• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
  • When posting a classified ad, you MUST select a prefix from the drop-down next to the subject line. If you don't you will get an error and your ad will not be posted!
Tips
Tips

Triumph 1500 Question...

Share this page

D

DougXKindCoffee

Member
Offline
Can anyone here who street drives or races a Triumph 1500 tell me how often I should check the thrust washers and what determines the freqency?
Is it mileage,duration of clutch being pushed in, or what?
I am new to this motor.
Any input appreciated.
Thanks
Doug
 
I'd ask over in the Spridget forum as well. Same engine in some of the cars over there as well...

Good question however. Checking for float isn't that hard with the engine in place, so if you have an assistant who can depress the clutch while you look for play you can check it as often as you want. (unless I'm missing something here...)
 
Racing is not going to significantly affect the thrust bearings. Racing does add significantly more wear to the main and big end bearings.

First of all you should check to make sure that they are in good condition. push the crank (pulley) back as far as you can. Put a dial indicator on the pulley and have someone depress the clutch. There will be a bit of motion but is should be quite small (I don't recall the spec offhand) keep in mind that the spec in the manual is for a freshly rebuilt engine so if you are slight over the bearing are still alright but check them every 10,000 miles or so.


Now to keep your thrust bearings in good shape

NEVER start the engine with your foot on the clutch. This puts full pressure on the bearings with NO oil.

Don't ride the clutch, hold it in at stop lights or whatever.

So:
1. put the gear in neutral, foot off the clutch and start the engine
2. shift gears, and put your left foot back on the FLOOR where it belongs
3. Stop, put car in neutral and put your left foot back on the floor.

The thrust bearings will last longer than the main bearings

Drive it like you just stole the car but keep your left foot on the floor as long as you aren't shift gears.
 
Great Advice... just the type of info I was hoping to get. I have read the many many many past posts on this subject and since I plan to both do a tiny amount of street driving as well as Autocross/Trackday events I have been quite paranoid until I understand the limits of the problem.
Thanks Much
 
Back
Top