feeble 33

[simon]

Hello all - I have owned and driven my 33 for nine incdent-free years now, and it had always been well looked after by a local mechanic who knew his stuff ( mechanically speaking I'm afraid I don't!). Since he retired there has been one service by his successor which has resulted in the poor old thing refusing to do more than 15 mph, and struggling to get up the gentlest of inclines. New mechanic has had a couple of goes at remedying this but to no avail. Apart from (!) this complete lack of oomph, everything else seems ok. Does anyone out there have any idea what could be wrong ? Or know of a DAF-competent mechanic within a very slow drive of Thatcham, Berks ? I'd be really grateful, because I don't want the car to languish through the winter without being driven, which isn't really a safe undertaking at the moment.

[Bob Scrivens]

Hello Simon
Sound's like you have a sick 33, get them to go back to basic's, block off the vacum tube from the induction manifold, and tune the engine with that disconnected.
They may have set the timing up wrong on the ignition, older 33 were set at 4 degs BTDC but later types were set at 5 degs ATDC, if they have set that up wrong, it won't pull the skin off a rice pudding!!!
If after the above the engine is responsive, reconnect the vacuum pipe to the induction manifold as normal, if the engine die's when you try to increase the rev's it would point to a leak in the vacuum system to the transmision. (possibly a rubber pipe, put could be a ruptured diagham).
Hope the above helps.

Regards Bob.

[starider]

>:(Hi,Did the lack of power appear immediately following a service?Check the distributor cap for cracks,make sure the HT leads are pushed fully into the Dist.Cap.It does seem as previously suggested that your 33 is only running on one cylinder,did your "new"mechanic re-set the valve clearances?he may have set one valve with no clearance.If none of the previous suggestions have the desired effect,check that the exhaust gasses are leaving the tail pipe freely.I have had this problem in the past when internal parts of the exhaust system have collapsed causing back pressure.If none of the suggestions work get an exact list of what the mechanic did and report back,we can then try and analyse what he may have done wrong.starider.

[simon]

Thank you very much for all these suggestions - the one that stands out is the one about the Bosch spark plugs - I do believe these were fitted at the last service ... I hope it is as simple as this ! But I shall print out all of your ideas and wave them at the guy who "serviced" the car and see if we get anywhere. Fingers crossed, and thanks again - I'll keep in touch !

[dafya126]

We have the same problem with bosch plugs that come from the south americas in the Pinz community. Most of us just quit using them all together. NGK seem to give much better performance.

[simon]

Hello all,
Well I still haven't got the 33 properly sorted out, but hopefully a printout of all the suggestions will hepl the garage bring it back to rude health ..... And it's a shame, but it'll have to trundle away very soon, because I've just gone and committed myself to Paul's 66 coupé. Any interested bodies out there please get in touch ! And thanks again for all the helpful notes before the new year. God, that seems so long ago .... Simon

[Richard DAF Webmeister]

Hey Simon,

Firstly, WELL DONE for securing Paul's super 66SL. It deserves a good home to carry on the excellent work Paul has done with it (I'll change the front page of the website back to normal later on, when I get a mo).

This means that he will hopefully get Gladys the 44, which is so right for him and the family.

Your 33 - sorry to read about the difficulties - I had my "Blue Bullet" 33 out for a trundle over the weekend in the sunshine. It started after about 4 turns of the starter, having not been out for about a month.

I'm sure that between you, the garage and the folk on here, you'll get yours tootling along well soon.

By the way, I use NGK plugs. Also, check that the solenoid thing with a cable attached to it is securely screwed into the side of the carburettor. Mine sometimes works loose, and when that happens, it causes my engine to lose power and stall at lights, junctions etc. Also, make sure that the cable is securely attached to the terminal on there, as again, after a while, it can work loose.

Don't forget to look out for Practical Classics April issue, which will have a little bit in about DAF 33s.

