Gday all,
    what could be causes for a reasonably standard ( has mild cam and extractors ) 2 litre escort to give a slight hesitation when you first accelerate. I really notice it when I coast around a small roundabout then accelerate out of it. Dosent matter how subtle or abruptly I prees the pedal it still does the hesitation then takes off and goes quite well. The carb dosent have a choke fitted ( does have the choke plates which aren't stuck )
                       Cheers
                            Shep

Its running lean (lack of fuel) this could be anything from jet size to emulsion tubes to blocked squirt jets located just under the chokes , maybe the idle jets blocked or too small now. These are on the outside of carby near the base. one each side, you can undo the throttle side idle jet 1/2 turn to see if this is the problem..

I had the same thing years back, tuned out to be a bad batch of fuel. Either junk in the fuel or possibly even water?
Drained the tank, cleaned the carbs and was good to go.

I read on a weber tuning guide today that water in fuel is a common cause of this fault. I was a bit sceptical but after reading this advice I might try and get some new fuel in it.  Failing that Ill check the lean fuel mix theory.

If its water in the fuel just pour a bottle of methylated spirits into the tank that will clean it up no problem

And good to clean out the carb if you can. Sponge/soak up any fluid in there as water can sit in there (if it is in there).

If its a standard webber it will be the throttle (accel) pump on the side. The wear a little bit, so the throttle opens and no fuel is pumped in the carb for a fraction of a second causing the slight hesitation. The kits were cheap back in the day so you used to just rekit the whole thing. Or you may be able to still buy the accel pump seperate. 

I have exactly the same problem with an exact set up as ShepV8. the only difference is that I removed the choke plates. But I honestly dont think this is the issue. Someone once told me it could be the float. I adjusted it and it helped. However I still have a small flat spot that is evident. I have also recieved advice that the car may be running lean, however this is not possible because it stinks like its running rich and it sticks to my clothes. I wish I could also rectify this issue as its frustrating me. I am curious to understand what this throttle (accel) pump is. If your referring to accel valve that gets bolted on the lid of the carbi, i have already replaced this and it didnt change anything. Diagram would help.

Regards

Rodney

I'm with Ford_Escort on this one. Sounds like an accelerator pump problem.
 
Easy to check. Assuming it's the standard Weber 32/36 carbie, remove the air filter so as to be able to look down the barrels of the carbie, and while looking down the barrels turn the accelerator linkage to open the throttle. You should see a squirt of fuel being pumped into the primary barrel out of the accelerator discharge nozzle which is located at the top of the barrels, protruding towards the center of the barrels from in between the barrels. Although there are 2 accelerator discharge nozzles, 1 per barrel, only the primary barrel should receive a squirt of fuel which if memory serves me right will be the barrel closest to the rocker cover. If no fuel is squirted into the primary barrel, then you have a problem with the accelerator pump circuit. This could be caused by a damaged accelerator diaphragm, a blockage in the accelerator pump circuit, or damaged accelerator discharge nozzle.
 
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Chuff,

Thanks for your input. I have in the past looked at this. At the accelerator pump does work fine. The little thing is shaped like a v and although it has two arms, the other arm has a blind outlet. i.e it can only provide fuel in the primary barrel. Thats the thing with this problem and this is why its doing my head in. The car runs like a dog at low end and stins like hell. Once she is going, she hammers along nicely. But drivalebility in a carpark is woeful.

Regards

Rodney