Recently rebuilt my thermostat and now my series 3 is gutless
Hi all, I recently rebuilt the thermostat housing on my 2.25l petrol and replaced the missing thermostat, and of course had to drain and replenish the radiator.
I didn't mess with the ignition, timing, fuel, or carb and now it's making so little power I can't even reverse out of my garage without stalling 3 times. Accelerator is really unresponsive and it actually seems to choke out if I give it too much throttle at once. it also backfires sometimes, again it seems to be if I give too much throttle for too long. The revs also barely climb when I work the choke cable.
I really don't understand what could've happened, but I've tried taking the intake tube off, cleaned my air cleaner, and worked some fuel out of the lines by priming into a bucket. I’ve also changed the engine oil and it came out black but not mixed with any water, coolant, or something else.
It’s got about a 1/4 tank right now, mostly fresh 89 octane with the last little bit of ~8 month old 87 that I’ve been working out of it for a few weeks when it was running fine.
Any help is greatly appreciated, I’m running out of ideas and the will to live.