Dear Listers,
I've decided Triumph's idea of building a 4-valve/cyl head with a single
camshaft is not so meritorious as it once sounded. The design requires that
the spark plugs be isolated from the valve train by metal tubes (about 1"
diameter) that extend from the spark plug seats to holes in the valve cover
(by which the leads enter). These tubes are sealed at each end with a
particularly crappy sort of rubbery plastic, which, whatever it was like
when new, is now brittle and f***ing useless.
I have fixed the oil leaks around these tubes 4 times. The 2nd-last time
cost me $120 for "reconditioned" tubes (new ones being unavailable) which
were no better than 3 of my old ones. The last time, I removed them and
cleaned everything with acetone, and refit them with silastic on all
surfaces that make contact. That was good for a few months; now, the one in
the 1st cyl is going ballistic.
On the way home last night, I was slightly nauseated by the smell of burning
oil. I cleaned up the overflow (that I could see) this morning, and drove
here. About 20 minutes into the journey (with 10 to go), there was so much
smoke coming from the exhaust manifold and the bottom of the exhaust pipe, I
was afraid of being attacked by a passing fire engine.
I'm going to stuff wads of tissues in the spark-plug tubes before I drive
home, and hope for the best.
I'm really getting fed up with intractable problems. Any suggestions for
this one?
Allen Nugent
Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052 Australia
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