Glad you had a good trip! About 13 years ago my wife and I drove our TR7
from NE Ohio to Norfolk VA and back......... the day after I finished
swapping motors. I put one in from a parts car, and off we went! Trip
went well, and the uncertainty factor adds to the excitement!
I wouldn't be too concerned with those oil pressures. You might want to
put a different gage on the oil to verify that your Smiths is reading
right. I've had them go bad before.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Beckman" <phil@opentext.com>
To: <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 10:56 PM
Subject: Chicago-Cincinnati and back
> Folks,
>
> OK, so I'm back in Chicago. Drove the TR6 from Libertyville, IL, to
Dayton,
> OH to Wilmington, OH to Cincinnati, OH and back to Libertyville. I
tended
> to keep the car at around 70 MPH but there were a couple of bursts up
north
> of 80. Drove the vast majority of the trip with the top down, what a
great
> time! The car ran great with only a couple of nagging problems and a
bit of
> fear over the oil pressure.
>
> I found that the front end gets very light and bouncy anytime I go
around a
> turn at speed on uneven pavement, even on the interstate. Seems like
new
> front shocks are in order. I also find that I need a new starter
solenoid.
> Had to take out a wrench and smack the solenoid a few times every time
I
> started the car. Its done this a few times in the past over the 5
years
> I've been driving the car but it picked this trip to decide to fail
every
> time I attempted to start the car. The people I met at the gas
stations and
> rest stops found it pretty humorous. I'd get in the car, turn the key
> (nothing would happen), mutter mild expletives under my breath, pop
the
> hood, reach in with a wrench and smack the solenoid a couple of times
(clank
> clank clank), close the hood, hop back in the car, start it up and
away I'd
> go.
>
> I stopped in Wilmington, OH. to visit an old high school friend. This
guy's
> a doctor now and he drives a BMW M3. We took his M3 out for a spin
with me
> at the wheel. This car went like stink. Seemed to go from 0-60 in a
> heartbeat, back to zero in the second heartbeat and the only sound it
made
> was a kind of whooshing noise. Very refined car. We then switched to
the
> TR6 with my friend at the wheel. For all I know he's still grinning
:) The
> BMW may accelerate faster, stop faster, have a higher top speed,
handle
> better and, in general, outperform a TR6 in every way but the BMW just
> doesn't have the same grin quotient. Still, the BMW was a fun car to
> drive...I'll take one if somebody offers me one :)
>
> Once down in Cinci. I pretty much just kicked back. Didn't make it to
the
> show on Sunday, hope it was a good show.
>
> Also learned a few lessons worth passing on to anyone else who's never
taken
> a long trip in one of these cars.
>
> 1) When purchasing snacks on the way out of town with an expected high
> temperature of 85-90 and a plan of driving with the top down for 4-5
hours,
> chocolate bars are the wrong choice. When I got hungry, all I had was
> misshapen bags of soft chocolate goo.
> 2) Get your hair cut before leaving on the trip. Honest to god I
think by
> the time I was done driving on Saturday, my hair hurt!
> 3) When purchasing snacks for the trip back home, cookies are also not
the
> best choice. Believe it or not, I bit into a cookie and the crumbs
flew up
> into my eyes, nearly causing me to have to pull over.
> 4) A bottle of water, left on the floor of the passenger side, will
get hot
> enough to brew tea if left there long enough.
> 5) This one hurt: Never, ever attempt to open the trunk of your car
while
> you are also in the process of fueling it. Managed to get away
without
> chipped paint but had to spend 15 minutes reassembling the fuel cap.
Yeah,
> I know, stupid thing to do but...
> 6) Sun screen is our friend. However, it takes 30 minutes to start
working.
> 7) Bring lots of spare parts because if you don't you'll need them and
if
> you're like me and you do bring a bunch, you won't need a single one
of
> them.
> 8) If you've never taken your TR6 on a road trip...do it.
>
> OK, now to the oil pressure issue. About 45 minutes into the trip I
started
> panicking because my oil pressure, while normally hovers around 75 PSI
at
> 3000 RPM was down to 50 PSI at speed and about 10 PSI at idle. I
pulled off
> and phoned a couple of 6-packers to get advice. Greg Donegan advised
me to
> press on, saying that my gauge readings were fairly normal for an
engine
> with 73,000 mile on it. I drove on. By the time I'd been on the road
2
> hours, the pressure was 35-40 PSI at 3000 RPM but it never fell below
that.
> What I found was that the longer I drove at speed, the further the
pressure
> would fall until it eventually stopped at 35-40 PSI. If I slowed
down,
> stopped at a traffic light and idled for a bit, the pressure would
jump back
> to 50 PSI at speed for a while before settling back to 35-40. Seems
odd.
> Only thing I can think of is that slowing the car to an idle for a bit
would
> allow the oil to cool down some, thus allowing the pressure come back
up.
> The other oddity is that the the oil pressure at idle never varied
from 10
> PSI regardless of the pressure at speed. So the difference between
pressure
> at idle and pressure at speed varies wildly based on how hot the car
is. I
> replaced all the crank bearings a couple of years ago so, they're
probably
> ok. Not sure if I've got a problem or not. Any input people have on
my oil
> pressure and whether it should worry me would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks again to everyone who encouraged me to take this little trip,
it was
> a tremendous amount of fun. I'd do it again in a second.
>
> Phil Beckman
> Libertyville, IL
> 73 TR6
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