Kevin Warrington
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Posts posted by Kevin Warrington
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Thanks - Looks like I'd better start with checking the wiring first. I've had to sort a few bits out over the years due to bad earths, etc so I'll start with the obvious and check all the connections are sound.
Kevin
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Driving along last Sunday, I noticed the fuel gauge was reading "empty", with the needle sat against the stop as if the fuse had blown. I use the trip meter as a backup and refill every 200 miles as I have never properly trusted the fuel gauge as I know it is pessimistic. I filled up to be on the safe side and the gauge moved up to approx 3/4 and having driven around 100 miles since refilling, it is now hovering just off the empty mark again. I'm pretty sure it is a gauge, sender or electrical problem. Fairly confident that it isn't the voltage stabiliser as this was replaced a year or two ago with a modern solid state one and the temp gauge is working normally.
So, I suppose I am going to have to test the gauge itself or the sender. I assume it works like a voltmeter, so if I pull the wire off the sender, it should go to the full position and if I ground it, it should go to empty?
Other than by substitution with a new one, is there an easy way to test the operation of the gauge itself?
And if it is the sender (which I suspect is most likely) can this be replaced with the tank in the car, or is it a tank out job to get to it?
Kevin
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At least TR's were spared the worst of the British Leyland colour palette. Any takers for a TR6 finished in Limeflower or Blaze?
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I've used the pliers type on various spin on canister oil filters and found it very easy to use. Mine is a bit like a pair of slip joint pliers with the jaws curved to fit the oil filter. When I've fitted oil filters, I always oil the rubber gasket ring thing and tighten the filter by hand, as tight as I can get it. Not sure if they should really be tighter, but not had a leak this way and never had problems removing them.
Kevin
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Thanks, chaps!
Kevin
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Changed the brake pads this morning on my 6. I've never really thought what the purpose of the wire spring clips is for - the things that clip onto the metal part of the pads and are secured with the pins. I only thought about it because they proved difficult to get back into place correctly today. They don't seem to actually secure anything, other than put a bit of pressure on the pins.
What do they actually do?
Kevin
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JDO Instruments is the man for speedo repairs and recalibrations. Approx £60. I got mine back within 48 hours looking like new (although it was for the 2000, not the TR, but they are both similar). Was originally reading about 25% fast and jumping all over the place. Now spot on accurate compared with a GPS at various speeds.
don't whatever you do attempt to remove the cable that rsets the trip as it will break. Theres a spring arrangement in the case that holds it in place and you need to remove everything from the case to release it. No connections with him, but very impressed with service.
Kevin
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This may be an urban myth, but I heard it first hand from a bloke who had seen it happen.
Picture the scene - a commercial vehicle yard on a slight slope with a large pond at the end of the field. The company has a breakdown truck that has been built from an old 1970's bus. One of the first ones to have a spring parking brake (the spring keeps the brake on when you move the little lever and the air pulls the brake off).
Being an old bus, there isn't much security - no ignition key and no locks to the doors. So they secure it overnight by draining the air tanks whihc also applies the brakes solidly. Its a fairly common practce with HGV's and PSVs as it makes them much harder to nick. It takes 10 or 15 minutes to get it running when needed, but if someone is attempting to steal it - it'll maybe give a bit of time for someone to notice what's going on.
Anyway.... the yardman is sent to start the vehicles in the morning, including the breakdwn wagon. It has a "fast idle" throttle (a housebrick that is placed on the throttle pedal). After starting it, he goes in the hut for his cup of tea. As the engine runs, the air presure builds up and the parking brake slowly releases because some numpty has drained the air, but not put the lever in the "on" position. The breakdown truck slowly rolls down the gentle hill and ends up in the pond ...
The earlier comment about refilling the oild without putting the bumg back in - I've done that too, The oil stian on mother's drive was still there 20 years later.
Kevin
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Hi Kevin,
thanks for the info-looks like satin will win the day,any pics of the tan interior-did you get it from Moss?
Cheers
Andrew
I can email pictures if you send me a PM with your email address (I've got no easy way to host them, so can't post on the Forum - or at least I think I can't)
Seats and interior came from TR shop. The seats are very similar to the Mos aftermarket ones, but have a diamond shape in the leather that is very similar to the orignal Triumph pattern.
Kevin
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Replying to own posting is a bit like talking to yourself - but I do that all the time....
Removed the steering wheel and boss (which was extremely tight) and inserted a home made, plastic insulating washer (cut from a plastic milk container - thanks to Pete Bailey for his suggestion) between the boss and the top of the column, heaving only the brass button being able to contact the ring. Reassembled and it all works fine now.
