Hi,

I am keeping my XK150 in Florida in a holiday home. As such it doesn't get driven much. It was fine when I first got it, but the last couple of times I have visited I have noticed a problem where I drive about 1/4 mile then the engine fails. If I leave it a minute or so, the engine will start again, but then fails after a few more 100 yards.

I checked the fuel pumps (its an "S"), one has points and one is electronic. I am not convinced the electronic one is working as it doesn't click like the points one. But I would guess that just tickling round the estate here it wouldn't matter that only one fuel pump was working.

Any ideas? Is there a filter before the fuel pumps which I need to check?

Does anyone know a good mechanic in the Kissimmee/Orlando area who could work on the car?

I have the option to store the car in the house which is always air conditioned to about 80 degrees rather than the garage. The garage is humid and gets very hot, so my feeling is this would be better for the car, but does anyone have an opinion on that?

Many thanks,
Paul

 

Hello,

To check fuel flow, there is a glass bowl filter on the right side of the engine bay.
I Have added a extra fuel filter before the pump, to avoid dirt in the pump.
Regards,
Peter Jan (XK150 fhc )

 

Hi Peter, thanks for the reply.

The fuel seems to flow fine into the glass bowl filter. Even when it dies, it is full of fuel.

There is a large brass washer/nut thing at the bottom of the fuel tank that I think is the "Filter Assembly at bottom of Fuel Tank" in PLATE AF of the "03 Fuel.pdf" document if you happen to have it. Is this actually one and the same? - it is not clear from the diagram - it is not obviously feeding the fuel pipe outlet, but I can't see whats happening inside the tank. I guess in order to remove this I need to drain the tank, so I won't do that unless I have to.

Many thanks for your advice.

Cheers,
Paul

 

How old is the fuel in the tank?

 

Was fuel stabilized upon storage? Have you checked fuel pressure and volume? Have you checked voltage at each pump? Have you checked fuel flow from each pump? Have you checked ignition for spark after engine quits? Is temperature normal or hot? Do you have debris in the air filters? Do you have an obstruction in exhaust ( yes mice nests are prevalent in stored cars)?

 

Hi, thanks for the replies.

The fuel is the same that was in the car when it was delivered about a year ago. I have a can of fuel here I could dilute it with, or if it is going to be a problem, happy to drain it out and put fresh in.

I didn't do anything to stabilize the fuel. Please could you expand on what that would involve and if that horse has bolted, again I will drain the fuel and look at doing that when I next leave the car.

There is good voltage at each pump.

I don't believe the electronic pump is pumping as it does not make even an initial click when the power is applied. The pump with the points, you can hear a click then a regular click as it pumps the fuel. I took both pumps apart and cleaned them and check the diaphrams were working ok and all seemed to be ok mechanically.

I haven't checked for a spark after the engine fails, but the engine does start again after 1 minute or so, so I suspect this is not a problem.

The engine temperature seems fine, not unusually hot for example. I have only driven a short distance when the engine fails.

I can't see any obstructions in the exhaust and don't have mice to my knowledge, but Florida does have a lot of other wildlife, so I will check if all looks ok next time I start it!

Many thanks for the ideas - does anyone know about the brass "filter assembly" at the bottom of the fuel tank and whether I should be looking at draining the fuel and cleaning this out?

Cheers,
Paul

 

You need to drain tank and clean tank filter. You've cleaned the pumps. You will probably need to pull fuel bowls on carbs and clean bowls and jets and needle seats. New fuel, put in stabilizer now and in each tank, will help clean and lest you forget will be in there when stored. Good luck. Thinning old fuel with new will only contaminate new fuel.

 

In the heat and humidity of Central FL (not to mention low use and no stabilizer added to the tank), you very likely have moisture condensed into the fuel, and what you're feeling is the water being drawn into the carbs with what little fuel they get. Sorry if I've just stated the painfully obvious....

I have a very similar problem w/ Dad's XK-120 right now, and will be draining/refilling this weekend.

Good luck.

 

I'm no expert, but the older autos of all makes needed an open air intake into the fuel tank...otherwise the fuel pump created a vacuum in the tank and the engine stopped. I think in some cases at least there is a small opening in the fuel cap that can get clogged?

