Last weekend as I was packing up the TR4 for a long Labor Day
Weekend trip to Maine, I made a leap of faith in my car. As the boot and
rear seat area filled up, it became apparent that it would be very
difficult to fit in my toolbox, not to mention the spare parts. I
decided that, given all of the work I had done on the engine this
winter and spring, I could leave the parts and tools behind and drive off
without mortal fear of being stranded by the side of the road in northern
Maine. So we set off . . . car packed, top down, bicycle perched on the
boot. The three hour drive up to Darmascotta Maine went well.
(caravaned with a red spitfire from CT for a while). The next morning,
while my brother and I were looking under the bonnet, he pointed at the
fuel pump and said "what's that." What it was, was the axle upon which
the fuel pump actuating lever rides on, and it was sticking out of the
pump housing almost 3/4 of an inch. Thank goodness I had read the recent
post on this very problem. I remembered that the person posting the
story had not been so lucky and had had to retrieve bits of the fuel pump
via the oil pan. The axle was so loose that I was able to push it in
most of the way by hand! I then borrowed a screwdriver and hammer and
punched it in there the rest of the way. Thanking my lucky stars, I
continued up to Acadia National Park. At every stop I checked the pump
axle. It has shown no signs of coming out again. My question is how to
ensure that this does not occur again (shor t of finding an original fuel
pump)? Was there ever any consensus on this. I would also advise alll
those with these aftermarket pumps to make a quick glance at the fuel
pupm a regualar ritual at the filling station.
My second question is regarding fuel. The highest octane I have
been able to find is 94 at Sunoco stations. When I could'nt find one of
these stations, I filled up with 93 octane at Mobil. The car did not
seem to run as well on the 93 and I experienced some run-on or dieseling
when I shut it off. This seems to indicate that the 94 octane is barely
sufficent. I also felt like the TR was lacking some power all weekend,
especially on hills (though a full load may have been part of the
problem). What is everyone doing here in the east about fuel? Should I
try some sort of additive or octane boost? I could'nt find any at the
filling stations. Should I be able to stay in 4th gear on a long upgrade
on Rt 1 Maine at about 50-60MPH or am I expecting too much from a 4
cylinder engine? It may be my imagination, but the old engine seemed to
have more power, or maybe I jsut have the carbs tuned improperly.
The next question is in regard to the carbs. I used the
Colourtune kit and seemed to have the carbs adjusted pretty well, but I
can't ever seem to get the idle correct. It varies between 700 and 1300
on the same drive after the car is warmed up! The linkage seems to be OK
and I sprayed carb cleaner at the throttle bushings without any change in
idle. Any other ideas?
Last question for now: On this same trip my fuel guage and temp
guage died at once. Any other obvious failure points I should check
other than the fuses?
Thanks,
Michael Hering
'67 TR4A-IRS
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