Took the car for a test drive around the Meon Valley as there was a bright spell amongst the rain, just to check it really was fixed. Along the way, the fuel & temperature gauges stopped working, the alarm armed itself, the indicators and the brake lights all stopped working. Obviously, the fuse as they are all common. Drove home relying on hand signals, removed the fuse I thought was responsible, metered it and it was fine. Checked the other fuse - it was OK too. Now everythng is working as it should. Removed the fuse, checked it more carefully and found one of the end caps was loose and both ends were showing signs of corrosion. I suspect that going over a bump had dislodged a mechanically failing fuse. I've had this happen a lot with wire fuses, but never with the type that have a solid strip inside the glass segment.
Next task to replace all the rear light gaskets with nice new ones I bought at Malvern. Old ones are like thin cardboard and are letting much from the road and exhaust into the lenses.
Kevin
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Paint code is 096. Great choice of colour. I think the satin black rear panel (with soot features) has been addressed. I **think** a Sapphire Blue car shouldn't have a body coloured windscreen surround as this was only done on very early cars and Sapphire wasn't an available colour at that time.
I've bought paint from various suppliers and it is all very similar in colour, although it isn't quite the same colour as my car, probably due to fading with age.
Body colour goes well with a tan interior as well.
Kevin
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The problem first started en route to Classic Le Mans last month. Driving through a small town in rural Normandy, a little old lady stepped out onto a pedestrian crossing. As I slowed to let her cross, the pressure on the steering wheel sounded the horn. What she said sounded very not in keeping with her appearance. At least they are only the original style twin-tones, not air horns.
Anyway - lots of useful pointers to where the problem might lie - and talking to some other Wessex Group members today, it seems that self-actuating horns are almost a built in feature of our cars. At least the MOT test is only that the horn works
Kevin
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Thanks, chaps - there is some play in the steering column if I pull hard on it, so that could well be the cause of my problem. It is embarrassing - yesterday , I came around a bend on a country lane and was confronted with the rear end of a large horse which required a rapid application of the brakes so I could go past slowly and quietly to avoid spooking the horse. The whole effort was totally defeated by the horn sounding:o .
Kevin (Hornblower)
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I hope this isn't too dumb a question...
My 6 has developed a habit of sounding the horn without the horn button being pushed. It has a Mota-Lita wheel and boss and the connection to the contact in the centre horn push is well insulated. The usual scenario is pressure on the steering wheel, for example when braking a little harder than usual. I've removed the horn push entirely to eliminate this as a cause and still if I press around the edge of the steering wheel hard enough, the horn will sound.
I suspect that there is a short to ground somewhere. Is this a common problem and where are the obvious places to look first? I've not taken the wheel boss off yet...
Kevin
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Had a Breeze Breaker for a couple of years. Huge improvement. If you have non-standard seats, Chris will modify the brackets for you to fit . The Moss and TR Shop seats need longer brackets, unles you drive with the steering wheel under your chin.
Kevin
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About 35 years ago, I changed the oil in a Ford Escort on my mother's concrete driveway. Car up on ramps, drain bung out of the sump and oil drained into the washing up bowl (to be washed clean before mother returned). Poured old oil into a spare can, ready to dispose of and the phone rang. Answered the phone, long conversation, making arrangements for an evening out.
Went back to the car, poured a gallon of cheap 20/50 into the filler and watched as this large patch of oil spread itself across the drive. I'd forgotten to put the bung back in...
A couple of years ago, by brother went to visit the old house. He told me that "my" oil stain was still visible in the concrete. Wish I'd known then about using biological washing powder to remove oil stains...
Kevin
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5 ft 8 ins tall, 29 inch inside leg!! TR Shop seats (same basic design as Moss ones, but with nicer finish). Fit to perfection!
They are a very tight fit against the B post and as has been said, it really is best to fold the seats forward when raising / lowering the roof and to get the backs as vertical as possible when adjusting fore and aft. The new seats have been in my car for about 3 years and have done about 12000 miles with them.
There's more adjustment with the roof up - obviously as the frame is out of the way. I did hear a story that the car that was measured up when the seats were designed was either a surrey or had a hard top with the rag top removed.
Kevin
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''As I needed to go out to the garage to put my vernier gauge back in the tool chest, I made some measurements.''
Love it !
Thanks Kevin, you have been most helpful.
