TR2/3/3A tr3 sat all winter

[sp53]

My tr3 sat all winter and when I went to start it all that it did was crank. This a car I thought ran great. I sprayed just a very small amount of starter fluid through the air clean and it fired right up. The spark and the timing must have been very close or it would not have started, and run so good now. I would bet the car will start better for months now it has ran once So what is the problem?

I removed the float bowls and the fuel level seemed correct. The float arms are 7/16. The only thing I can think of is the mixture on the jet nut is so lean not enough fuel got into the engine because the lean adjustment I have on the needle stopped it.

John commented that people should see fuel up at the top of the jet. I tried and could not see any fuel. The area was damp with fuel, but the motor had been running. The fuel level in the jet should be a gravity flow from the bowl line of fuel back to the jet, a horizontal plane right.

The problem with not seeing fuel could be float bowls are adjusted in correct. Do I need to briefly crank the engine to get fuel back into jet to see the fuel? Or should fuel always be visible and I need a flashlight. What are the thoughts on this idea?



steve

 

[TFB]

Crank the engine without ignition and check that level is slightly below the jet top,like about 1/32-1/16"
This will tell you what adjustments are needed to the float arms before you remove the tops.
If this checks out crank it again just to check that level is holding,and you don't have a leaking needle and seat.

Tom

 

[CJD]

I bet it was just a little fowling on the plugs...you said it's running great again?

 

[mctriumph]

Triumphs are like women, NEVER neglect her lest she become of a foul mood. Set all winter? NO
attention whatsoever? Likely stored with alcohol laced gas too. Good Heavens' Man !
I suppose,you also want brakes and clutch to work now!
Seriously ,there is a Zen thing about staving off lot rot when storing a Triumph. Give her some love
at least once every 60 days or so. Dry starting is the death of a lot of motors. 4-5 months and you are
starting a dry motor, not good.
Mad dog

 

[bobhustead]

My TR3 sits all winter (5 to 6 mos) in my NC garage. It spins enough on restart before fuel gets to the carbs to get oil pressure. Ethanol fuel used. Has started and run perfectly over 12 springs following all-winter layups without attention. I have owned numerous outboards, generators and vehicles in which I used ethanol gas. Many were regularly stored for long seasonal periods, sometimes with Stabil, sometimes without. None suffered fuel deterioration, rubber deterioration, alcohol induced hydroscopy, or other fuel related problems. If you expose a machine with even a slightly leaky gas cap to rain, you will get water in the tank.
Bob


























Bob

 

[sp53]

The car did not start again yesterday. At one point, I convinced myself there was a fuel delivery problem and i started to take the fuel pump out. My rational was the pump valves were shot and it started with starting fluid because somehow the starting fluid got the car primed and running and was able to pull gas out of the pump and the pump worked again????? rriight.

I stopped short of pulling the fuel pump and pulled the air cleaner and shot the starting fluid straight into the cab and it fired right up. After I started it, I took out and drove around the neighborhood. It runs great

I will try and start the car latter today.

Would you guys think a distributor could cause such problems? I have a driver tr3 that starts up nice all the time. The only difference is this tr3 has a new old stock dizzy. I was thinking of purchasing a new distributor from BPNW. But again I just do not want to throw parts at this car. Does anyone know if these new distributors will take the old style distributor cap?

steve

 

[charlie74]

You could swap the distributor from each car to the other and see if the problem persists or follows the distributor…

 

[charleyf]

It appears to be a fuel problem ( if there is really a problem here). First I would get some new fuel into that tank. And try that . If you still have your hard starting. I would pull the float valves and make sure they are clean and free of anything. Also clean or replace any fuel filters.
Do the easy stuff first. Stay with the fuel .
Charley

 

[bobhustead]

Your gas tank should be fairly full because the trip from tank to pump is largely a gravity phenomenon. Wouldn't hurt to pull the tank line from the pump and blow it out with compressed air.
Bob

 

[sp53]

Yesterday I cranked it over for longer than I wanted with no start and then pulled #1 plug and it was dry; it should have had fuel on it, which is why I figured I had a fuel problem. One other deal before I started it, I pumped the fuel pump lever 9 times before it stopped pumping and notice a float bowl started leaking. I figure it was lose and tighten and the leak stopped.

Swapping the 2 dizzys around has tempted me. I think I am afraid of screwing up the car that runs so good and MD is probably correct about the Voodoo in these cars. I kind of sorta think the problem is fuel, but I do not know. Maybe a couple of deals weak spark and fuel together see it takes nothing for me to leave the reservation.

Steve

 

[charleyf]

I just started one of my cars after several months asleep. I noted that after I hand pumped the fuel pump. Got about 9 strokes before no resistance. Full choke, cranked engine for 10 seconds then pushed down on accelerator while still cranking engine. At 12 seconds it came to life.
We do not have a pump in the carbs but it does help to hit the accelerator and furnish more gas at these initial starts.
Charley

 

[mctriumph]

The diaphragm in the fuel pump will go stiff from setting when it gets old(I resemble that remark)
Mad dog

 

[sp53]

Yesterday I tried again and cranked for about 10seconds and no start so I tried again and it started in about 5 seconds and this time no starter fluid, so that is good. So Charley it took a total of about 20 seconds to get the car going?

I drove my car around some and the engine acted cold from take off until totally warm, after totally warm the engine performed ok, but did not have that wooom pop off power noise from a good starting engine. I went ahead and advanced the timing 2 lines on the distributor and the car started with what I call a power noise.

The advanced timing raised the idle to 1200. I might be able to turn the idle down at the idle screws to 1000 but I think I am going to run out of idle adjustment before I get to 900 or better 800. Advancing the timing will naturally rise the idle. So when I lower the idle at the carbs the timing should retard back some also. I am trying to find a sweet spot. What I want is an 800 idle with no hesitation ideally I want the power of advanced timing and a low idle.

My throttle shafts might be worn some and I am getting extra air to raise the idle, so I might need to put in new shafts to lessen the air.

My other car idles at 800 to 700 and has the power of correct or advanced timing. I think it is new the distributor that is falling back to a lower timing and thus a lower idle. I find getting these cars to idle at 800 is a challenge

I will start the problem car today and see how it feels. At least the car started without starting fluid.

Steve

 

[titanic]

When I had a TR3, it always ran extremely rough when started after a winter layup. The first few years I would go through the ritual of checking or replacing all of the usual suspects. Then I discovered that the fuel (with ethanol) degraded during storage, probably from water absorption and the open vent tube. Just adding some fresh gas before startup eliminated the problem.
Berry

 

[sp53]

thanks Berry

 

[sp53]

Good news the car started up with power in about 2 seconds. The tank was on empty and the plugs where fouled on my first attempt. I am so glad I did act on some of my early diagnosis.

Thanks Steve