MGB GREMLINS

Recently had a complete motor job, and while the mech was at it, I had him put in a manual choke - the old gal always was hard to start when cold and seems the old water chokes were often problematic. Now, she's still hard to start when cold, even with the choke pulled all the way, half the way.. whatever... I have to actually crank her over for 20-30 seconds, until I can smell gas, so I am assuming I am flooding it. Then, after letting it sit for half a minute or so, she fires up... once she catches, she runs good, and if the choke is out, she'll sit at abour 2000 rpm unless I push the choke in... so it would seem that the choke might be working. When the engine is warm, it starts without a falter. Has anyone run into this type of problem before??? Seems to me by flooding the engine, I am richening the mixture, the same thing as the choke would do...

Of course, another problem... had the windshield replaced at a reputable shop a year ago, and also replaced all the seals at the time. The car didn't leak in the rain before; now it does... water drips straight down from under the dash right onto my left leg! Is there some sort of typical problem area that I should look for first, or do I need to squirt dish liquid all around the windshield and take a hose to it to try to find the leak? Do the external vents in the cars (in the center, ahead of the windshield, chrome grille) ever leak?

You may have already tried this, but have you started it without the choke at all? Your choke is definitely working, maybe too well (should idle around 1300 cold with choke on). Double check your needle settings as well. Pull your plugs, do they look sooty and black?

From your description your describing a Zenith carb. Hopefully Tom or another ZS expert can give some more pointers, but it sounds like you're running way too rich, even without the choke.

As far as the leak: take some of the flowable silicon (automotive kind, not the home depot bathroom kind) and stick it under the seal in front. Be sure to use a plastic knife to avoid scratching your point. Also squirt it from the inside along the area where the seal meets the dash. Sounds like there wasn't any time of sealant used. But it's a very common leak.

The external vents should never leak. There's a cover to protect them. However, if your drain tube is clogged it will fill up and backflow into the car (it just happened to me a few weeks back, almost lost my stereo!). Either cut off the bulb, or stick a coat hanger, screwdriver, etc up and clean it out. Watch for wasps!!!!

JDW knows more about the internal workings of a ZS's water 'choke' that isn't a choke at all...just switching it out for a manual choke doesn't solve the problem as all you're doing is actuating the 'choke' mechanism with a cable instead of hot water....if the entire thing isn't clean and set up properly, you have the same problems whichever direction you go.....to read about ZS 'chokes' go to <http://www.theautoist.com/zs_water_chokes.htm>

You barely beat me to that Tony. Putting a manual "choke" cable on a ZS is just a Band-Aid, as Tom B calls it.

When you clean out the bulb at the end of the drain that Steve was talking about, try sticking a large (fat) would screw into the slot so that dirt/water can more easily drain out.

I did set the idling up to about 1200-1300 rpm as the car sputtered and stalled when I had it down around 900. The points, plugs are all new, so I think the problem is in the carb settings somewhere. I'll maybe have a crack at getting it balanced using the link to the choke page in the following msg. Failing that, I'll w ait till I get the car back to Canada (she is being shipped in 2 weeks) and find myself a good Zenith-Stromberg man... know anyone on Vancouver Island???

I need to clean the drain on my car. (Although my car is never out in the rain).

How does this drain work?
Is it a metal tube?
A rubber hose?
Do I need to be worried about disconnecting a tube from a fitting if I ram a piece of wire through it?
Does the drain stick through the bottom of the car someplace?

The drain is used for run off from water collected through the fresh air vent. There's a bulb at the end with a tiny slit. The tube is plastic, the bulb is rubber.

I have never figured out why they put a slit on the bottom. Often times leaves, dirt, or bugs fill up the bulb which prevents the tube from draining.


You'll find it on the passenger side (assuming you're on the NA side of the pond), right behind the heater box. You have to get under the car to really get at it.

I think the rubber has a tendency to loose its flexibility and then causes the water and junk to back up. I tried cleaning mine but it was like a rock so I just cut the bottom off of it.

I whacked the bulb off my tube - end of problem....never saw any need for it...

Dick, if you car won't idle below 1200-1300, it think you're in serious need of a general tune-up (and likely a carb rebuild, considering your starting problems). Even with a non-stock cam and a DCOE carb, mine will idle at 900, but 1000 is a better speed to get a smoother idle. Any stock engine in good tune should idle just fine at 900 (or less).

timing?

One way to clean it is to stick a piece of metal tubing onto a rubber hose that you put over the end of your air blower for use with compressed air. Stick it down there and blow the stuff out. Tom B I think came up with that one.
Someone else said the drain was to keep out exhaust fumes.