Whether ZS or SUs, I have heard people use ATF, Marvel Mystery Oil (I think
that is what it is called), mineral oil, and just regular motor oils. I
used to use a light mineral oil for many years but after I bought my 67
BGT, I found the damper kept coming unscrewed after 10-20 miles, no matter
how tight I tightened it. After replacing the damper and even the dashpot,
I still had the problem but going to regular motor oil fixed it. I believe
the actual recommendation is to use the same grade motor oil that the
engine is using, probably meaning 20-50 or 10-40.
Still, the bottom line is that the fancy dashpot oil is a waste of money,
as you can see.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
At 09:54 AM 5/27/2004 -0400, Aeseeyou@aol.com wrote:
>Hi,
>I was having a heck of a time trying to get a smooth throttle response when
>taking off from a stop sign in 1st gear. I finally figured it out that the
>throttle damper was probably dry or low on oil. So I unscrewed the black
>plastic
>cap and carefully lifted the cap, rod & damper (all 1 assembly) out of the
>Z-S
>carb (1978 MGB) then after the entire cap & damper had been pulled out I
>carefully put it (cap & damper) back in, there was absolutely NO
>resistence when I
>pushed the damper in. Having been told that this indicated that there was
>little or no oil in the chamber I called my pal and asked our club
>President Don
>Cole (who just happens to be an excellent auto mechanic, by the way!) about
>what type of oil I should put in the top of the damper opening since I didn't
>have any of the Zenith-Stromberg or S-U oil. He said that ATF could be
>used in
>place of the S-U type oil that is sold in the major parts dealers
>catalogs. So I
>put in about a 1/4 teaspoon (maybe less) and Viola! There was now strong
>resistance when I pushed the cap and damper in. I then screwed the black
>plastic
>cap back on. Now, the throttle response is smooth although I'm sure that a
>tune-up (clean or replace the spark plugs, etc.) is going to be next. I just
>thought I'd write to tell you the hint about being able to use ATF (automatic
>transmission fluid) in the throttle damper chamber, in lieu of having the
>Zenith-Stromberg Dashpot oil, an excellent product, by the way, which
>costs approx.
>$8.00 plus S & H for a 125 ml. an amount that should last you a long time
>if used
>normally. But, like I said earlier ATF (or power steering fluid) will also
>work if that's all you can find. Any comments?
>Albert Escalante, owner 1978 MGB roadster
>The Central Coast British Car Club (CA.)
>Ventura, Calif. (www.ccbcc.org)
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