 

the fact that it starts up..is curious..if truly issues of bad fuel..or poor spark or timing..it would be very hard to start at all. So..if it was starting rather easily..then what..that is why the idea of mouse nest in the exhaust showed up..the old potato on the exhaust pipe teen age trick did this same thing. The jags run on very low fuel pressure..only 2 to 3 psi..so if it is getting fuel..it is probably getting enough..but the float level could be off just enough so that when it is running..it uses more than it can get..but this is not likely to have changed just while sitting. Sometimes a bad coil will not put out when it gets hot..then when cool again will be ok ..but it seems it would not get that hot so quickly..still swappping a coil out is easy and quick and will eliminate that. (the ol trick was to put a cool moist towell on the coil..if it cooled and started you found the problem.) In any case old fuel is not good, and with ethanol in our fuel now, it attracts water and gets gooey and old in about a month. So use ethanol treatment and stabilizer additive and drive enought to use up fuel. Please do post what you find..

 

I'm not sure fuel only a year old would cause this sort of problem, though as mentioned ethanol will pull in more water. Drain and refill will not hurt anything and will give you an opportunity to clean the tank filter as mentioned, but I don't know if it's strictly necessary.

The puzzle here is that it starts, and then quits and then restarts. To try another test, does it stall if it's just idling while still, or only when driving it?

We need to determine the root cause of the stall before trying to address the other issues. I think if bad gas were the problem it wouldn't start at all.

Does the 150-S have an automatic choke feature or manual?
In either case, having the choke engaged on a warm engine will cause stalling. My 140 has a cable operated choke, and when the cable jammed I had to pull over, open the hood and manually disable the choke... then it ran great!

Another good option is the coil as mentioned.

Do you know the service history of the car? Regardless of what is causing this one issue, it may be time for a good old fashioned tune-up.

 

IDEL

 

I HAVE HAD BRITISH cars since age 15 and am now 74. it all comes down to on old cars to #1 fuel or#2 electrical problems. comments from replying members are all good sensible opinions. here is what i would do: buy a can of K100. TODAYS FUEL

 

i have had british cars since age 15( now 74) they usually have either a fuel or electrical problem if they dont run right. they are actually pretty simple #1 buy a can of K100 its THE BEST fuel additive available. ethanol gas has alcohol in it. alcohol eventually returns back to its original state which is WATER K100 SURROUNDS THE WATER MOLECULES AND ALLOWS THEM TO BE BURNT LIKE NEW FUEL. I LIVE IN CENTRAL FL AS WELL. next... i have had MANY

 

Sounds like you might have a partially blocked fuel line. I had a '68 Thunderbird that exhibited the same symptoms. It turned out to be a fuel line that was bent when the exhaust system was replaced. The engine would use up the fuel in the fuel line then stall. Vacuum created in the fuel line would allow it to refill in a minute or so at which point it would start again and run until it again used up fuel in the fuel line. This cycle repeated until I found the bent fuel line. You might have crub built up on your fuel filter(s). Vern

 

I have seen this fault a number of times particularly in MK1 and Mk2 Jaguar cars but also in other types.
It is invariably a partially blocked in tank filter. Allows a trickle of fuel through the filter and fills up the carby float bows.
Engine runs normally for 400 to 600 yards then peters out.
Allowed to sit for a few minutes and trickle slowly refills carbies. Repeat the same distance
Just drain the tank, pull the filter and clean it.
I would also only use new fuel to refill as older fuel can deteriorate in its octane rating.

 

Hi Paul
Sorry for the late entry to this thread. When I purchased my 1958 XK150 twenty or so years ago there was very little history. I am from the U.K. and the car was being sold by a specialist dealer on a commission basis so I never met the seller. On the test drive the car stopped after half a mile, eventually we got it back to the dealer and surprisingly I agreed a purchase and the dealer delivered the car on a trailer.
On the first run out the car stopped after a mile or so, eventually I got it home and started an investigation. I narrowed it down to fuel. Enough fuel was getting through to the float chambers to start and run on a light throttle. I cleaned out the carbs, the fuel pump etc. and the car ran okay for a few miles but the problem started again.
To cut a long story short I traced the problem to interior rust in the fuel tank. This was flushed through a number of times, an inline filter was inserted in the fuel line and 20 years later all is okay. I replace the in line filter at least every year for a few pounds. I guess the car had been standing around unused for some time before I purchased it.
Best of luck.
Stewart