[veeruk]

Well, as you might I know, I have purchased Simon's 33. We had a bit of trouble starting it when I collected it, but I put some new plugs in and then drove it from Reading to Luton on the main motorways. When I got home it would not idle and sounded quite rough. Just had a butchers with it yesterday and today and she runs sweet as a nut. The plugs were actually the wrong ones fitted, the points had the wrong gap, the mixture screw was completely screwed in so running way too rich and did not idle (this explains Simon's poor economy on this car). I set it a bit too poorly so when you pushed the brake or pushed the vario engine decline button (or what it's name may be) the revs went down, not up. Just adjusted it again and it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. I also fixed the exhaust box at the front as the pipe to the inlet was removed and had left a big hole now (rusted through).
It's just so fun to drive now and I need to put it through an MOT next week. I might go to the guy who does my normal cars as he is a MIMI guy and should remember these cars. I will stress to him not to put it on the rollers. Can the front wheels go on there though?
Anyway, will keep you up to date how she's getting on.

[Richard DAF Webmeister]

Well done Alex! Hope you will enjoy the little belter.

Very interesting to read your report as to what was wrong. I'm afraid that on far too many occasions, what should be rudimental things to a mechanic, have not been done properly, and I fear that a lot of DAFs have been scrapped when perhaps all they needed was a mechanic with the basic tuning skills etc.

Looking back to the earlier message from Simon on this one would suggest that Simon must not use this garage/mechanic for work on his ex-Paul coupe...

[daf44]

hi all.

have you tried to find a mechanic with tuning skills lately.
they are are rare and dying breed.

all i seem to find now are highly qualified mechanical engineers who keep asking where they plug their diagnostic equipment in to tune up my DAF.
needless to say the response is unprintable and i do the job myself.

if you find a good mechanic. KEEP HIM.....

putting front wheels on the rolling road is safe enough for mot, but some testers don't bother and just test the all the brakes driving the car outside.

the back wheels should NOT be put on a rolling road AT ALL.
i am sure you all know this already but it is so important i thing it is worth mentioning every time rolling roads are mentioned.

paul44

[simon]

Hi all,
Well I'm really glad that Alex has got "my" 33 (must stop calling it that!!) back to where it was before the change of staff at my local garage : listening and learning from Alex when he was here to collect the car (twice - oh the shame of it!), and putting two and two together since has made me realise that I must not, indeed take "Paul's" 66 to the same place when it needs a helping hand. Trouble is, as everyone seems to know, it is really difficult for a mechanical no-nothing like me to assess which garage or workshop is going to do a good job - or at least say so if they are dubious about something, rather than pretend everything is fine ... Alex suggested I ty the local Volvo franchise , which I shall investigate, though it looks large and shiny and is crawling with large silvery cars that all look th
e same - but maybe there is an elderly mechanic beavering away in there somewhere who wouldn't approach the 66 waving an electro-diagnostic plug in a threatening sort of way... Seriously, does anyone have experience of a Volvo place vis-a-vis a seventies DAF? Or does anyone know a garage in Berks/Hants/Oxon that it would be worth me checking out? I had grown so used to relying on the old gang at my local place that I feel distinctly insecure...!
Just one more thing - the 66 coupé is fab: it reminds me (in a good way) of the 1978 Volvo 66 I had when it was quite new - but is just so much prettier, and is, of course, a DAF ! All resopect to Paul for getting it sooo good! Simon.

[dafdaffer]

Hi All, just wanted to add this about garages, i took the peugeot to a garage that specialised in pugs as i wanted it serviced and to keep up the history.
i asked them if they could do me a service, they asked what type of service that i required so i told them engine only,
no problem the man says, i can get in for monday,
i said that would be fine, i asked how much,
£70 he said.
i thought that was resonalble and asked if that included the diesel filter, he said no just the oil and the oil filter is extra you are looking at around £150 for the oil and fuel filter!!!

i said that it it didnt matter and did the oil (decent stuff), oil filter, diesel filter, air filter and gearbox oil £40 and it took around 45mins.

im glad that i work on the daf myself!!!!

Paul

[veeruk]

I work on both Pug's myself as well. But then, I don't need to keep up the warranty as that expired years ago Mine is just old enough to do it yourself i.e. not having to plug it in to see if the exhaust is blowing or tell the mechanic that the wiperblades need changing lol. Good old fashioned diesel and petrol engines are so straight forward. The modern stuff is so fragile, even the AA can't do anything to them anymore. And you need to remortgage to get it fixed. That is why I left that line of work in the first place. Too many garages now rip people off with prices that are way too high and do unnecessary work.