Engine starts but will not run

[woolfie1948]

I thought I had solved the problems I was having with the 164 following the dizzy overhaul and was looking forward to seeing if it had solved the pinking problem. I did post that by getting the petrol flowing all was well and engine running.
I went for a drive up to the village but by the time I got there (under 2 miles) I could feel the engine hesitating so parked in the car park. Ten minutes later I came back and it would not start so phoned for SWMBO to bring tools and of course as soon as she arrived it started! There followed a nightmare drive home as every 100 yards the engine cut.
In order to make double sure the electrics were ok I changed points, condensor, rotor arm, and cap.
I still feel it is probably a petrol problem so ordered new pump from Brookhouse and fitted this morning with new petrol pipe from metal pipe to pump and from pump to carbs with new inline filter.
It will now start every time I spin the starter but runs only for 1-2 seconds or sometimes up to 5 seconds then dies. The fuel gauge showed a little above the red but put an extra 5 litres in just to be sure.
Any ideas please?

[940_Turbo]

Checked the diaphragms in the carbs?

[woolfie1948]

Thanks but carbs rebuilt by gower and lee not long ago.

[woolfie1948]

Is it possible that they could cause problems so soon, less than 12 months?
Do you think there could be a blockage somewhere in the carbs even with an inline filter in place?
I thought if that was the case it would not start at all.

[940_Turbo]

Originally Posted by woolfie1948

Is it possible that they could cause problems so soon, less than 12 months?
Do you think there could be a blockage somewhere in the carbs even with an inline filter in place?
I thought if that was the case it would not start at all.

It's one of the obvious things to check, and I've seen patten diaphragms fail in under 12 months. With a holed diaphragm the car will start and idle, but it won't rev.

You have to be systematic with this stuff. In essence all it needs is fuel, spark and compession to run. Check each element systematically. Jumping in somewhere in the middle and arbitrarily swapping bits tends to get you into trouble and unnecessary expense.

[woolfie1948]

Thanks for that info. - The car starts but does not idle but I will check them anyway.
If they are ok I would appreciate your opininion on an idea I have just had - to connect a temporary pipe from a can of petrol to the pump and see if it then runs.
The previous owner had a new tank put in July 2009 and I put a new inline filter in when I had the carbs done earlier this year, however it had more muck in than I would have expected today when I changed it, so wonder if they did a second rate job and there is some kind of blockage. Having said that I had no problem today sucking the fuel through the new pump and filter up to the carbs today before trying to start it.