sami rough running when it rains hard

[str8axleguy]

Ive got an 86 sami that runs rough when i drive on the freeway in the heavy rain or snow, it sputters and coughs a lot. I have a weber carb and a bosch ignition. where do i start checking on a problem like this? Anyone else have this issue before? :sick:

 

[Unimog]

I've never had a sami, but I have had a car exhibit this same behavior. It turned out to be ice forming in the top of the carb. Only happened in really moist, cold weather conditions. If you parked it for a few minutes, the heat would melt the ice and it would run great. Took forever to figure it out!

 

[Greg]

Might be water getting to the distributor. Spray it down with WD40 and perhaps cover it with a ziplock bag to test it out.

 

[lilsamiman]

My hitachi carb does it all the time. And Unimog is very right. If possible get a hose running off the outside of your exhaust to your intake. Try to just keep the heat flowing into the carb.

 

[str8axleguy]

hey alright ill try it and let post back, what would the permanent fix be if this is the issue?

 

[slamurai]

sammi

I had this problem on my stock carb sami for three years and after changing the motor 3 times and even the carb the only permanent fix was to sell it-ha!

I spoke with tons of people and the best guess after siliconing the distributor and testing all the wires with a spray bottle was that it must be icing over. It seemed to be worse in cold weather, but only on the freeway when it was pedal to the metal. I could stop and wait for it to stop and then drive for awhile, but it would just cut out after a few miles. I have heard of some adapter plates that are supposed to eliminate carbs icing over, but I never found out where to buy them. Good luck, post when you find the fix because I am very interested to hear.

 

[Greg]

I don't know Sammis at all, but Toyotas have a heat shield over the exhaust manifold and that heat shield had a piece of expandable-metal tubing that runs up to the air cleaner. The heat off the manifold heats up the air cleaner.

Could you rig something like that to keep the carb from icing up?

 

[str8axleguy]

Yep I think this is exactly what I will try and do maybe this will alleviate the problem, I will keep you guys posted thanks for the input, oh and by the way it is when the little thing is working its guts out usually full throttle for a while and then you let off it dies.

 

[jp008]

I have never had this problem and I have owned several Sami's. When i buy a Sami I always pull the plastic vacuum actuator off of the "original" air box. if you have any rust near the back of the front fender the tire will kick up mist and then the carb will suck it in and the air filter gets saturated. With the factory airbox in place and the actuator removed the only air that gets in is from right behind the headlight.

Give it a shot, it has always worked for me. either that or I have just been darn lucky.

 

[Rot Box]

I had the same problem on my old Samurai, but mine would outright die sometimes????? the vacuum actuator may work, but mine had the same problem and I had a K&N cold air intake. I am curious to see what the problem is, and pass the info to my younger brother. GOOD LUCK!

 

[my4thjeep]

I would check your distributer cap and wires... Cracks allowing in moisture in will also cause the same problem.

 

[str8axleguy]

well im kind of embarassed to report what the problem was. I am running a weber carb with a couple of adapter plates that hook it to the intake man, and the bolts that hold the first plate tight to the intake came loose, thus a giant vacumm leak and shitty running. It just happened to be a coincidence that it happened in the hard rain as far as i can tell. I took it apart and applied lock tight to the bolts and it seems to have fixed the issue, i guess it is just time for the 1.6 swap with fuel injection instead of an adapted carb! Thanks for all your input and suggestions and I hope you can all have a good laugh at me!!

 

[lilsamiman]

Very cool, some guys sell an entire EFI kit for samis back east. Like 650 bucks. Eh, me, I will stick with the poor running in the rain.

 

[str8axleguy]

yeah doesn't seem worth the cost for EFI does it? I would like to do an 8 valve 1.6 swap so i can run the weber and new thorley header i just bought!