Stromberg problem - I think?

[Mike Robinson]

I haven't tried to check if the needle could get stuck when hot Mike but will try to. It's a wobbly one so I guess it self centralises itself.

The petrol is 50% old, 50% new, David but I can add some fresh. In the past people would put ethanol in their tanks to absob water from crappy petrol filling stations! It starts cold, but only with no choke. Its hot starting that's the problem. The diaphragm is OK and there's oil in the damper.

I've got the needle adjuster on order, so will report back when I've played with it

[Mike Robinson]

I haven't tried to check if the needle could get stuck when hot Mike but will try to. It's a wobbly one so I guess it self centralises itself.

The petrol is 50% old, 50% new, David but I can add some fresh. In the past people would put ethanol in their tanks to absob water from crappy petrol filling stations! It starts cold, but only with no choke. Its hot starting that's the problem. The diaphragm is OK and there's oil in the damper.

I've got the needle adjuster on order, so will report back when I've played with it

[1972nail]

Your 50/50 would seem sensible but it might just be the problem. It probably wouldn't start at all if it was 100% stale and if you were lucky enough to get it started it would misfire a lot. Your 50% mix of new fuel may be masking that in the way you describe.

I would drain it and use 100% new to see how it goes and use the old fuel heavily diluted with new as I suggested earlier. I 'laundered' a few gallons of stale fuel in my wife's 3.0L BMW Z4 without any complaints from the owner.

Currently many running problems in classic cars which are fuel related seem to be connected with using fuel that has been in the tank for a while and not related to carb issues.

[Mike Attew]

The needle does self centre but if the piston has residue on it or the sleeve as it gets warmer it possibly starts to stick