Don't you just love irony; GT wont start

[B-Hive]

Last night posted a reply on Aussie Frogs to a potential BX buyer about what to look out for in a petrol BX. Having gone over the usual suspects I embellished the reply with glowing remarks regarding a) the overall ruggedness and reliability this model offers..and b) to ensure the cam belt is within its life span.

Fast forward to today...
Back Story first:
The GT recently had done a long hard day trip over very poor unsealed roads. Did it with total aplomb. The next day she was acting up misfiring and spluttering.. Suspecting some ingress of dirt into the carb I found a partial midgey in one of the main jets.. Ah ha This is bound to be the problem..

Nah ah!!

Then I suspected the carb return hose the culprit..gave it a blow through...and presto change-o perfect.
Smugly retired for the night

Next day things seemed worse than ever..HHHmmm

So with others as back ups I put off the job till yesterday, this time she would only start on 3 cylinders..

Back to today..She would not start at all and showed every symptom of timing being off.. Leading me to thinking that the timing belt had slipped a notch..(yes yes it is due)...The lead up faults don't support this idea, but after 1)Pulling top of Weber off and making sure all is good float chamber wise 2) Checking and cleaning dizzy cap and rotor 3) Cleaning ignition module contacts. 4) charging battery full ...I'm a little perplexed..

Tomorrow will swap out ignition module..then coil....then pop dizzy to inspect...

So from misbehaving back to perfect then a slippery steep slope to no go at all...I have learned never to assume the worse as its usually something simple..so looks like something is loose in the electrical department as a result of the beating the car took over the dirt road..

Any udder thoughts chaps?

[electrokid]

Just a possibility - take the vacuum pipe off the carb and sniff it. If it reeks of petrol then replace the anti-stall diaphram - usually they give you a warning - running rich followed by serious misfire - but sometimes they just let go catastrophically.

[B-Hive]

Just a possibility - take the vacuum pipe off the carb and sniff it. If it reeks of petrol then replace the anti-stall diaphram - usually they give you a warning - running rich followed by serious misfire - but sometimes they just let go catastrophically.

Thanks but no go..

So I'll use the forum as somewhere to think out aloud .

Swapped out ignition module..no go ..tested for spark everywhere..very strong...

Dire-gnosis murder..

The timing belt has slipped..pretty sure that no major damage has been done..but when i examined the timing belt it was too loose on both sides of the cam pulley..

I obviously don't practice what I preach in terms of timing belt maintenance..However it does prove that age can weary the system, as I think it is more likely the tensioner has lost its ..well... ability to tension correctly..