Lancia Beta Forum

Hi there. Just wanted to let everyone out there know that I have just put my beta vx back on the road after being garaged since 2007! It had taken a bit of work and it still needs bits doing to it. As so many classics do!
Does anyone know how many volumex's are actually about and on the road? If anyone is in or near Ipswich I'm about if you want to have a look. Or if anyone is around and free this weekend on sunday is a big car show at helmingham Hall on Sunday,which I will be at. I would put some pictures up but it turns out I don't know how haha

It's a bit difficult to say for sure but going by the dvla stats from howmanyleft I think there are roughly 40 to 45 or so coupes in the UK of which slightly less than half are on the road at the peak of the summer

To post pictures just click on 'additional options....' bottom left, then browse for the ones you want. Would be nice to see some.

Thanks for the pointer. Here are a few pictures of her. Unfortunately all of the pictures I have taken are to big and need to be resized. I took the car to the show today and got plenty of interest, it still needs a few bits of tidying up. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of her all polished up, she looks a lot smarter. I forgot to take any pictures of her there but hopefully someone did take some.

Another

I usually post pics from Photobucket by inserting the Image URL

Tidy looking car by the way, vx always look good in black

Thanks she is ok pictures make her look really good! Going to go on a bit of a road trip this week so we will see how she likes doing a few miles. I'll be taking it nice and slow that's for sure!

Well I've broken down on the m3 lol got a fuelling issue. Pumps working might just be lack of fuel in the tank even though I've only done 100 miles and I put 40 litres in! Could have been only doing 11 mpg haha

Dirt in the carb jets is common after a long lay up

We are thinking it may be an overheating fuel pump? Now it's sat and cooled down it seems to be ok

A lovely looking car and very nice in black.

Please look into the tank and check for rust and scale that travels to the pump and blocks it. This is now very common, but nothing a tank wash out clean and seal will not cure.

Good luck

Eric

Hi Guys,

Congrats on your car  being back on the road.
 I have noticed in the thread the mention of cleaning out the tank and sealing it.
Its on my list of things to do, i was thinking of placing a fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump to help stop rust and rubbish from entering the fuel pump, has anyone done this or is there a problem in doing this ?
I have a filter in line just before the carb.
I also noticed Eric ( Hi Eric ) mentioned sealing the tank after cleaning, can anyone recommend  the best way to clean the tank and a product or method of sealing the tank after it has been cleaned.

Thanks in advance
Lee

Yeah my dad has an hpe vx which had running issues which boiled down to a rusty tank. On his recommendation I took the tank off and had a look inside, then thought I would cut an 'inspection' hole in it, which showed that the inside of the tank was in perfect order! There was a nice layer of yellowish green film over everything so I cleaned that off the best I could and cleaned the mesh filter off so I'm pretty sure that it isn't the tank. I also have two filters on the car both In the engine bay. A throw away nylon one before the one way valve, or as lancia call it a fuel shut off valve. And a cartridge filter after the electronic valve and before the carb. So hopefully no rubbish getting through there. So really it boils down to the pump, she drove for a couple of hours with no problems then stuck in traffic getting on to the m3 for half an hour or so she was fine water and oil temperature were both at the lower end of the green. So maybe the lack of air flowing past the pump over heated it? Anyone heard of that before?

Debris sits in the bottom of the carb float chamber in laid up cars, then slowly stirs up as you start driving them. Definitely worth stripping and cleaning the carb, then blowing every thing through with an airline. Also worth checking that all the rubber fuel lines are intact as modern fuel kills the old ones pretty quick.

My fairly long running fuel problems after a long lay up are covered in this thread;

http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=649.0 (http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=649.0)

Try the jets accessible on the sides of the carb first, these are the usual culprits, or check/replace if required the dizzy cap and rotor arm if hasn't been changed recently. It could be a faulty pump but I suspect not.

Thanks for all the ideas,unfortunately I can't do anything to her till at least Tuesday as she is in a locked compound on the m3! I know a mechanic with an ultrasound cleaner so I will give the carb to him. The dizzy cap and leads all look quite 'new' and in good condition. I have gone over the contacts with some emery paper just to clean them up. I'm my hast yesterday I may have put the jets that go in the top of the carb the wrong way round! From Neil's post they have a correct way of going in. Is there a way of telling which one is which? Thanks again

The jets have numbers stamped into them. Generally, the larger jet will serve the larger choke, though I've never seen a VX carb.

The ultrasound cleaners are meant to be really good for carbs.

Well got the carbs cleaned and rebuilt. Has made a massive difference, surprise surprise! So the next problem is that it stops after about 10min of driving! Then let it sit for 5,10min and it starts again and runs for 10 or so minutes. So now I'm looking at the pump. Back to what we thought was the problem from the start haha. So now it's do I get a oem one or do I upgrade? Ideas? The only other thing that could be go no wrong is the pressure valve I suppose, not sure they do go wrong?

In the past I've had ignition coils that fail once they get warm. Have you checked for a spark once it conks out?

No unfortunately it only seems to die when you have been driving and unsure where it will brake down! But I will try and check that next time I try it. On another note which I will put another post up about as well the fuel hose from the tank to the pump, is there a replacement as it's got different diameters on each end I believe. Could be wrong though haha

This is where I get controversial. The VX uses a high pressure pump normally used for FI just like the Beta IE one and then has a lot of returns and valves to reduce fuel flow related to heat. I have successfully used a Facet Silver Top Competition pump and a Filter King blanking the return and removing the complex valves. The FI pumps are roller vane items that really hate dirt and of course there is no filter pre-pump as standard! So if you buy another FI spec pump I recommend a pre-pump filter. Try the Fuel Systems Enterprises website for fuel system parts.

Your problem could be the hot engine fuel flow control valve in the standard set up.

Good luck

Eric     

It would be nice to get rid of all the gubbins that are there. I have just bought a new inline pump, not a oe one but a caltex one of the same spec. I still have the fine gauze filter in the tank so I'm not to worried about dirt getting into the pump. How important are the bimetallic switches? Can you not just remove them and let the electronic valve stay open on the bigger hole? I think I understand why it want to put less fuel through when it's hot but does it really matter?

Hi

If the gauze in the tank is the same as for the earlier tanks, then I do not think that would be good enough really if you do have crud in the tank. The inline filters tend to to have a much finer filter.

Peter

I agree with Peter, the small gauze on mine was doing nothing on my tank after 35 years.

Mark

I think I will put another inline filter on it, better safe than sorry hey! The inside of the tank was really clean, I'm thinking it isn't the original one. I've just had her running, sat there for 15 20 minutes and was absolutely fine then sat it at 2000 to 2500 and again was fine, a few flutters but it definitely didn't stop as it has done before. The fan seems to be temperamental as it comes on at low temperatures as well as high. So it seems that it only wants to stop when actually driving.

Well it's not the fuel pump! Does the same thing runs for 5 minutes or so then dies, let it sit for a minute then it starts and runs for 5 minutes again etc etc. Undid the filer cap just to make sure it wasn't getting an air lock, that didn't make a difference. Going to have to start looking at electrical I think. Is the relay for the electronic valve on the driverside front wing? It could be that it is stuck so that it is only letting the fuel through the smaller hole?