TR4/4A Making a '65 TR4 Run Awesome. Misfire, Ignition Tune Up, Carb Rebuilds. Help?

[jeep937]

Alright here's a video I made of what I'm doing. I'm not sure exactly about what I'm doing as these English cars are somewhat new to me. Pardon the misuse of terms. How do my floats look? Also is this a good way to center my jets?

 

[poolboy]

I set them to 19mm..without the float chamber gasket sitting in place. The floats were not level when this picture was taken, but they should be.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Float height & jet centering are important but it is hard to imagine they could be far enough out of whack to prevent the engine from firing.

If 'no start' is indeed what you have you might try some starting fluid -- if the engine fires and runs with that then continue to pursue fuel issues, but if it does not start with starting fluid then that would suggest to me that it is no-spark, weak-spark or totally messed up timing.

And you are correct, apart from over-filling, there is nowhere for that oil to go.

 

[trrdster2000]

Jeep, thanks and you have created the go to video for these carbs for the generations of future TR4 enthusiast.

Well done, Wayne

PS No D... idea why it won't start.

 

[jeep937]

Yesterday I went through the distributor again. I took the plate off and cleaned all the connections. I cleaned the base of the distributor where it mounts into the housing of the engine. I ohmed out all the connections, changed out the low tension lead wire for the one that was in the car when it ran good. I reset the points to 15 thou. I cleaned all the plugs and checked all the wire connections. Now I'm getting no spark or weak spark.

Just to make sure the tank and lines before the pump weren't or something I took the line off at the carbs and cranked the motor. It put about 15 ounces of fuel in a couple seconds of cranking. I'm not fluid dynamic expert but it was coming out real good.

I'm going to swap the coil and condensor for the old ones that were in the car when it ran. After that I have zero clue. I'm thinking the distributor I got from the buddy doesn't care about how it fires. Just as long as the advance mech and vac advance work. It was just the body and shaft really. I replaced the top plate and everything that connects to it. So I'm not seeing what could be the problem here? Any ideas?

 

[Geo Hahn]

Coil and condenser failures are far from unknown, even with nearly-new parts.

Pretty easy to test the condenser but if you have an old one then a swap may answer your question.

 

[TR4nut]

I replaced the top plate and everything that connects to it. So I'm not seeing what could be the problem here? Any ideas?

I didn't read this thread the whole way, and don't take this idea wrong if its obvious - but check your points - if you have the insulating washer setup wrong your points could be grounded all the time and you won't get spark.

Here's a pretty good link showing the parts:
https://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/points.htm

 

[jeep937]

Nice link. I'm sure that's how I hooked it all up but I'll check again.

 

[jeep937]

Well I had my friend Doug Jennings come over and see what was going on. Found the problem. The dist/Oil pump drive gear was a tooth off. This explains why when I was static timing it I was acting like it was way off time. After we found that, timed it with the light, synced the carbs and put some new plugs in it was still misfiring. We checked the wires and found that some of the 90* plug terminals that came with the Moss Bumble Bee wire kit were 20K plus ohms. We used the wires and put new crimp type terminals on and now it's a top.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Well I'm glad it's running well though the explanation confuses me.

BTW - some right angle connectors add a pretty high resistance (more like 10-17K ohms) though I am unfamiliar with the Moss product. I believe this can sometimes be an issue when they are paired with resistor plugs.

 

[trrdster2000]

Jeep, really glad you have it sorted out. Hope you will spend more time on our cars, you have the knack.


Wayne