A few weeks ago I bought a campervan - since then something has gone wrong pretty much everytime I have driven it anywhere - and I've only left the confines of my hometown once.

It's a 1981 Toyota Hi-ace van, with a 18R 1968 cc engine. Manual choke and 4 speed gearbox.

The normal symptoms seem to be a loss of power, then the engine stalls. On restarting the engine it fires, but cuts out after a few seconds. If i'm feeling lucky it idles OK but cuts out once I put it in gear.

I've had Green Flag breakdown come and pick me up twice now, and it's confused them both times (same bloke - how embarrasing). By the time they get to me everything seems fine. Engine starts and I can drive off without any trouble.

After the first problem, I took it for a complete service and oil change etc. Garage man said it was fine (apart from all the welding that needs doing before next MOT).

After second breakdown I took it to the same garage (on the back of a towtruck for dramatic effect) and garage man changed the spark plugs and HT leads.

So by now I think it must be sorted. Except on Saturday after about 15 miles, I had exactly the same problem (although this time it was preceeded by two loud bangs from near the airfilter). It could not have happened in a more inconvenient place (Green Rd round-about for anyonw who knows Oxford, UK).

So this time, I'm clever, and don't phone for Green Flag. I just wait.

About 20mins later, with a big gap in traffic, I drive off like nothing happened. Went home the quickest way, but felt like something was still 'up' as the engine stalled whenever the revs dropped (even with the cluth in).

So? I appeal to your collective wisdom. What's wrong? I'm thinking that there's an overheating problem somewhere. But how do I track it down when the problem is so intermittent?

To me it sounds like a timing issue. Has the timing been checked? Also get the vacuum advance checked.

A bang near the air intake is likely to be a backfire through the carby.

OK. I've now found out that someone has removed the fuel filter - would this be a possible cause of the problems I described?

Quite possibly. If crap has got into the carby, or into the jets, it will run rough, erratically, or not at all.

You will need to install a new fuel filter, and pull the carby out - dismantle it, clean it out, clean the jets and the galleries etc then reassemble it.

If you are not confident in servicing the carby, take it to a service centre or carby specialist.

Hi, If it isnt a fuel problem i would have the coil and condenser checked.Also get the distributor cap and rotor checked for cracks. Good luck.