Any other owners out there know how to diagnose faults
with this thing? How do I know if mine is functioning
correctly? As it's operation affects vacuum in the
intake manifold, it seems to be an important thing to
check when diagnosing engine problems, but my books are
silent on this item.
BTW, the Italian tune-up suggested by Chris Lillja
seems to have cured my car's dieseling problem.
Despite the rain last weekend (I'm in Virginia Beach) I
fired up the car and drove to Gloucester and back, about
150 miles round trip. There was supposed to be a show,
but no-one turned out. Saw one very nice TR-6 from
the Richmond area. Broke my speedometer cable about
midway, but by the tach I was cruising at 75 on I-64
with respectable acceleration still under my right foot.
The car dieseled some when I got home, but it was better.
I pulled #4 plug (which had been black and sooty) - all
clean now. Re-set the timing (it had crept up to about
2 ATDC, have to watch this) and checked carb settings
again. Drove around town and got the car good and warm
again and it shut off after coughing just once.
I had run a can of combustion chamber cleaner through
with that tank of gas. My father's a chemistry professor
(and owner of my first TR-4A, but he doesn't drive it anymore.
That's another story.) I asked him about the various gasoline
additives sold as combustion chamber cleaner, octance booster, etc.
Most are simply light-weight hydrocarbons (petroleum distillates,
mineral spirits, etc.) that increase octane rating of the
fuel and make your combustion chamber hotter, thereby aiding
the burning off of carbon. Some products add oxygen-rich
compounds which will accelerate the carbon burn-off
process. He thought, however, that buying oxygenated premium
gasoline (usually sold in the winter) would essentially have
the same effect as pouring these products in a tank of
plain gas.
You didn't ask, but...
Cliff Hansen
1966 TR-4A CTC64615L
Red, rough, running
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