Jack Radley wrote:
>I had my mechanic rebuild my carbs to eliminate a rough sputter when
>pulling away from a stop. The sputter was said to be caused by lean
>carbs that could not be adjusted anymore due to worn metering needles,
>etc. Prior to the rebuild, he made a temporary adjustment to the carbs
>by grinding off a very slight amount of the head (opposite the point) of
>the metering needles. This temporary adjustment along with some carb
>cleaner in the tank seemed to clear up the problem pretty much. In any
>event, I went ahead with a full carb rebuild (at least everything but
>the jets themselves).
>
>Now, whenever I am running at low RPM, whether pulling away from a stop
>or cruising at low RPM, I get a sputter. If I am leaning on the car and
>running it at high RPM the car runs like a champ. Its just at low RPM
>that I hear and feel a sputter.
>
>My mechanic is on vacation this week and the car will be going back when
>he returns. In the meantime I would like to get a little background so I
>know a little more by the time I take the car back.
>
>I read through my Haynes manual last night but carbs are out of my
>league.
Sounds to me like it may be ignition, Jack. If it IS on the carburetion
side, I'd look for a vaccuum leak and I'd maybe experiment a little with
the mixture adjustment... (might be too lean?) But my money's on ignition.
I just went through a similar episode over the winter... before I finally
"turned it around" the sputtering had gotten pretty bad. The thing that
finally made the difference, apparently, was removing the electronic
ignition optical trigger from under the distributor cap and cleaning the
lenses... they were filthy. If you've still got the points and condenser,
replace both and also replace the cap and rotor, and consider changing
plugs, too. I've heard a number of seasoned mechanics tell me that among
"novice" mechanics like us, it is very common to mistake ignition problems
for carburetion problems. As Dan Masters put it, (paraphrase) "If it's
either carburetion or ignition, then it's most likely ignition."
Good luck.
Pete Chadwell
1973 TR6
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