Post RBRR checks

[Tim Hunt]

A reminder of something that can be out of sight and out of mind. On the Run we encounterd heavy rain and lots of standing water and I recommned that you lift the carpets in your cars and check that they and the underfelt are all bone dry.  If not, remove them and dry them thoroughly then treat any rust that may have formed and, ideally, trace the source of any leaks - easier said than done. Glad to report the 4A remained watertight!

Tim

[ferny]

May as well use this as post RBRR fixes report thread!

 

Gearbox oil - checked and poured out everywhere. Must have been over-full somehow. It always seems to gain extra oil on an RBRR! I'll be doing a fluid swap on it soon as it's a bit dark despite only being a year or two old. Didn't really lose any other fluids and engine oil (fully synthetic 10/60w) is still the colour of golden syrup.

 

Radio fixed (broke a day after the event) by unplugging it for a few days.

 

Interior boot llight has fixed itself as has the auxiliary engine/bonnet fan sensor.

 

Boost gauge died on the way back to Knebworth so I've replaced it. Could have just been the sensor but the replacement is a lot nicer.

 

Drivers interior door handle which snapped before Scotland has been replaced.

 

Heated seat button light still doesn't work, but the switch and seat do, so that can wait!

 

Exhaust will get attended to when I can be bothered. Its scrapping more than a snake's tinkle right now. 

 

Oh, and unpacking will happen at some point. And the brakes need adjusting again, but that seems to be a 1k mile service task anyway on this car.

Edited October 10, 2021 by ferny

[Tim Bancroft]

I will need to replace the rubbers in the Clutch master cylinder soon.

Otherwise, hapy to report the car is going well. Engine does feel tired now, 17 years since I bought her and nothing other than timing chain replaced. Some of that mileage has been hard, so the engine does need a re-fresh.

Very pleased with the old car.

[Boxofbits]

Found problem with no overdrive on RBRR. Turned out to be the Overdrive Relay positioned up under dash and bolted through bulkhead was loose, meaning no earth for the relay. Would’ve been a 5 minute fix if I’d known! Not established problem with 3rd gear yet so box out. 

Worth checking if you’ve got intermittent or loss of Overdrive.

Kevin

[RobPearce]

Oil level had got low - it used a couple of litres on the way round - and it had a very oily backside when I washed it, so I suspect it's leaking rather than burning. Some investigation required, I think.

Overdrive switch is quirky - it may respond to cleaning but as it's not very old I'm reluctant to strip it all down to replace with a new one that probably won't last long either.

For improved driving pleasure I really need to identify and eliminate all those rattles it makes.

I've noticed a slight hesitation developing - and there's been a subtle hint of a misfire for a while - so that's another thing to look into. Mind you, with the fuel economy it gave there can't be anything desperately amiss with the running.

[Chadow441]

For my TR7, the master light switch fell apart just before Carter Bar, plunging us in to darkness - not fun. A succession of bodges until a very nice chap called Pete gave us a replacement, which is working happily now.

The heater, which had worked happily in the warm air up to Knebworth suddenly stopped working as we got to Wetherby and the temperature dropped. Flow and retrun pipes both red hot.

Reading RobPearce above, could it be E10 fuel?  We had to enrichen the Weber a lot to stop the rough running.  Back on E5 and it was running way too rich, so put it back to where it was.

Economy wise, we seemed to get roughly 25mpg out of E10 and 32mpg out of E5 - 3.5 V8.

[RobPearce]

9 hours ago, Chadow441 said:

Reading RobPearce above, could it be E10 fuel?

I can't rule it out but, despite it being the go-to scapegoat for all problems these days, I've run with both and I can't tell any difference in how the car behaves. I certainly don't get the big drop in economy that you have and, to be honest, the science doesn't add up for your results. E10 should be no more than a couple of percent worse for economy.

[iani]

My passenger footwell carpet is still drying out, I made a schoolboy error in mounting my ECU on top of the carpet on the vertical face so I can't remove the carpet fully, I have a dehumidifier in there for now. I need to run some more sealant around the windscreen seal, I had put some on before the event but I think all I achieved was channeling the water more effectively into the car!. 

[Roger Keys]

1 hour ago, RobPearce said:

I can't rule it out but, despite it being the go-to scapegoat for all problems these days, I've run with both and I can't tell any difference in how the car behaves. I certainly don't get the big drop in economy that you have and, to be honest, the science doesn't add up for your results. E10 should be no more than a couple of percent worse for economy.

Interesting that the stag seems to have picked up what appears to be subtle random misfire at tickover. Fine under all other conditions. Need to use all the E10 and then put e5 back in and see if it goes away 

[Howard]

We ran on a mixture of E10 & E5 for most of the run depending on what was available - without a working fuel gauge and a fuel consumption that could be anywhere between 18 & 28 mpg the most important thing was a full tank! - but even when it was mainly E10 there was no noticeable difference in performance or fuel economy.

