[TR] TR4 Won't Start

[Keith Richard Stewart]

When I took the TR4 (1962) out of winter storage, it started on the second
turn of the key. I drove home fine, no problems. I cleaned up the car for a
show last weekend. When I went to start, it was hard starting, did catch and
ran rough for a few seconds before stalling. The starter is a hi-torque
starter and had lots of "oomph". The rough running was like it was on two
cylinders or less. After several more attempts to get it started, including
some starting fluid spray, I put the battery charger on to make sure the
battery was charged fully. I attempted a start with the charger on the
"start" setting with no luck. While looking over the engine compartment for
a loose wire or bad connection, I noticed substantial oil leak around the
filter adapter. The location was such that it appeared the seeping was
between the oil filter head and the adapter.

 

Although not associated with the non-start issue, I figured I would take
care of the oil leak, thinking it was the seal between the adapter and the
filter head. I drained the oil, removed the filter, installed a new filter
and filled with oil. It did seem there was a bit of fuel odor from the oil.
I did install a new fuel pump two years ago so I will check that later. The
fuel pump was one of TRF's "Made in Italy" pumps. The additional start
attempts since then have not produced any oil seeping out.

 

Back to the start problem.  The carbs are SU HS6, as on the TR4A. I removed
the fuel line at the float bowl and gas pumped out during an attempted
start. The ignition is a Pertronix. When I removed the rotor, it looked OK,
but I had a spare in a tune up kit and a separate, red rotor, so I tried
both with no luck. To make sure the battery was getting at least 10v to the
Pertronix, I put in a new battery that I had. No luck. I removed plug #1,
grounded it on the thermostat housing bolt and tried a start. I had a spark
right away and almost immediately the car started up. Ran roughly - there
were only three cylinders getting spark.

 

I shut off the engine, replaced the spark plug, and tried to start. No luck.
Very baffling. I also had spark on #2, #3, and #4. With #2 removed, car
starts, Ditto with #3 and #4 removed. Once the plug is back in, the car will
not start. Voltage at rest is 12.75v (have not charged it again after
several start attempts over the past few days) and drops to 11v during
starter engagement.

 

I had a new coil on hand so I tried it as well. No luck. Connections from
the coil to ignition switch and coil to Pertronix are clean and secure.

 

All plug leads and the distributor lead are clean and secure. Battery
connections are clean and secure. Battery putting out 12-14v. Connections at
the starter solenoid and the starter are clean and secure.

 

I think that is everything I have tried to date. Any suggestions are most
welcome.

 

 

Keith Stewart

keithstewart at bell.net

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/triumphs/attachments/20190612/b06940f1/attachment.html>