[TR] update - the mystery continues

[Reihing, Randall S.]

Good point on the TR3 engine. I have never rebuilt/overhauled a Triumph TR3 engine so was not aware of the lack of valve seals. If we keep them long enough I imagine I will become much more familiar with their design characteristics. But Rye's smoking issue is interesting given the lack of valve seals. If the guides are badly worn the valves can vibrate side-to-side within the guide and may not seal at the valve seat. This can cause idle roughness at normal idle rpm. Attaching a vacuum gauge and then starting the cold engine, if the guides are bad you will, as you have said, probably see blue smoke and the vacuum gauge needle fluctuate from around 3" mercury, to approximately 7 inches of mercury but when the rpm's are increased, stabilize with a steady reading.

What are the chances that all the piston ring end gaps are too large and/or may have lined up?

I agree too that once the head is off the answer will be closer. In the TR3, is it possible to drop the pan and push a piston/rod assembly out the top? I assume that if the engine was rebuilt the cylinder sleeves were either replaced or any difference in circumference at the top of the existing cylinder was removed. If this is possible it might be a lot easier than pulling the engine out again.

RandallS



wahneetr at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 3:45 PM
To: Reihing, Randall S.
Cc: triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [TR] update - the mystery continues

No valve seals on a TR3 engine.  Could be worn valve guides but in my experience those usually manifest themselves by allowing oil to seep into the cylinder when the engine is off and produce blue smoke briefly at start-up.

Once the head is off (and possibly the pistons examined) I expect the answer will be more apparent.

Geo



On Sat, Oct 17, 2015 at 10:55 AM, Reihing, Randall S. <Randall.Reihing at utoledo.edu<mailto:Randall.Reihing at utoledo.edu>> wrote:
The following is just my opinion and is only presented to see if it can help, not to criticize anyone.

I know the amount of smoke that can be generated because of worn valve seals sounds a little difficult to believe...
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