Thread: bought a 2a 88

Gday everyone, it's been a long time between posts so thought I would do a little updating.

Post rebuild, the engine is doing very well. It has stopped eating oil and is loosening up nicely. A head retensioning is due, along with a tuneup. I'm looking forward to see how it goes after.

I Went for a drive in mount Sugarloaf with my brother (series 3 shorty) and couldn't notice much difference in performance between mine and his. He pulled away a little on the drive up the mountain, but my engine was still only ~1500km old and i was babying it a little so not too worried.

Bad - The car has an appetite for hydraulic fluid. The clutch slave cylinder is a culprit of leaking, but not too much. I will get a replacement in soon. I noticed my slave cylinder doesn't have an 'operating lever return spring' that the Green Bible refers to. Is this not good? Should I get one?

Also, I'm wondering if my fuel consumption is a bit high. Off a tank, I got about 360km of hilly driving (including going up jamberoo mountain road) with 2 people and camping gear in the back. Once again, I'm not too worried as the engine has a long way to go yet.

I'll keep you filled in with how it goes and drinks later down the track. (and get some pics to keep it interesting).


Cheers,

Sam

Originally Posted by series3

I noticed my slave cylinder doesn't have an 'operating lever return spring' that the Green Bible refers to. Is this not good? Should I get one?

Sam

The spring would be to make sure that the thrust bearing is completely disengaged from the pressure plate; not having one might allow the bearing to come into contact when the clutch is not being used, which will result in premature wear of both components,

Cheers Charlie

Gday again everyone, I have a problem i would like to start running past you guys.

A few days ago, after a heavy night of rain I jumped in the car to head down the road and the car was idiling horribly, maybe on two cylinders. I (stupidly?) presumed it may be from just a little bit of water, and as i was running late for a funeral i decided to press on.

the car would drive on two cylinders, and every now and then break into 3 and then 4 cylinders with a gearchange or increased revs. I thought "you beauty the problems going away!".

Driving back afterwards, and more problems occur. The carby starts to develop this really strange intermitttent sucking sound, and it struggles to hold idle for more than a minute. It would make this suck noise, and stall. Same thing though with cylinders chiming in and out.

have i got blocked jets? or fuel pickup maybe? There wasn't much left in the tank at this point, and it was still very humid. Forgot to mention, it's a zenith on a 2.25 petrol.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Sam

Originally Posted by series3

Also, I'm wondering if my fuel consumption is a bit high. Off a tank, I got about 360km of hilly driving (including going up jamberoo mountain road) with 2 people and camping gear in the back. Once again, I'm not too worried as the engine has a long way to go yet.
Cheers,

Sam

Fuel consumption doesn't sound too bad. My previous 11A would get around 200 miles (320K's) to a 10 gallon tank.

Originally Posted by series3

Gday again everyone, I have a problem i would like to start running past you guys.

A few days ago, after a heavy night of rain I jumped in the car to head down the road and the car was idiling horribly, maybe on two cylinders. I (stupidly?) presumed it may be from just a little bit of water, and as i was running late for a funeral i decided to press on.

the car would drive on two cylinders, and every now and then break into 3 and then 4 cylinders with a gearchange or increased revs. I thought "you beauty the problems going away!".

Driving back afterwards, and more problems occur. The carby starts to develop this really strange intermitttent sucking sound, and it struggles to hold idle for more than a minute. It would make this suck noise, and stall. Same thing though with cylinders chiming in and out.

have i got blocked jets? or fuel pickup maybe? There wasn't much left in the tank at this point, and it was still very humid. Forgot to mention, it's a zenith on a 2.25 petrol.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Sam

There is a whole range of things that could cause this problem - but if cylinders are not firing, but others are reliably enough to drive it, it is unlikely to be the carburetter, or indeed any fuel supply problem.

Cylinders not firing are likely to be one of the following:-

1. Ignition (likely) - probably spark plug or ignition lead, but could be distributor cap tracking. Generally poor ignition from points, condenser or coil may give enough spark to run the two cylinders with the best plugs for example,

2. Compression (likely) - valves sticking or not seating properly or sticking or broken rings - compression check indicated, even just turning over by crankhandle would show if this is a problem.

3. Inlet manifold to head joint leaking, giving weak mixture to two cylinders. Check by squirting WD40 or similar on the joint, should give temporary fix for a few seconds.


The sucking noise may come from (3) but could also be from (2).

John

Thanks for the comments, I will get the crank handle out tomorrrow and have a closer look at the ignition.

I put some more fuel into the car, and the sharp sucking noise has gone away. easy fix! but it still refuses to run on all cylinders except if the revs are very very high.

Thanks again JD and Numpty.

Sam

Mine was doing sort-of similar when a core plug in the head started leaking.
It would lumpily idle and throttle response was delayed. Once the revs mounted then it ran alright. I had to engage low range to move it on my moderately steep driveway when before it'd almost idle in first high up the driveway.

To check, lift the rocker cover and see if there is any coolant on/around the aluminium plugs. But follow John's advice first, he actually knows what he's talking about

Lord, i hope it's not a core plug. I pulled the top of the dizzy off to have a look and one of the leads fell apart as i pulled it from the distributor. So, I'm off to get some new ones, and do my condensor and points for good measure.

Is the condition of the rotor button and the metal bits in the distributor cap (name?) very important? Mine are showing signs of wear and tear, should i replace them?

here is a picture of the underside of the cap, would this suit the definition 'shagged'?



Any advice and ideas appreciated.

Cheers,

Sam