Hi, my Felicia started acting few days ago, it seems like after it warms up a bit and the choke turns off, after a while it starts stalling, if idling.. it can go down to 500-600 rpm and even turn off if i dont press the gas pedal, and sometimes pressing the gas pedal doesn't help at all, and the engine stops.
Even when not idling, while driving normally, it randomly starts acting as if it doesn't get enough fuel or similar, and same as when idling.. pressing the gas pedal sometimes helps, and sometimes it doesn't, and the engine stops running.

Sometimes after pressing the gas pedal several times, it 'fixes its self' temporarily, and it continues working fine for a while, like for a mile or two, and then it happens again.

When i try to start the engine, most of the times it starts normally, and when its normal.. it runs great as usual, and then out of the blue.. stalls.

The fuel filter is 6-7 months old and transparent, so as much as i can see and notice, the the fuel level fluctuates a bit all the time(fills up 1-2mm, then empties 1-2mm), and its same regardless if the engine works normal, or it stalls.

I have replaced the Tank Float few weeks ago, and it it was running fine till now.

When i press the throttle lever on the carburetor, i can see a gas squirt coming out even while the engine stalls/dies.

Few days before it all started, i replaced the timing chain cover seal, and after that i cleaned the section around the belt just to be sure if the seal replacement solved the issue, so now i checked all the wiring and connectors around that section that i sprayed water at, they all seem dry and clean, i wiped clean the distributor cap, checked the spark-plug cables, sprayed some WD40 at the ignition coil and the wires around..
Any clue?

Here is a short video of the issue happening after running fine for 15 minutes

ETA:: Hi, welcome.

Quick thoughts, in no order.

Whilst the fuel in the filter looks a good level, and the level varied on my carb'd car, perhaps it's more to do with fuel delivery pressure than volume. If you have a mechanical fuel pump if you have an electric fuel pump to try you could perhaps see if it's the mechanical pump not consistent in delivery. Or if not too troublesome check and clean the mechanical fuel pump.

Just curious, why is the fuel red, do you add additive(s)

Have you looked and cleaned the inside the dissy cap.

There's a hose that has been blanked off, has it always been that way.

What does the stuff coming out of the exhaust look like, does it vary when the engine slows and/or stalls.

Have you had a look at the spark plugs out the engine to see how they look just after engine running slow and/or stalling.

Have you checked for any vacuum or air leaks, tried removing the oil filler cap to see what that does with engine running.

How does the air filter and housing look.

Is there a warm cold air auto adjustment to air intake, or flap or lever, and if so is it fully operating as it should.

What has happened or changed before it started to play up.

I assume it has an automatic choke and not a manual choke cable, have you checked the auto-choke is fully behaving a it should and moving freely.

Others will be along that know a lot more and better than me.

Edited 19 March, 20251 yr by nta16
ETA:

Hi nta16, thank you for the response.

The fuel pump is mechanical and i dont have a spare one to check and compare, hopefully its not the pump because its not available to buy where i live :) .

Im curious about the fuel color too, i didn't add anything to it, its how it came from this gas station, but i have used gas from the same gas station for months.

If by "dissy cap" you mean the distributor cap then yes, i have checked it, it was ok, no cracks or moist inside, the contacts are a bit worn out, so its next on the list to replace.

The blanked off hose is as it was from the factory.

I haven't checked the exhaust , so i don't know if there is any difference.

The air filter is fairly new and pretty clean, there is an automatic "warm cold air auto adjustment to air intake", but i dont think it has anything to do with the issue because the problem is same with opened filter cap too, and it does it when its warm during the sunny day yesterday, and in the evening when its cold.

I haven't checked for air leaks around the carburetor, the choke is automatic and it seems to be working ok-ish, but the problem arises usually when the engine is in operating temperature and no choke..

I didn't check the spark plugs since they are fairly new, maybe 6 months, but i will check them today because once years ago i had a sparkplug with a melted electrode after driving 100km..

I other than putting in a temporary pressure and volume meter in-line before and after filter or instead of filter I don't know how you would check the mechanical fuel fitted as the engine needs to be running so you can't just pull off the fuel hose to measure, which is why I thought of a suitable electric pump.

I expect you also inspected and checked the rotor arm and cleaned that too.

