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TR2/3/3A New member: TR3- A few questions

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bdoml

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I am new to this forum and would like get some help with a few issues with my '60 TR3. I feel a bit foolish as this is pretty basic stuff here. Thanks for you help!

1) The car runs fairly well but I often have trouble getting it started after running it for a while. A typical scenario would be running the car for 30 mins or so, parking for 10 mins or so and then attempting to start back up. On a lark I pulled the plugs out after one of these episodes (they looked ok), put the plugs back in after 20 minutes or so and the car started right up. The car also often diesels when I shut it down. Any ideas?

2) The car bottoms out in the rear quite easily. Is that more likely an indication of tired leaf springs of or lever shock issues. The car does not bounce when going over speed bumps...damping appears to be working well.

Thank you!

Justin
 
bdoml said:
I feel a bit foolish as this is pretty basic stuff here.
Click to expand...

Don't! Everyone has to start somewhere. Goodness knows I've asked plenty of questions that were more basic than this.

On #2 - have you topped off the shocks? Any broken leaf springs?
 
Justin,
Welcome, I've a 56 TR3 and ask any and all questions and get great responses here.
Starting problem could be a few things:
If you run the car, stop it and have a hard start it could be leaking rubber grommets under your float bowls where they attach to the carb body. They can leak and empty the fuel then the bowls must refil prior to starting. Evaporation on a hot day can do the same thing. Check them for wetness next time you shut it down. However, if the car sits 20 minutes and then starts immediately (as in your example) it may be an electrical issue, check the coil and condensor as they may overheat if worn and only work properly once cooled (that's a guess on my part) swap them out to see if there is a dif.
Does the car start immediatley in the morning when first tried?
Check your shocks for fluid and depending on their age maybe a replacement/rebuild. Remember though that sidescreen TR's feel rather like a buckboard when everything is working correctly.
 
Hi There Justin & Welcome to the "Wonderful World of LBCs":

Thats short for "Little British Cars": I did`nt know that when I first visited here so, There are no silly questions that you could possibly think of or ask!!

Anyways; The first issue sounds like you may need the Carbs adjusted or re-built especially when you say she "Diesels On": I have to guess what your saying is; She keeps running after you turn her off:

Secondly; I too would check the fluid level in the shocks & see if their leaking or not:

With that said; I`m quite certain there are more knowledgable Brit Mechanics here to further assist you:

Have Fun;

Regards, Russ /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
Hey Justin, welcome to the forum.

No worries about "silly" questions ... besides, those aren't silly or "basic" at all.

When you have trouble starting warm, are you using the choke ? Does cranking with the throttle held to the floor seem to help at all ? How does it run immediately after it fires ? I'm thinking perhaps you have leaking float valves that dribble fuel into the carb throats after shutdown. Did the plugs seem to be wet when you pulled them out ?

My 59 always had a tendency to diesel when running on what passes for gasoline here in CA, especially when underhood temps were high. I learned to just leave it in gear, and let the clutch out right after turning off the key (with the brakes firmly applied) to kill the engine. Probably removing the cylinder head for decarbonizing and grinding away any corners in the combustion chambers would have helped as well, but I never got around to trying that. Another thing that will help is getting the idle rpm down lower ... but I always found that my idle rpm varied depending on conditions (again mostly the temperature of air going into the carbs, which changes the mixture), so that turning it down so it never dieseled would also allow it to die at stop signs sometimes.

Both rear springs were broken when I got my car (or maybe just very soon afterwards), but I never noticed until I had the rear wheels off and inspected the springs carefully. The main leaf had cracked right through the center bolt hole; visible only as a dark line on the side of just that leaf. While you're looking at them, give them a coat of used engine oil ... they are supposed to be 'painted' every 6000 miles but it seems no one ever does it.

When you say "bottoms out", do you mean the axle hits the stops when going over a bump, or the car body/frame/exhaust hits the ground ? These are very low cars, so the latter is a common occurrence and may not indicate a problem at all. My tailpipe was torn up just from dragging bottom getting in/out of my driveway.
 
Just a quick add-on to Randall's (TR3driver) excellent suggestions.

One thing several folks (like me) discovered after reading my "saga" on carb/choke problems this summer. Often the "choke" mechanism is problematic, or even non-functional. Pulling the choke cable out just 1/2 inch with the dash panel knob should only activate the fast-idle cam at the throttle. Only after pulling that first 1/2 inch should the jets get pulled down to enrich the mixture. Then when the choke knob is fully pushed back in, the jets should return to full "up" position under the carbs.

