TR4/4A Take the long way home

[Marla]

So our daughter got married on Saturday...I drove the 2016 GMC Canyon because i arrived on Wednesday and had a lot of running around to do...my husband said he would drive the TR down on Friday which he did...200 miles...the car ran great but he nticed some smoke from the tail pipe and when he got to the town where the wedding was to be he had to put in 3 quarts of oil...OUCH...we just bought this car and have noticed some oil leaking and when we changed the oil last week I could not see any place the oil could be leaking from...hummm...so we are going to take the car to a LBC repair shop and get this problem fixed...Marla

 

[poolboy]

If you're lucky it might just be the crankcase ventilation system...clogged up or disconnected.

 

[Marla]

If you're lucky it might just be the crankcase ventilation system...clogged up or disconnected.

"drive 'em if you got 'em"...I love that...hope you are right...oh please Lord do not let this be a huge thingy...I am stressed out enough as it is!!!

 

[poolboy]

One good thing about this Forum and others like it is the help it can provide diagnosing and repairing car problems.
The person seeking help need not be all that mechanically inclined, just willing, have some tools and an owners maintenance manual.
Sometimes the repair is beyond the persons level of confidence or comfort, but hardly ever above a person's ability.
Regardless of the next step, repair or farmed out, just getting a diagnosis can relieve some of the anxiety.
Of course in order to get a reliable diagnosis, you may have to perform certain basic troubleshooting procedures as requested by Forum members.
If you have to bring the car into a shop everytime a problem pops up, you'll soon be disillusioned with the ownership of an old sportscar.
Take advantage of the Forum.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Like mine, yours is a 64. Triumph added a small tube and a pair of tiny rubber hoses to vent the valve cover to the carbs. They also replaced the crankcase breather tube with a plug.

In my opinion, that little tube (about ¼" I.D.) on the valve cover is simply inadequate if you've got any sort of pressure building in the crankcase. The result is that oil tends to get pushed out wherever it can.

There are things that can (and possibly should) be done if the blow-by is bad - but first I installed a breather tube on the crankcase as was used on the TR3s and early TR4s:

These are common eBay items. I was able to install it with the engine in - the only tricky bit was getting the old plug out of the block. That involved a bit of drilling, Dremeling and prying.

You should be able to look & see the plug I am talking about - it is an inverted cup about ¾" in diameter pressed into the side of the block below the fuel pump.

 

[poolboy]

Like mine, yours is a 64. Triumph added a small tube and a pair of tiny rubber hoses to vent the valve cover to the carbs.

Like this Geo ?

 

[TR4nut]

And above all congrats on what looks to have been a wonderful wedding!

and I'll confirm what has been said: I had a 64 like the picture above and the hoses had clogged. Because of that the engine leaked a lot more oil than normal. I think with 3 quarts lost in 200 miles you'd see more obvious smoke. I just think you are dripping more than usual right now.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Like this Geo?

Yeah, that's the lame set-up I was referring to. There is even a flame-trap inside that metal Y to help limit whatever breathing was possible.

The original used molded hoses to each carb - I think these are NLA though listed in catalogs. Order them and I believe you just get two pieces of straight hose you may bend to suit. Also, the feed from the valve cover on mine is a metal tube with a length of hose at each end.

 

[TR4nut]

Actually you can still get those little hoses pre bent Geo- at least you could last year. I'd have to check but my guess is Moss has them.

 

[Geo Hahn]

That's good to know. The straight versions were what I got from Moss (didn't keep them) but that more than 10 years ago. Mine are the originals and don't look too bad but have had some work done.

 

[Marla]

Yeah, that's the lame set-up I was referring to. There is even a flame-trap inside that metal Y to help limit whatever breathing was possible.

The original used molded hoses to each carb - I think these are NLA though listed in catalogs. Order them and I believe you just get two pieces of straight hose you may bend to suit. Also, the feed from the valve cover on mine is a metal tube with a length of hose at each end.

Geo you rock...yes,took your advise and before I drove the TR4 the 200 miles home I replaced all the rubber hoses...removed the pipe and cleaned out all the gunk...it and the hoses were full...yuck...drove home and no smoke...no oil leak and used only 1/2 quart of oil...I love you...Marla

[Geo/QUOTEGe

 

[Geo Hahn]

...Geo you rock...yes,took your advise and before I drove the TR4 the 200 miles home I replaced all the rubber hoses...removed the pipe and cleaned out all the gunk...it and the hoses were full...yuck...drove home and no smoke...no oil leak and used only 1/2 quart of oil...

I'm not absolutely sure that was my advice but since everything went well I will happily take credit for it.