Not only condition and gapping of spark plugs but also the colour of them though that is not too exact with the fuels now particularly if it is an unusual colour but if one or more is particularly wet, sooty or oily. Taking them out just after the engine has been running well then slows down and stalls may show the best, caution as well as the engine the plugs get hot. Also check they are the correct plugs for your needs. A magnifying glass may help to see any cracks.

I presume the car is petrol only, what petrol do you get there, is it suitable to when the car was made.

Check for air/vacuum leaks around the carb and its gaskets and elsewhere, and try that removing the oil filler cap when the engine is fully warmed and see what happens.

If the fuel filler cap vents try removing it as the engine slows and see if that makes any difference.

Often "fuelling issues" can actually be from the ignition system, so checking spark from coil, then from distributor cap to the end of each HT lead, all HT leads for fitting to coil, distributor cap, spark plugs end and plugs.

I've had far too many issues with old cars and new car parts to remember but I had one car that had an unseen issue with the HT leads causing the spark to go wild inside the distributor cap that would very intermittently stall the engine for what seemed no reason. It cost me more to find out it was the HT leads than the cost of a good set of leads which I intended fitting next service. A spark plug cracked after very little time and use. I changed copper core plugs every two years cleaning in between, a mate just changed standard plugs every year as he got them at so little cost. faulty or shorted lived new rotor arms were/still common with the old British cars I had. Cheap ignition and electronic ignition parts we get here can be abysmal and faulty quickly or even at or from fitting.

If you have fitted any new parts before the problem started you can suspect them or the fitting and never assume a part already fitted is the correct part or fitted correctly or that is fully functioning even if it works. generally the factory or more original parts tend to be better, but not always there have been improvements in the last 20 years particularly in engine and transmission oils.

Good luck.

I checked the sparkplugs and the image show how they look after the engine stalls and shuts down, they were Bosch Fr7dc and didn't seem like they are bad, just out of curiosity i put the old ones i had till last summer which are Denso Q16PR-U, and with them the engine ran fine for 30+ minutes, and as i was getting ready to celebrate.. it stalled again..

Well they look alright to me considering the use, you could give them a quick clean and check gaps or check gaps and give the car a bit of a blast run.

I assume you have checked both plugs sets are correct to your model and correct gap required..

If any have screw-on end-caps you could check they are tight.

Problem solved, there is a small fuel filter attached to the gas float pipe in the tank(which was installed as new replacement part 30 days ago), and it somehow became loose and sliding up and down up the pipe that delivers gas to the engine, so when it would randomly go up.. it would close the pipe as a sort of a cap.. and normally the engine will stall and/or die.

You can see a video of the filter issue here.

Well done on finding that.

And thanks for reporting back.

IF that hose clip is loose it looks like it might be an installation fault otherwise another new part faulty. I didn't realise the float would have a filter as I was thinking of the float as a simple measuring instrument for the fuel gauge.

To save my typing finger.-

On 20/03/2025 at 11:05, nta16 said:

I've had far too many issues with old cars and new car parts . . .

If you have fitted any new parts before the problem started you can suspect them or the fitting and never assume a part already fitted is the correct part or fitted correctly or that is fully functioning even if it works. generally the factory or more original parts tend to be better, but not always there have been improvements in the last 20 years particularly in engine and transmission oils.

I have not looked but I would imagine that I might also have put about if a new part has been fitted, particularly to an old car, that the part and installation become suspects to any subsequent issue(s).

Again well done on finding that, and reporting back.

Now go off and give the car a good run for its own good and to reward yourself for your efforts and troubles.

Edited 21 March, 20251 yr by nta16
typo

It wasn't about the hose clip, the small filter im moving in the video shoul have been stuck on the pipe, there are some grooves on the pipe to gold the filter, but u guess the filter was a bit to wide so it fot loose.

But anyway, i was more than happy with the cheap(free) fix. :)

Got to be hose, filter, pipe, clip or installation at fault not that it matters as long as it's sorted. I can't see very well but seems like some sort of metal sleeving perhaps, if so is that really necessary for fitment. When fitting to plastic (much plastic on new cars often where there used to be meatal instead) that has to be clipped carefully not too tight or loose, often clips can be nipped up after first or a few uses of the car or heat cycles so checking is a good idea and sometimes you have to check more than once. Anything with petrol I do always done a couple of checks.

Yes nice to have a no or low cost fix though. 👍

Edited 21 March, 20251 yr by nta16