For the past 4 months, I have had an occasional problem with my MGB.
Whenever I first start it for the day, if I am not careful, it will
start missing. The only cure seemed to be to drive back and forth in
my apartment parking lot. After a minute or two of this, the engine
will suddenly start firing on all four cylinders, and for the rest of
the day it will be fine.
When it started happening, I decided it was time to replace parts of
the ignition. I replaced the cap, rotor, points, condeser, and spark
plugs at various times in this period. I set the timing and dwell,
adjusted the valves, and adjusted the mixture. All to no avail. Once
it warmed up, it ran great, but occasionally in the mornings, boom, no
power.
Last night it happened when I was pulling onto the interstate. I
pulled over, and tried something I had not done before. I unscrewed
the dashpot dampers. The front one made a noise like it had been
stuck. I screwed it back in, blipped the throttle, and lo and behold,
I was back to 4 cylinder specification.
Now, I disassembled those things 6000 miles ago, and refilled them.
This problem only occured after that. This afternoon I will check the
oil levels in them. I tried to get the problem to occur this morning,
but of course they never happen when you want them to. A few more
days of commuting will tell me.
James
whose office finally discovered the Internet
jhoward@atlas.usno.navy.mil
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