New Member. 87 Octane gas

[ahhhoo]

Hello everyone.. We just brought home a Corvair 110 yesterday. My first Corvair, thus know nothing about this engine. We drove it home and drove great. FUN little car. Once home, went to the gas station and filled the tank with 87 Octane. This morning, the car won't even idle. Idles horrible and just dies... Would this be the gas??? If so, can I add octane additive to it or should I pump the gas out and put 93 Premium in it. Or is it something else? thanks in advance -al

[Phil Dally]

WELCOME!!!

Nothing less than mid-grade and premium only in hot weather.

[cnicol]

A 110 hp Corvair is a premium fuel engine.

But regular fuel should not affect starting, idle, or mild use. In fact, some owners whose cars only see very mild use (no freeway, cool to moderate temperature, no hills or heavy acceleration) often use regular fuel. To be safe, always use premium.

The issue with your car is likely something else, not related to fuel. Since these cars are simple, the problem is likely simple, like a carburetor automatic choke stuck open or closed, or a spark plug wire that's come off.

[ahhhoo]

Thank you for the responses..... I just ordered the Uni-syn carb tool from Amazon. I know NOTHING about these cars. I hope its not the choke. 30 years ago, I was into VW's. For someone who knew nothing... I read the VW "How to Keep your VW alive" for us newbies.. Any recommended books like this for dummies? I don't even know where cylinder one is on this thing!!! I have a huge learning curve ahead...

[Lane66Monza]

Take a look at the Good Books section of the attached link. Also look at the manuals you will need to maintain yopur new prized possession.

Recommended Corvair Manuals & other good info
viewtopic.php?p=135929&hilit=manual#p135929

Lots of Good info and where to go get info on the Corvair in the link.

[cnicol]

Ahhoo wrote: " I hope it's not the choke"

Craig replies: actually I hope it is the choke! Very simple and all visible. Probably one 9f the easiest things to fix.

[bbodie52]

Welcome to the Corvair Forum!

The symptoms you describe are unusual — even if the fuel you pumped into the tank has an octane rating that is too low — which 87 Octane is. At idle there is little stress on the engine, so detonation in the cylinders (low octane gasoline fuel/air mixture exploding rather than burning) would not materialize with essentially no load on the stationary, idling engine (as opposed to a heavily loaded car, climbing long uphill grades with high ambient air temperatures, etc.)

You did not perform any tuning or maintenance on the engine, correct? You simply went to the gas station and filled the tank. Had the Corvair been sitting for an extended period of time with stale fuel in the tank before you bought it? Is it possible that you stirred up stale fuel in the gas tank — possibly contaminated stale fuel with a lot of water in it? If contaminated, aging fuel had settled in the tank, I wonder if filling the tank could have stirred things up a bit, possibly leading to bad fuel reaching the carburetors.



Is it possible that the wrong fuel might have inadvertently been pumped into the tank? Pumping Diesel or E-85 Ethanol gasoline into a Corvair engine might lead to problems like you describe, but such a mistake would be unusual. Putting E85 in a car not designed for flexible fuel can be harmful. I'm just guessing at what might have occurred between your good-running engine and an engine that will barely run at all!

A description of the newly-minted Corvair owner might be helpful in improving communications over the Internet and helping us to suggest viable solutions as you begin troubleshooting your engine problems further. Do you have any experience with working on cars as a DIY mechanic? Since Corvair-experienced mechanics are somewhat rare, are you prepared to learn how to perform some of your own maintenance on your Corvair? Do you have access to tools and a garage or place to work on your Corvair? Where are you located? There are many Corvair owners clubs scattered throughout the nation. Joining with one of these CORSA (Corvair Society of America) owners clubs, if there is one in your area, can be very helpful as you learn about maintaining and servicing your classic Corvair.

To help us to assist you better, explaining your DIY mechanic background can help improve communication with members of the Corvair Forum. Some detailed pictures of your Corvair, including the engine compartment, can give us a glimpse of what you are working with.

[ahhhoo]

Thank you Brad.. We just picked up the car Saturday. Drove it home 30 miles to Belchertown Ma (our location). Next day, cleaning out the barn, the car just would idle choppy and would stall out at idle. Pushing the gas kept the engine running, but once off the accelerator, the engine would quit. To get the car moving again and moved into shelter, because of the rain last night, I turned each idle screw (without the syncing carb tool, its ordered.) 1.5 turns clockwise. The idle went up on the engine, but boy did it run rough!!! We limped it into the barn on where it sits now.

