.....a white coating on the plug tips. Now, since the bentley manual makes
no comment of "changing plugs" on a regular basis. I'm assuming this NOT a
normal feature for a 1500 cc engine to deposit on on the plugs. Is this a
dead give-away of a problem or is there some kind of analysis I can do (with
the simple
mechanical tools I own).
Dead giveaway of a weak (lean) mixture. Take off the air filter and with a
slim screwdriver, lift the carb. piston by a tiny amount. The engine should
speed up a little, then stabilize. If it dies, it's weak. Check damper oil,
fuel feed, float level. Also, check for manifold leaks by (a) looking for a
hole which shouldn't be there and (b) spraying something inert like WD40
across the inlet manifold joint faces. If the spray gets sucked in, you've
got an air leak.
1b) Anyone else try to deal with car problems, by not doing anything
and hoping the problems go away?
The 'hands-off' approach often works with a new or disturbed part which is
leaking. Sometimes, seals and gaskets settle down after a while. The only
way this methods works with rust involves inventing a time machine.
2) At night, when I turn the lights on & the engine revs drop by
around 200 rpms. Upon looking at the Bently manual, I realized that
testing the alternator was a little more difficult than I had thought it
would be. Anyone got a more simplified way of testing it?
The drag imposed by the alternator shows it's working. Some posh multimeters
have a shunt which can put in circuit to measure output. But.....if it's
slowing the engine and the lights don't brighten when you rev. it up, it's
working anyway.
3) Anyone else too embarrased to go to any of the car shows because your
car looks like crap?
What??? Your Spit is running and has a wheel on each corner, hasn't it? Here
in the UK, we get all sorts at shows. Some cars have had money thrown at
them until they shine. Some are the result of long hours of sweated labour.
Some are in mid-rolling rebuild and some are just plain rough. The point is
that no car in everyday use will ever be in top concours condition. Go
ahead, get it shown.
Anecdote:
"It's good that you know how to work on your car, I always have to
take mine into the shop". And I said "I actually, don't know how to work
on my car. I just have this constant urge to tinker with it."
She says "yes, my boyfriend says he always has to attempt to fix his car
himself. It must be some kind of male instinct."
Around these parts, people see me working on my cars and bring me theirs to
fix. Don't know about male instinct, perhaps it's a case of being a glutton
for punishment.
Another anecdote:
Got 'road raged' by a bloke in a Vauxhall Astra the other day when I pulled
onto a main road in my PI. Obviously, I didn't accelerate fast enough for
this little squirt, who was hooting and flashing his lights 3" from my rear
bumper. I thought......
1. Why didn't he just pull out into the empty second lane?
2. Will his Vauxhall be on the road in 26 years?
Cheers,
Dave Hill
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