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Adjusting idle speed

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Just a thought, but no one has mentioned the possibility of a vacuum leak. It might be a good idea to check the usual places for this problem. :yesnod:
 
poolboy said:
Curious as to why this expert who rebuilt and adjusted your carbs left you with such a high idle ? Any idea about that ?
Click to expand...

Makes me wonder about the carb balance and mixture, too.

As for the red charge light..... so both the generator and regulator have been replaced twice in the last month? If the work was done by the same mechanic who delivered a carb rebuild with a 1300rpm idle - I wonder if the regulator was properly set? Were the chassis / engine / battery grounds cleaned? Absolutely - might have just been bad parts, but I wonder if any effort was spent on "why"?

The "red light" indicates a difference of voltage between the generator and the battery. If the battery is OK, and the generator and regulator are good and set properly, then the next step is to do a voltage drop test on both sides of the lamp.

Have you talked to your mechanic?
 
I'm always on alert when I hear someone described as an expert by a new owner, As if there was some mystical rite that the guy passed to work on what is basically a simple car that most owners with just the slightest bit of effort can learn to work on.
 
Many thanks. I will take all this advice to the shop where they work on my car and "suggest" they take a look at what has been said.

The problem, indeed, may be with the tach. I raised the idle two notches and the charging system now seems to be behaving normally, but that means that the idle is showing 1300 rpm.
 
In hope of resurrecting the topic:

Viv mentions "Many TR's I've seen and including my own, have an extra throttle return spring. It's usually installed from the bellcrank to the generator slotted adjustment arm."

Does anyone else have a second return spring? If so, could someone please post a picture showing the attachment points?

I have only the single spring the linkage by the firewall.

Thanks.
Tom


vivdownunder said:
Getting back to the idle question.......

Check that the ball joints on both throttle arms are free and oiled. Otherwise they build up friction and hinder the return to idle.

Check that the return spring is still on the accelerator lever at the firewall -engine side.

Check that the pivot pin is lubed on the bellcrank under the front carby.

Check the tension on the throttle return springs on the spindles. Adding tension obviously helps return the carbies to idle.

Many TR's I've seen and including my own, have an extra throttle return spring. It's usually installed from the bellcrank to the generator slotted adjustment arm.

If there's still trouble then double check that the butterflies haven't got out of sync when the W clips were tightened. It happens. Set the idle of each carby seperately again (with a W clip loosened). Press down hard on both idle screws when tightening the W clips.

Regards,

Viv.
Click to expand...
 
I have no racing experience but my understanding was that racers were required to have the second spring. The ones I recall seeing had added (welded/brazed) a bell crank to the shaft between the carbs.
 
I've not had one on any of a half dozen or so TR3s; maybe it's a "down under" thing.

But you can achieve the same effect by winding up the return springs on each carb a bit tighter.

FWIW, my current engine doesn't like to idle much below 800 rpm indicated. I've not bothered to try to check the tach accuracy though, so that could just as easily be 600 rpm or 1000 rpm. But at that speed, I frequently get the ignition light glowing. If I need a bit more idle rpm, I pull the choke knob out a bit so the fast idle cam will pull it up to around 13-1500 rpm, without lowering the chokes.
 
Since starting this thread long ago, (1) I have had my distributor rebuilt by Advanced Distributors (Jeff Schlemmer), and (2) I have rebuilt my carburetors. Now my car idles nicely at 800-900 rpm.
 
Geo Hahn said:
I have no racing experience but my understanding was that racers were required to have the second spring. The ones I recall seeing had added (welded/brazed) a bell crank to the shaft between the carbs.
Click to expand...

So the rules require 4 return springs instead of just 3 ??
 
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