Mind you, I should add that the vernier gauge is one of those really cheap ones (I think it cost all of a pound!) but incredibly useful for measurements if a high degree of accuracy isn't required. The "tool chest" is the big red box at one end of the garage underneath all the other junk and the vernier had been left on my desk in the study after being used earlier in the day to measure up some pipe work as part of an emergency plumbing repair.
Kevin
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Mine only gets Shell V-max (or whatever it is called this week) and a dash of VSP if I'm doing a long fast run. I've not been happy with the BP super unleaded, or Esso. Mine particularly does not like the Esso mix, but the Tesco super unleaded seems fine. The best ever was in Greece where Shell sell genuine 100 Octane fuel.
I'm sure we've discussed this before and someone suggested that theres no difference between brands. I have to admit that living not too far from a large refinery( Fawley) and oil terminal (Hamble), we see lots of tankers in what you might think to be the wrong livery heading away from both. So maybe it is all in the imagination?
Kevin
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As I needed to go out to the garage to put my vernier gauge back in the tool chest, I made some measurements.
Drivers door front, top 4mm, bottom 4mm
Drivers door rear, top 2mm, bottom 2mm
Passengers door front, top 4mm, bottom 4mm
Passengers door rear, top 3mm, bottom 3mm
This car had a total nut and bolt rebuild a long time ago with new old stock panels hung unto a heritage bodyshell.
I also has a look at my 2000, which is an original car, never been rebuilt, restored or welded and is thus as it left Canley in 1972. Door gaps are similar all round.
Hope this helps
Kevin
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Had **exactly** the same problem myself a while back. In my case, it was both the voltage regulator and the temperature sensor. New solid state regulator about £12.00 (at least one supplier on Ebay) and sender about £5.00.
The other thing with modern solid state regulators is you get a constant 10.2 volts out of them. The old bi-metalic strips give out a varying voltage which is "regulated" by the slow reation of the gauges. If you stick a meter on the output of the old type, you'll see the reading fluctuate wildly.
Kevin
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I've got two Triumphs - the TR6 and 2000. The TR does around 4,000 to 5,000 miles a year and the 2000 around 3,000. Both cars go all over Europe. I've been left stuck at the side of the road three times in about 7 years of ownership. Once was a duff condensor (I had the tools, but not the part); once was a float valve in a Stromberg carb (2000) - did a strip and rebuild at the side of the road, but the float valve was damaged and leaked even when cleaned, so still needed parts and the third time, also the 2000, a defective coil that finally expired.
Tools: A couple of AF spanners, plug socket, selection of screwdrivers, feeler guages, small electrical pliers, length of 30amp cable, ty-wraps and a roll of gaffer tape. Plus the most important thisng - the little card you get from Towergate with the insurance that provides the breakdown cover. The tools all fit in a canvas wrap that goes in the spare wheel void.
Kevin
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I try to only use Shell in mine as it seems to run much better - but not convinced that it isn't just all in my imagination. Had some problems with pinking using BP Ultimate and find the colours of their pumps confusing - nearly put Ultimate diesel in the last time.
Apparantly Tesco super unleaded is 99 octane, but best we've found was in Greece where you can buy 100 octane unleaded just about everywhere. Goes like it was designed on that stuff, but a bit of a long journey just for a tankful......
I usually carry a bottle of VSP octane boost with me just in case I can't get any super and need to put ordinary unleaded in.
Kevin
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I replaced mine a few weeks ago. Rather than replace it with the old electro mechanical thing, I used one of the new solid state electronic ones. It's a bit fiddly to get to, but not too difficult. Definately disconnect the battery first and then as others have said, remove the drive cable and the trip odometer reset from the dashboard (not from the speedo head as it will break, apparantly), fiddle about to find the clamps held on with knurled nuts and then the speedo will come loose. The lamps for the oil (or is is ign) and turn indicators will fall out and I think I needed to fiddle about with indicator and overdrive switches to remove the speedo, but there's just about emough room without removing the steering wheel.
When I put mine back together, I muddled up the lights, so it took several attempts to get it all working again.
I don't know why, but every time I fix one electrical fault on my car, I also seem to fix a few others that are seemingly unrelated. For example; replaced alternator and now the fuel guage reads accurately. And that 's after first replacing the voltage regulator (to get back onto topic)
Kevin
Fuel Gauge Problems
in TR6 Forum
Posted
Yes.... Triumph wiring can be a bit marginal at best.![:angry:]()
When I put a relay into the fuel pump circuit, it fixed a few problems with the indicators.
Kevin