Eagerbeaver

After much tinkering I have lost where I started from and have a couple of issues. At idle, the car smells like it is running too rich but on the air/fuel meter, it's showing about 12.5 which I thought would be about right. On acceleration, it pulls well but the meter oes down to about 10.5 which sounds rich to me. On overun, the meter goes to about 13.5 which again sounds OK. On cruise, the meter is about 12. My biggest concern though is that after a run, No 1 plug is as white as a a white thing with added whiteness and No 6 is as sooted as a child extra from Dickens!! Before I started, all plugs were equally sooted. Any suggesteions as to where to go from here?

I would guess at about 150kg, certainly more than 100 and pretty sure it's less than 200.

I would guess at about 150kg, certainly more than 100 and pretty sure it's less than 200.

Latitude works on a Blackberry but as a piece of software is pretty limited. I've been uploading the route onto Viewranger and have given a web link to everyone who has sponsored me so they can follow us around the UK.

For the last few weeks I've been doing my best to break my car. I've driving it daily, usually the fastest car on the motorway. Nearly got taken out on a roundabout today by some numpty who saw and old car and assumed he could pull out but I was in front of him before he was on the roundabout so the slightest kiss didn't even leave a scratch. The one schoolboy error I've realised is that I've not changed plugs in a while and they are beyond their best. Off to get some in the morning.

John, Many many thanks. Support like this is priceless.

I feel sorry for some of these tales of woe but there is still plenty of time to sort even major engine/gearbox problems. My worry is that my TR6 ran like a dream and I'm getting paranoid about what to fix which isn't broken. I managed over 30 mpg on a 300 mile trip and to those of you who saw the Magenta TR6 passing them, that was me, unless you are a policeman in which case it wasn't. :)

Seriously though, what most of these green types miss is that the less energy we consume, the more is left for our descendants to polute the planet so we owe it to our children to consume as much of these nasty polluting fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Necessity is also the mother of invention so the sooner we use these dirty fuels up, the sooner we I'll have an alternative.

So is the big nut for low speeds, the middle nut for motorway cruising and the small one for overrun?

No it's not hesitant, it's more tractable across the range but now that I've started I'm going to fiddle some more. The playing is done for a week as I've been dragged away on holiday.

Undid the bottom locknut and moved all 3 as suggested above, not much improvement, undid it some more and then some more. I've just done a round trip of 60 miles and got about 28mpg. That's a massive improvement and I'm happy with that.

I'm not even bothering to clean and polish. By the time we've gotto the start it will be filthy anyway. I've spotted a frayed accelerator cable so I'll change that and pack the old one as a spare. I also need to get an electronic ignition get you home kit. i.e. points and condenser in case the module packs up.

Now we're making progress. It turns out that the original vacuum pipe that ha been on the car since 74 has gone porous. I've never seen that before. So the engine is now as it should be but the a/f ratio is still showing little improvement so I've made adjustments to the metering unit. It's looking like this has improved matters massively. Many thanks for all the advice. RBRR - here I come :) :)

Misses says nothing wrong with my tongue.

I've made some progress. There is a vacuum leak but I'm not sure where it is. When I suck on the vacuum pipe to the metering unit the arm moves up but if I leave my tongue on the pipe, the arm and roller slowly slip down. It doesn't appear to be the connection at the pipe, the screws for the adjuster cap are in and sealed the diaphragm is recent.

I'm really hoping that the a/f meter is going to help with this but I'm trying to put off messing with the MU as it has been recently rebuilt.   I was getting about 28mpg with the old metering unit and about 24-25 now but even at 28 it was running rich. Putting the same a/f meter on my modern BMW I get about 16 when the TR is at 11. I'd be happy to see 14 on the TR.

OK so I've double double checked the ignition system. Compression check shows 14 bar on all cylinders Valve clearances checked, all OK Checked balance pipes for leaks - none Took servo pipe off and blocked hole in manifold Double checked vacuum at servo inlet on inlet manifold, found to be within spec None of this has made any improvement. The car runs with the air fuel ratio above. I'm itching to get at the metering unit but there isn't much clearance to get the side plate off with the unit on he car. Any other thoughts before I start playing with my nuts?

Many thanks. I will be leaving the MU to last and I agree, messing around blind will lead to tears.

I've got my air fuel ratio guage fitted and considering I've got a sound engine pulling vacuum in spec and a recently rebuilt and calibrated metering unit, I've got some way to go. At cruising speed, I'm seeing around 11.1 and on overrun just over 13. At about 30 mph, I'm seeing about 12.5. Yes, the fuel enrichment lever is fully home.

So I'm driving the TR6 home from work on Friday and as I stop at some lights I can hear a deep knocking from the engine. Obviously my ears are playing tricks with RBRR a month away. I get home and Im sure there is a knocking. Oil pressure is good, the knocking is only there at low revs. Where is it coming from, the more I look, the more it sounds like its coming from the crankshaft. Surely it can't be big ends, what about little ends, maybe piston slap. I was reluctant to take the sump off as I didn't have a replacement gasket. I check crankshaft end float, all is in spec. I think, could it be the pulley loose but no, it's tight. By Sunday, I'm making plans to pull the engine out and drop in another. By this time, I've scratched a bald patch on my head and I check everything else without taking the sump off. I can't believe it could be big ends. I know I checked the pulley but that's the only thing I could think it would be. So, off with the pulley, as I'm taking it off, I find that the woodruff key is too small and there is movement in the pulley. Fit new woodruff key, tighten it all up and no more knocking.

I had another go with Latitude and can confirm that the data usage does appear to be much higher than ViewRanger but it's the choice of maps that really makes ViewRanger so much better. The biggest benefit of Latitude is that it works cross platform but there can't be that many who own a smart phone but don't have a device that can run ViewRanger.

I keep wanting to use Latitude but I find it's just so unreliable.

ajp wrote:what is a ifone? ipad? (sounds like something Ferny wears under his spiderman suit) GPS? data?......... Regards B.Hopper Hi AJP This is  someone very happy with their new eye pad.

Rubber pants? Who's going to be the first to suggest adult incontinence pants that not only reduce the length of time you have to stop for calls of nature but double up for mopping up spilled oil/water/petrol or soaking up leaks in the footwell - wherever they've come from!!!  ;)

My friends and family are interested in following my progress on the route and I've found a free piece of software that runs on an iPad or iPhone that will allow them to GPS track my car live. This will keep them updated but will also help to locate us should things not go to plan. I was wondering if anyone else is using any form of GPS tracking or data logging or would be interested in doing so? The software I've found is called ViewRanger and comes with pretty good downloadable maps and best of all, as I mentioned, it's free. You can turn your tracking on or off so you can be as public or as private as you want to be.