C60X running not as well as it should....

[Robert Farmer]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Watch out for the Yass Boys: you're in their territory now!!

Yes and there's one in particular who has wanted a C60X for years!

[warren brown]

Hi everyone - removed the inline filter - it's black plastic so you couldn't see inside but when I removed it - oh brother... so no wonder it's been having difficulty. I performed an autopsy on the filter with a hacksaw - and wow.... So I'm going to go through the truck end to end. I replaced the filter and flexible lines - and the fuel coming through now seems pretty good - removed the oil bath filament and have cleaned it and will replace the oil - and have removed the plugs. They're a bit Keith Richard - old and coked up. So I'm now in the process of knocking over each possible problematic problem one after the other. New plugs, leads, coil, condenser and so forth. So - the truck has been an older restoration - and since I've had it it's been in storage pretty much - and it would run like a sewing machine when I give it a short run - but short runs aren't what it needs - and sitting around obviously hasn't been great but I'm determined now it'll be crackerjack.

[hrpearce]

Good job that muck didn't make it to the carbie.

[Mike Cecil]

Be a run to Corowa and back maybe next March, then? Good round trip from near G'burn.

Glad to see you isolated the problem(s).

Mike

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Be a run to Corowa and back maybe next March, then? Good round trip from near G'burn.

Quite right Mike, a C60X would fit in the GM theme next year. We will have to work on Warren.
Think the last time you were there was 1996 Warren? You drove your jeep down, remember about 7 of us in it on a trip to Rutherglen on Sat night.

cheers Richard

[motto (RIP)]

I take it that you don't have an original fuel filter on the truck Warren. Granddad knew what he was about. They are perfectly adequate, function as a water and sediment trap and are easily serviced. It puzzles me why people replace them with in line filters, especially ones you can't see through.

David

[warren brown]

I couldn't agree more Dave - my 1928 Dennis Fire Engines(s) have quirky old petrol filters filled with countless brass shims as thin as a hair - and the filters work marvellously. I never had a problem with the original steel jeep-type filters the truck originally had- if I can find a couple I'd be keen to reinstall them. In time...

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by warren brown

I performed an autopsy on the filter with a hacksaw - and wow....

Well done Warren, it's always pleasing to prove the fault, esp. with tuning problems which can be tricky to isolate. Generally we simply replace everything without learning the precise cause.

Just to expand on the diagnosis - I believe your CMP was suffering from Sceliphron caementarium - commonly known as the mud dauber wasp! It so happens my F15A suffered this particular ailment when it first hit the road. It drove perfectly well until I filled the fuel tank at the servo, which would have been the first time in many years, and must have dislodged a mud wasp's nest adhering to the upper tank area. After that it lost power up hills and could barely hold top gear on the flat. Like your truck Warren it was an older restoration which had been stored for many years, and since I lacked confidence in the restoration I fitted an inline filter initially, in case the tanks hadn't been cleaned out properly. As you can see the brand new filter was already badly clogged, which confirmed my fuel starvation diagnosis, and I was able to identify the culprit by comparison with a mud wasp's nest, of which there were many throughout the vehicle. Mine were built in Northern Victoria, whereas yours appears to be Riverina red variety!

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The moral of the story in my case is never trust a previous "restoration". Both tanks had undergone extensive solder repairs to the usual rust holes beneath the tank straps, but apparently no attempt had been made to remove the rust from inside the tanks! Obviously the wasp's nests appeared much later during storage, and having taken the precaution of fitting an inline filter I discovered the nest in the fuel tank purely by accident. Likewise in your case Warren - assuming it's a mud wasp nest as I suspect, then without a filter the fine red dust may have passed through the carby unnoticed, because it's thoroughly dispersed in the fuel, as seen in the cloudy sample below. Much of it would be expelled through the exhaust, but some of it would inevitably pass into the engine oil, where who knows what havoc it would wreak on soft white metal bearings.

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The upshot here is that by causing fuel starvation, our cheap plastic fuel filters alerted us to a potentially serious problem - Sceliphron caementarium! These critters are definitely bad news, and not just for CMPs. They've even brought down commercial airliners, by building mud nests in pitot tubes. In one case in 1996 the death toll was 189: "Investigators believe a colony of black and yellow mud daubers got into the tube and built their cylindrical nests inside, causing faulty air speed readings which were a large part of the crash. This species also brought down another plane in Washington during 1982."

Now that I've thoroughly cleaned out my tanks and lines I'm no longer running a fuel filter, but in light of these encounters with Sceliphron caementarium, it's even more imperative with fuel tanks of unknown condition. Rust flakes will merely cause fuel blockage, but any mud nests present could potentially ruin a motor, and we'd never even know how it happened!

On a proper resto of course I'd be using an original filter, however I'd probably use a paper element, because I believe they provide much finer particle filtration, by virtue of microscopic packed fibres. Certainly they're standard in critical applications like engine oil filtration. The downside of course is they're prone to clogging, as seen with these inline filters, including Phil's example. I suspect that would rule out paper as a fuel filter medium in WWII military application - even a large paper filter may clog quite rapidly on fuel poured from POL cans during a Libyan dust storm! The packed shim filter may reduce engine longevity in such conditions, but that's hardly a consideration in wartime, and certainly preferable to constant stoppage in convoy to replace clogged paper filters!

[warren brown]

Wow Tony!!!!! Thanks so much for all this!!! Sorry I've been up in Lithgow for a few days and just got back!! Richard Farrant has suggested I clean the tank out - which I'll do - but your experience absolutely mirrors mine!! Blasted wasps... I'm onto it! Learning a lot here - thanks everyone - I'll keep you posted!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by warren brown

your experience absolutely mirrors mine!! Blasted wasps... I'm onto it!

Yes it's not something I would ever have imagined occurring, but on reflection it's a genuine occupational hazard for us. Most if not all our MVs have at some stage in their history lain idle for long periods, often for decades, and unless the fuel cap is fitted and seals perfectly, the tank will eventually dry out. These critters are ubiquitous and they can probably crawl past the dried out shrunken fuel cap gasket, which is often found cracked or even disintegrated. Once inside the tank they construct a time bomb for us! Without a fuel filter it could potentially wreck the motor, particularly if it lacks an oil filter, as did early production CMPs, and we'd be none the wiser. I wonder how many blitz motors have clapped out prematurely in this way - invariably the original fuel filter has long since been decommissioned by the time we acquire them. Certainly in light of our own experience it's something we need to be onto from the outset as you say Warren.

[Barry Churcher]

They're a bit Keith Richard - old and coked up.

Nice one Warren. That gave me the morning smile I needed.
Barry

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Another place mud wasps up our way like to build nests is in the vent pipe from radiator or the coolant recovery tanks. All three off my trucks have had this problem, my HUP's coolant recovery vent tube was so well that it sealed the system to the point that the top radiator hose blew off.

They also like the coolant drain valves which is annoying but not dramatic.

Cheers Phil