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Thank you Dick for your insight. Well, now I have more to add to the
story......... Over the past few day's I've been trying to figure out the
gradual rate of decline of running smoothness. I put reinstalled the
knock sensor and charcaol canister (I'm also going to tee of to a catch
tank with a one way valve) and anti-run on valve. This is when I found out
the oil pressure switch is bad. As we know the oil pressure switch sends a
signal to the valve to function. Also my warning light didn't work. I
tested the circut and the light works. Next I was wondering if the Petronix
was acting up. The break up seemed to be ok at first and started to
decline as the car warmed up...However, this was getting worse and was
happening closer and closer to engine start up. I swapped out the Petronix
and put in the points....No difference! So I put the Petronix back in.
Ok...Now I was getting annoyed...What was the deal? Finally a dim idea
from the past arose......The plugs? I had just bought this set a few weeks
ago. Could the heat range be off? So out they came and I put in the
originals I had. As I removed the "new" plugs I checked cylinder's 3 and
4 again....This time the TWO were very close to each other in colour...A
relief, since now all I had to do was adjust the richness on the middle
carb. Back to the spark plugs...Upon installing the "old" ones. The car
started right up and ran like a champ, I checked the timing, rebalanced the
carbs and adjusted the mixture for the middle carb. I noticed when I shut
off the car..no run on! Hmmmm. Skeptical...I put all back together and
took her for a drive......Ran great.... Again, when I reached the local
record store, I shut it down...NO RUN ON!! Ok....Still skeptical..I drove
it home, noticed the temp was a bit cooler...Just under middle as opposed
to just over...It ran beautifully......I reached home...Shut it down
.....guess what? NO RUN ON...!!!! Now, I used to know about spark plugs
and the heat ranges and such. I have a chart some where... Basically, I
have NGK BPR5ES in right now. Previously, Bosch platinum..WR8DP was
installed. The NGK's have a shorter nose then the Bosch. What I have
forgotten is the meaning of the shorter nose...Is it hotter or cooler? I
thought maybe since it's shorter it's a hotter plug (not as long to
dissapate heat...But then again not as long to allow the spart to build as
long..so maybe it's cooler.... I also know that NGK, Champion, Bosch have
a rating list. This is widely unknown by the chain autoparts drone.... I
think as NGK goes down, they get hotter and Champion is the opposite...But
I'm not all sure and any insight, charts etc would be greatly aprreciated.
What I am sure of is the plugs in the car now are not overheating. The
colour is good now (light gray/tan). I drove the car in to work this
beautiful morning and it ran great, Shut it down
and...NO RUN ON.....!! I'm still going to install the run on valve
though. I went through all the trouble to find a place for it ( with the
Goodparts set up, there isn't a whole lot of room left for the canister!).
Let's hear what people are using for plugs....(Tim Holbrook?) Again, If
anyone has any info on plug ranges and can share it before I can find my
info. I think the list can benefit. These days on newer cars, this sort
of thing doesn't happen all to often. My buddy with his hopped up Honda
looks at me in amazement! He knew nothing of spark plug ranges, he would
just tell the guy at the counter the year of his motor and he get's plugs.
FI, computer managment,etc...is a great thing in most regards. He just
plugs in things on his car and they work..My BMW is the same. The TR and
other older cars forces you to think from time to time. This can be
annoying sometimes but ultimately rewarding! My Friend with the Honda
say's "Man, I could never keep that thing running! There is so much you
need to know!" I say it's not to bad...Once you understand it...By messing
with this stuff, you really see what the new cars are doing and how. Then
he say's with a smile while looking at the TR with a inquisical
smile...Cool car!!
The rear valence theory makes total sense...First, I don't have the bumpers
and second the design of the tail. You would think after spending time in
the wind tunnel at work, I would remember that!!
Chris Young
74TR6
76TVR
94BMW
93Ducati
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