Some folks (again, like me) discovered that the jets had never fully returned to full-up "non-choke" position, so the mixture was staying too rich after using the choke to start the engine.

Just my 2¢ - and welcome to the forum!

Tom
PS - how long have you had your TR?
 
Welcome to the forum and where in California?

There are lots of great clubs all over the state.
 
When you have trouble starting warm, are you using the choke ?

Justin: No. I don't use the choke if the car is warm.

Does cranking with the throttle held to the floor seem to help at all ?

Justin: I've not tried that...I'll give it a try and see what happens.

How does it run immediately after it fires ? I'm thinking perhaps you have leaking float valves that dribble fuel into the carb throats after shutdown. Did the plugs seem to be wet when you pulled them out ?

Justin: It runs rough after it fires. After a a minute or so it evens out and runs as normal. The plugs, to my surprise, were dry.
 
Thank you! The car never starts immediately /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif I'll definately check for leaking.
 
bdoml said:
I live in Carlsbad
Click to expand...
That would make the San Diego club the closest to you, I think.
https://clubs.hemmings.com/frameset.cfm?club=sandiegotriumph

However, I'd like to take the liberty of inviting you to the Central Coast club's Teddy Bear run this Sunday. This is a charity event, put on every year, to benefit the residents at the Douglas Penfield School in Ventura. These are kids with moderate to severe disabilities (mostly autism) and many of them are wards of the state. The event itself isn't much, usually just a leisurely drive through the countryside, with perhaps a visit to some place of interest (few years back it was a hangar full of mostly restored antique airplanes) and a get-together for lunch afterwards. But it is for a good cause, and a good chance to socialize with members of other clubs. I hope to be there this year, if I can get the Stag running by Sunday. And I'd be happy to do a "roadside tech session" on your TR, if we both make it. I'll be the one with a black leather cap & a shiny green Stag.

The cost of admission is one Teddy Bear per participant. Bears should be new with tags still attached, and unwrapped. The website still says $10, but ISTR the announcement at the TRSC meeting was that the guideline was increased to $15 this year. For more details, contact Darryl at 805-644-6211.
https://www.centralcoastbritishcarclub.com/pages/events.html
 
Another thing to check on is the float bowl cover vent. If this is fowled, you can get have a hard time starting a warm engine. The fuel in the bowl warms up and vaporizes and creates havoc with fuel flow into the bowl when trying to start the car. The problem resolves itself as the engine compartment temperature goes down.
 
Justin, welcome!

A couple other thoughts about the dieseling and hard warm starting. It's possible either or both could be as simple as an ignition timing issue. And what grade of gasoline are you using? Unless you're already at the upper end of the octane rating scale, you might try the next higher grade. Most of these cars always seemed to run best on "premium," or whatever the 93 octane might be called. My Herald is pretty fussy; I can occasionally get by on one tank of 91 or lower octane, but ultimately it will start dieseling and telling me it wants 93 octane again. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

And you've nothing to lose by trying to top up the rear shocks. At worst, you'll have wasted a few bucks for shock fluid on shocks that are horribly leaky and / or just plain worn out. At best, it might just cure the problem.
 
Remember that shocks (lever, tube, friction) only keep the wheels on the ground...they do not affect ride height nor will they cause a car to bottom out...
 
Welcome to the forum. The people here are amazing, and are full of great advice. I spend a lot of time reading about TR6 and TR3 issues and can't get over the accuracy and details of the people posting. I have a running 6 and a flooded 3. Soon, I'll be posting pictures of my TR3 with the body off the frame. It will be some time before I post pictures of it with the body back on -but I'm working on it regularly. (I only work on the TR6 when it needs something.)

And thank you Russ, I've been afraid to ask what LBC actually stands for.

Jerry
 
I wish flooded carbs were the case.

This TR3 was given to me after it washed out of the garage that floated away during hurricane Katrina. The storm surge was about 20'. It only lasted a day, and floated the car about 80' from where it's garage used to be. The car was stripped for re-painting, so anything not bolted to the car floated away. Anything bolted to it, was effected by the salt water. -not the usual corrosion in the usual places. The pistons are rusted solid to the liners. When removing the starter, sand came out of the hole as if it were an hour glass. Nothing in the carbs will move because of what salt does to aluminum. The brake/clutch pedals were imobile because the small cavity between them and the master cylinders contained by the cowling was tightly packed with dried sand/mud. This is not an average restoration and one that even people on this forum advised me against. But I'm doing it anyway. All I lack is finishing and a few new/used parts.
 
Krikey! What a mess that one sounds like. You'll be a real restorer if you get that one back on the road!
 
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