Let's see cold weather then warm weather, brownish WHITE color on plugs. .
Can you remember if the gas tank was full when the weather got cold? If it
wasn't full you might have gotten some condensation in your gas tank and now
you're trying to burn some water. If it sloshes around you could get an
intermittent problem when it's on the road. Water sinks in gas so think about
where it might be in relation to the fuel line on the tank when the problem
occurs. E.g uphill would the water flow towards the outlet on the tank? Or
when you accelerate would the water do the same?
Try a bottle of isopropyl (SP?)...you know Heat or something like it that will
absorb and burn the the water as it goes through the fuel system. Might want to
dump your fuel filter out too in case there's some water that's taken up
residence there.
Or maybe it's a leaky float valve like I had recently that's letting fuel flow
into the carb and making it sputter when you accelerate and pull that extra fuel
into the mixing chamber.
Bud
____________________Reply Separator____________________
Subject: [BOUNCE triumphs@Autox.Team.Net: Admin request of type /
Author: Mark J Bradakis <mjb@autox.team.net>
Date: 01/20/1999 10:35 AM
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 15:03:16 -0800
From: Pete & Aprille Chadwell <dynamic@transport.com>
Subject: TR6 still running poorly...
For a while now I've been fighting a fairly bad, but intermittant,
sputtering problem with the TR6. It seemed to begin as the cold weather
arrived, but this has proven to be irrelevant, as we've had some
unseasonably warm days here in Bend recently and the sputtering persisted,
and on some of the colder days it has failed to act up. At the suggestion
of a list member, I switched to a different oil in the dashpots. I had
been using ATF, but now I'm using hydraulic jack oil, probably soon to be
replaced with Marvel Mystery Oil. Another temperature/season related
suggestion involved using a 190 degF thermostat in the winter, indicating
that the proper operating temp is not being reached. Well, now that I see
the on/off nature of this problem, I'm abandoning that diagnosis as well.
(No offense... it was good advice based on what I knew at the time.)
I changed the cap and rotor, but that has not fixed it. So, I checked the
plugs, which have covered about 8,000 miles. Nothing obviously wrong here,
either... all plugs are clean and dry, a light tan/white color and properly
gapped at .035". (NGK BP5ES) I have an Allison electronic ignition and an
Allison Permaspark coil, and Allison silicone 7mm wires. I'm assuming that
there are no problems in that area. I've also tried to find vaccuum leaks,
but cannot find any.
The symptoms: Again, this is intermittant. One day last week I drove 25
miles out of town to see a client and it ran beautifully all the way. But
it skipped and sputtered all the way home. It doesn't slow you down all
that much... I could still go 50-55 mph, but if you dip into the throttle
at all it skips and sputters and pops out the tailpipe. Not a backfire,
but just a mild poppity-pop sound when trying to accelerate. I say
"sputtering" because it seems random and irregular, not like a misfire
where the same cylinder is dead every time around. If you have to go
uphill it can slow you down, though... if you give it much load at all
it'll pop and sputter in any gear, especially top gear, and take you down
to 25 mph. Then the next day on the same hill it'll pull strong and smooth
all the way up. Generally, when it's misbehaving you can minimize or avoid
it altogether just by keeping an even throttle. But the minute you
accelerate it'll pop and sputter again.
Any suggestions?
Thanks as always!
Pete Chadwell
1973 TR6
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