My 33 just, well, died.

Try spraying some starter fluid down the throttle body if the RAC fellow didn't. If that does not work you will have to check the timing marks. (doubt you could tell one tooth being off from the fuzzy thing)

He tried that - a brief splutter and then nothing again - just flooded and died.

He reckoned on a skipped tooth because he could see a spark at the plug leads and there was fuel getting through.

The dizzy cap and rotor look well knackered. So I'll start there.

I would check the timing marks before turning it over any more, You may have skipped several teeth and the RAC fellow would be able to tell this from the dizzy cap alignment.

erk!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, wouldn't it run badly on one bank of cylinders if the compression had gone on the other?

I'd have to be _very_ unlucky if the compression went on both sides at the same time, I'd have thought.

I don't think so. The first sign of problems in this area would be difficult starting.

I would carry out a compression test and keep your fingers crossed....

HTH

Steve

You would be very unlucky indeed if all compression was lost, but a loss of compression can be caused or accompanied by an excess of friction due to whatever is knackered, this means the engine won't turn over sprightly enough to run although it wants to. This extra friction causes the slowing down/loss of power you describe. I had this years ago and it turned out to be a crankshaft thrust bearing, You know the big end bearing with the flanges to limit end float? Anyway, I didn't have any warning lights either, it just died. Remind you of anything?

Remember that the engine needs three things in order to run. Fuel, sparks, and compression. from what I read in your OP, the first two would seem OK, which leaves compression. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I hope it's something not too expensive, but I firmly believe there is a case for a compression test, if only to eliminate it from your enquiries as the plod would say.

Good luck.

Steve

I am giving this RAC fellow some credit. He would have checked the cap for moisture since running through a puddle is the likeliest cause of a sudden loss of power short of running out of gas. The starter fluid did not produce a result so the timing belt is suspect. Often times a motor will run with the timing belt off by one tooth. Unfortunately the belt may continue to slip until there is an interference problem. The timing belt effects all cylinders equally.

Not on a 33 it doesn't.

At least, not unless _both_ belts have slipped at the same time.

I'd expect some sign of life from the intact side of the motor, at least.

It's about 16k short of a belt-change (or 10k for me.....)

Compression test tomorrow, I reckon.

What does ISTR mean?

ss.

I Seem To Recall.

See

Oh right. I thought it had something to do with interference designs.

I still don't know what an interference design is though..

ss.

Synapse Syndrome ( snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAMhotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It's easy to tell which it is, when your cambelt breaks.

If the bill does not induce whimpering and tears, your engine is not an interference design.

If the bill includes replacements for the valves that got bent when they hit the pistons, it was.

The only boxers I have ever worked on were old Volkswagens. If two of the cylinders were out they would just sputter and refuse to start.

Apparantly the Italian boxers will continue to run if you lose half the cylinders. You would think there would be extra drag with some of the valves stuck open though?

Lurker (_@_.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I don't know where the distributor lives on the Alfa. The Citroen flat-four has the fuel pump off the back of one cam, and the dizzie off the back of the other - if the pump-side belt slips, then it'd still run on two - I proved this (although not quite in the same way) by getting the HT leads on that side round the wrong way - it'd start and run, but on two. The vibrations had to be seen to be believed.

If the dizzie-side belt slips, then it won't, as the timing'll be out. If the Alfa's similar, then that's got to be a likely cause.

Replace dizzy cap and rotor arm if they are at all suspect. Expect a nice fat blue spark at plugs. Check timing marks etc. Otherwise suspect igntiion amp?

Tim..

Lurker (_@_.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yep. I was meaning the ignition timing, though.

In this case, it's fairly obvious there's no valves got bent. Yet. (grin)

So - if only one cam belt's slipped, meaning two pots of four are "out" on the valve timing - why won't it run? It should run on two.

But - if the cam belt that's slipped also drives the dizzie, the ignition timing is going to be WAY out - which is why it won't run - but will do a bloody gurt big backfire.

Not possible in a 33, the distributor is driven by the crankshaft. And some of the newer ones use a distributor-less system.

Stef