Mabel Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 Morning, I collected my Vitesse yesterday, she started straight off, but as she'd not been used for a couple of months we checked the tyres, water, oil etc. The oil was very low so we added new oil. She didn't want to start after that, but with some gentle persuasion we got her going. She drove beautifully, better than ever I think. No problems at all. This morning I got everything ready, top down, sunglasses on and then it all went pear shaped! She started straight away (which is usually an issue as the battery has caused us many problems recently). But once I started driving it all went down bank. I'm all for "pops and bangs" in my Mini Cooper S and love the raw sound of the engine in the Vitesse...but this was like I was firing a gun constantly. People were looking disgusted, and the fumes of black smoke coming from the exhaust didn't help. I didn't risk it and returned home. What do I do? Drive for a while (ignoring the looks) and see if it clears or take her straight to a garage. Unfortunately we have neither the space, equipment or the skills to do work ourselves. I inherited her from my dad but unfortunately the skill-set was not part of it, the passion to enjoying driving her was there (I even imported her to Holland where I live) but the skills and knowledge are lacking and I get freaked out by things like this! Any advice is most welcome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 Im afraid your car is going to need attention as things rarely sort themselves out especially as something seems to have changed since yesterday. If youre going to keep this car then it sounds like you need to find a garage that has the knowledge and wish to maintain it and then get them to look at it. Your problem is probably pretty simple but really the first time everything needs to be checked so that youre starting (no pun intended) from a good position. Then these cars need to be used fairly regularly as there quite often seems to be problems after being left for long periods. If you have any doubts about the work that any garage suggests you can always get second opinions on here👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin R Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 You didn't mention if you had electronic ignition or not. If you have standard ignition it sounds like the condenser is starting to fail. It is a very easy 5 min job and a few £s to replace it. A likely cause and easy to rule out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65redspit Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 How old is the fuel and how full was the tank when left? If the fuel is old or has absorbed moisture it can cause this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65redspit Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 4 hours ago, Kevin R said: You didn't mention if you had electronic ignition or not. If you have standard ignition it sounds like the condenser is starting to fail. It is a very easy 5 min job and a few £s to replace it. A likely cause and easy to rule out. And there is a whole batch of dodgy ones out there atm... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabel Posted August 13 Author Share Posted August 13 Good evening, We went out the same afternoon to asses the damage (complete with Haynes manual and a big dollop of hope!) and low and behold she started up with no coughing and spluttering! I went for a drive and everything was perfect! Unfortunately she's (Vera is her name!) stored 20 miles away and we only get 6 pick ups a year included in the storage charge. We've kept her outside for the last few days to get some extra road time in. She's driving beautifully but does need some work on a number of other areas. We're going to get her booked in for a complete overhaul (it'll cost a lot, but dad didn't leave me my inheritance to waste on rubbish, he loved her and so do I so she's worth it!) I have no idea whether we have an electronic ignition or not....we have a choke that she needs regardless of the weather! It's a 1969 mk Vitesse convertible For now the problem is solved but the advice is most appreciated. She needs restoration work. We have had some stuff done to get her ready for the inspection when we got the Dutch plates, they were pretty strict. So she has been checked within the last two years, but we are now getting more problems so its definitely time for some serious tlc. Thanks for the support! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveant1 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Looking very nice. I hope it gets all sorted out for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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