Richard Fridd]

I am interested to know the outcome. I am intending to fit an uprated radiator. How hot do these cars run?

[frankxhv773t]

It doesn't have a vacum advance does it? Failure of that would manifest itself when pulling away but I can't remember if any Flaminia's had one.

[Jay]

Ref above, depending on which model some even have both vacuum and mechanical, but the GTs and Sports are only mechanical to my knowledge.  

I’ve heard stories and seen Flaminias with electric fans even fabricated deflectors to force more air onto the rad. But my thinking is that these cars are built in country that experiences both end of the temperature scale with (all) the native cars you see on the internet, both in the north and south having no mods.

Richard, my car runs fine on a standard rad, doesn’t get hot very often if at all, even last year queuing an 1 hr to get out of Festival of Speed. I have more of a problem with the clutch as the hotter it gets the more jumpy it is.

Back on subject Dave do think it’s temperate related rather than engine speed. Engine speed points to carbs and or ignition. Whereas temperature could nastier, can you do a compression test when cold and repeat when misbehaving, could be gasket/seals which may also effect the engine temperature.

Have you spoken to the Cliffes @ Omicron, the few times I have they are more than helpful.

[Dave Gee]

Thank you all for your contributions. I think it is temperature related. I am running an electronic ignition built by Hand H ignitions and have had it in for several years, without a problem, as this misfiring only started a couple of years ago. The ignition has smoothed the engine running and given more mpg. I will have a go at a compression test when she is cold. Meanwhile I shall back flush the radiator, as this was built in 1998 to make sure that there are no restrictions on the flow. You forget how long ago you did things! .........and I'll let you know how I get on.


Best wishes
Dave

[Charles]

Hi Dave, my 2.8 3c exhibited similar characteristics.  Ran perfectlly for 20-30 minutes but then started to be lumpy when running slowly in traffic.  I tried lots of stuff but eventually fited a Pertonix electonic ignition system (bought direct from the US - much cheaper).  I used the kit for the Aurelia but had to modify the magnet ring as the Aurelia uses two sets of points and so has a three lobed points cam.  5 minutes with a dremel did the job.  Now runs perfectly and I never have to remove the air box to get at the distributor to reset the points.  Also, there is no external box to give the game away - all looks standard except for one extra wire going from distributor to coil.