Howard (TR7 V8)

[Chadow441]

Interesting differences. I agree that there shouldn't be much difference - especially as it's 'up to X%' in each type.  But, when looking at the plugs at John O Groats (1 each side) they were completely white. Richening the mixture meant that by the Falls of Shin they were a very light tan and, following another adjustment, were normal tan.  Of course, filling up with E5 on the way home at near empty, meant that on checking on the drive, they were as black as a coalhole.  Not sure what else it could be.  Maybe, we got a shot of genuine E10 (full 10%) somewhere?

[andy5]

The Stag gearbox started to complain when changing down into 3rd on the way up to JoG, and more so around Wales, its coming out for an overhaul. The UJs were knocking when reversing up the drive they will be changed out for new drive shafts from CDD.

Through Wales we experienced popping on overrun which the Stag has never done before [though I did like it] and it developed a misfire on the way home Monday, we had a mix of E10 [with a fuel additive] & E5, topped up with E5 nearer to home and the misfire went away, still need to check under the bonnet, work has got in the way again.  

[Radders]

I thought my clutch pedal felt different on arrival at Knebworth Sunday night, but wondered if it was my imagination or tiredness.

However, leaving Knebworth on Monday morning I found I had a very low biting point. I pumped the pedal a few times and it was fine on the 60 mile drive home, but I renewed the seals in the master cylinder anyway the following Saturday. Other than that, no other issues. 

[Shynsy]

Took the six for a wash and a big slurp of E5.  For the first time ever on any of these runs nothing else broke 🙂 But I think a new windscreen is in order. Night time running showed all the scratches. 

[RobPearce]

11 hours ago, Shynsy said:

Night time running showed all the scratches.

I'm sure they'd polish out 🤔

[Shynsy]

possibly, but I also have pock marks from weld/angle grinder spatter 😞

 

[PeteStupps]

On 11/10/2021 at 18:28, Chadow441 said:

when looking at the plugs at John O Groats (1 each side) they were completely white.

Interesting, I checked my plugs at Badgers Holt and was alarmed to find them very pale indeed. Kevin Martin in his TR4 said he'd found the same thing and put it down to E10. 

I wondered if it might be worth trying hotter spark plugs, but obviously didn't have any handy.

Was reluctant to richen the carbs up, as I'd had a rolling road setup a few weeks previous and had already richened up quite a lot since then cos it was a pig to drive at low rpm. In fact the rolling road seemed to suggest that plug colour can be misleading for mixture, as I had nice biscuit-colour plugs when arriving but was running ridiculously rich at >50mph.

[RobPearce]

2 minutes ago, PeteStupps said:

plug colour can be misleading for mixture

Definitely, although normally the other way. The problem is that the plugs very readily get coated with the last few moments of running, so if you've pulled up and let it idle for half a minute while you open the garage, you can get sooty plugs from idle even when the running tune is spot on. It's possible, though, that E10 burns the soot off more, so they may come out paler for the same state of tune.

[PeteStupps]

15 minutes ago, RobPearce said:

The problem is that the plugs very readily get coated with the last few moments of running,

Yes true, when I was 'home tuning' last year I did the old dead-cut thing on a quiet stretch of road but even that doesn't seem reliable. Having read a lot about SU's recently I now think I need an AFR gauge to have any real clue

[Tim Bancroft]

Years ago, I did a test day with a good bloke I know who races a Std Ten, and he had a AFR gauge, it seemed to me that this gauge was living up to his name...a worry gauge. I sometimes wonder if we all worry too much about such things, if the car is going well.....maybe that is because all is well?

[GT6DavidMK1]

PI ran well all through out the event, filled with E10 every time, never missed a beat, only the Speedo stopped working which we set up Jonathan's phone with a GPS speedo.

[ferny]

55 minutes ago, Tim Bancroft said:

Years ago, I did a test day with a good bloke I know who races a Std Ten, and he had a AFR gauge, it seemed to me that this gauge was living up to his name...a worry gauge. I sometimes wonder if we all worry too much about such things, if the car is going well.....maybe that is because all is well?

I almost agree, but only from personal experience as well.

 

AFR gauges are only useful for initial tuning and then trouble shooting afterwards. I've kept mine in the car and just before the RBRR it allowed me to trace and prove a faulty fuel pressure regulator. On each RBRR I normally use the trip from the start to the Jedburgh garage to tweak fuel tables. So they're worth while if you can change parameters on the fly - if you can plug a laptop in and make instant changes.

 

On a car with carbs, use your feet, ears and bum to tune the car. Ignoring timing settings. If it's holding back slightly, it's probably too rich. If it's hesitating then it's too lean. Common sense really, but I've been fortunate to have and observe the gauge and make a change straight away to fix it.

 

Oh, and most definitely worth saying. Trying to find the magical sweet spot for the exact situation your in at that specific moment will almost certainly bugger everything else up!

Edited October 15, 2021 by ferny