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TR4/4A TR4 back on the road/dying?

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SCguy

SCguy

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I got the rear end back into the TR4 and then went for a little drive. All sounds great, but on my drive my cars lost power and quit. I got it restarted and zipped home. When I got home I decided to change out my fuel filter. The old filter felt heavier and I decided to take it apart. what I found was a white gritty paste. Curious as all the fuel lines are new and the tank was cleaned and sealed. Should I have flushed my newly sealed tank before installing?

Some of you might remember that on my TR4's intial break-in drive the car ran great until about 20 miles when I first had this stalling/dying problem. Looks like the car wasn't getting the gas it needed.

Just had a thought... body shop... bondo/paint sanding dust.
 
Let's hope it's body shop dust (who left the tank open while doing body work ???). And not the 'sealant' coming off as some have reported.
 
So I replaced the fuel filter and thinking I was all set I heading down the road to get more filters and more gas. Then the TR4 dies... again. While I'm thinking about what to do (a mile from my house) I decide to take the glass bowl fuel strainer off to have a look. As soon as I did I realize that the strainer is blocked by a bunch of grit. A closer look and I realize it's my strainer's cork gasket which has totally broken down. $65 later I've been towed home. Napa had a rubber replacement gasket for the glass bowl/strainer, but it doesn't seem to be sealing well. I'll order a new one, but it appears that my car is drivable again.
 
Larry - if you look in the tank, is there any evidence of a sealant problem? Sealant the same color as what was in the fuel filter?

It's seems tough to believe that the white gritty paste and the dissolving cork could be coincidence.

Tom
 
The cork was the new fuel pump's glass bowl's gasket . I seem to have gotten the new gasket to seal, but I ordered another just in case. The stuff in the fuel filter probably wasn't causing my car not to run. My fuel tank was sealed professionally at a local radiator shop using a red sealant.

I think I've got my TR4's problem solved, but If I broke down again I wasn't in the mood to be towed again so I will test drive on another day.

Intesesting side note... In my glass bowl I found a metal disk. Metal that was pntched out, but was still in the fuel pump. Got love those aftermarket parts.
 
I cut my own cork gaskets for the fuel bowl and make them pretty thick. Also use a bit of Hylomar on each side of them. You want a good seal w/o having to crank the thumbwheel on the bottom of the bowl too tight. Over-enthusiastic tightening can cause the bowl top to become distorted and then it will never want to seal well.

Every break down is a chance to think about what part or tool I could have brought along that would have been useful. I always carry a cheapo electric fuel pump with a length of 5/16" fuwl hose on the inlet and a length of 1/4" on the outlet with clamps in place on each end. Wirse are clearly marked + & - with alligator clips for connecting to the hot side of the coil and a ground.
 
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