Looking at my gas receipt, I only put 5 gallons of gas in. So I believe its not the gas but coincidence.
From CT. The car sat for 40 years. 17k original miles, which I believe is true. The car has new rebuilt carbs, new fuel lines, new gas tank with sender, pvc valve, hoses, fuel pump, distributor cap/points, brakes, etc... etc... etc.. Everything to get the car street worthy again was replaced. The engine was not cracked open but left as is. After hanging out with the gentleman for a few hours as he showed us his multi car collection. He has a billion projects as I was confident with his mechanical abilities. The Corvair purred. No smoke, no hesitation... We test drove it for miles and I was finally sold on it, as I was real skeptical at first (should of listened to my gut but my wife fell in love (as its her car :).

As myself, ehhhh.... I work on cars from time-to-time as a hobby. Got away from it for 25 years, but realize I need a new hobby as I near retirement. I can pretty much suffer through most stuff but not an engine rebuild. Not my favorite thing to do but I have a feeling a Corvair, being so light and small, won't be a huge burdon. I don't have a garage, thus all work will be outside. A new car cover is in the mail and the car will go into a shed in bad weather.

If you know any Corvair mechanics in western mass, that would be GREAT!!

thanks -al

[ahhhoo]

1965 110

[KenHenry]

Did it smell like gas? It’s pretty common to get crud from the fuel system into the inlet valves of the carburetor, allowing them to overfill. You should be able to see this in other the air cleaner removed. The engine will run very rough and can stall when this happens. Ken

[ahhhoo]

It did not smell like gas, but it did have a burnt rubber smell. I was assured that its because of the crud on the engine, and work that was done. And it will burn off with driving, as the car only has a few 100 miles since the overhaul.

Removing the air filter, I did notice little bits of rust?, carbon? being pushed out of the (my new thing I learned last night) positive crank ventilation tube into the air filter (very little). I believe this is where the odor was coming from. Though, not good, even if the carbs sucked that dirt up (very little), would clog the carb jets?...

Once we register it and get it running again, I think, for the time-being, don't connect the crank ventilation tube into the air filter til it cleans out. Thoughts?

[Phil Dally]

You are less than an hour from the biggest Corvair parts supplier in the world,

https://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/main

[Dennis66]

First: More about your Corvair other than "It's a 110 Corvair". What year? Automatic or manual? Let me take a wild shot with something that wasn't mentioned. The "dog leg" PCV tube has a rubber hose hooked to it. The nipple where the hose attaches to the tube has a small orifice. If this orifice gets plugged (like by some of the rust particles you mentioned - or often crankcase funk), it will have a rough idle. As others mentioned it could be debris on a carb float needle making one carb flood. It could be one of the balance tube hoses found at the front of each carb base (tube runs from one side of engine (intake) to the other. These hoses get hard with age causing vacuum leaks or can crack. Easy things to check. The carbs should be okay if you keep tracl of how many turns in or out and keep each one the same as the other. The Unisyn tool takes some practice and you will need to have some kind of a smooth idle for it to help. Cylinders are numbered on the shroud. Dennis

[ahhhoo]

1965 110 auto.

I will look into these. Thank you. I turned the idle screws back to normal this morning. Car started right up and idled nice til it warmed up. I just let the car run. As the car was warming up (a few minutes in), it was getting rougher and rougher and idle was getting lower and lower til it stalled. I am going to look at the choke too.

[66vairguy]

1965 110 auto.

I will look into these. Thank you. I turned the idle screws back to normal this morning. Car started right up and idled nice til it warmed up. I just let the car run. As the car was warming up (a few minutes in), it was getting rougher and rougher and idle was getting lower and lower til it stalled. I am going to look at the choke too.

Over the years folks have reported issues with "crud" plugging up the carburetor idle circuit. The symptoms are as you described - runs fine until the chokes open. There are "stones" - porous bronze filters in the carburetor inlets that are only good enough to keep the big chunks out. The Clark's carburetor filters are inferior - huge gaps!! The ones I use are made by WIX and much finer (33050). That said any older Corvair (unless the fuel tank is new) needs a basic inline generic metal can 5/16" fuel filter up by the gas tank.

There is a procedure some use to clean the idle circuit without dismantling the carburetor. I let someone else explain it.

[Frank DuVal]

needs a basic inline generic metal can 5/16" fuel filter up by the gas tank.

Or using filter to replace the short rubber hose in the fuel line behind the left rear tire. Then it can be changed without so much fuel spilling....

Metal can only , like WIX 33032.