ctc77965o Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 All, Anybody experience this type of issue? The TR4A goes fine, I can run long distances (500km), accelerate fine, good power, smooth idle & running.....but if I make a sharp right turn I loose all power until the car straightens-up or until I'm almost stationary. Then the car runs fine & continues like normal... It's not a slow loss of power like I would imagine fuel starvation to be, it's pretty instant making me think its electrical... i replaced the last 3 feet of the white ignition wire going to the coil thinking that this piece of wire sees a lot of movement and could have failed internally..that didnt help. Many years ago I had an series of full loss of electrics (going straight!) which turned out to be the foot-dip-switch shorting to earth... thats ok this time... any other thoughts on things that go splutter in the right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR5tar Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hello Dave,Sounds similar to problems I've been having. On mine I reckon it's the electrics, but I've not had the opportunity to test things out recently because the weather hasn't been that good here.You might find something useful in the discussions I had at: http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/49989-fuel-starvation-or-something-else/Hope it helps.Darren Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riverstar Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 I had a similar problem a few years ago and tracked it down to a loose connection on the condenser in the distributor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ctc77965o Posted January 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 thanks for the suggestions.... Darren-did you fix your issue?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graeme Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Dave, I suggest that you replace the piece of wire from the coil to the distributor. It takes a lot of flexing and I had this fail intermittently before. Cheers Graeme Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi Dave, apart from the electrics (happy hunting) have a look in the fuel tank. A friend of mine had similar problems and it turned out to be a fungal lump in the fuel tank. As he turned right it got moved to the left over the tank outlet. However this would not be an instant failure compared to a dicky wire. Becareful when looking in with a torch. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boxofbits Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi Dave It does sound electrical, and I would suggest trying another ignition coil as it could be related to movement of oil inside the coil. Long shot but maybe. Only other thing I can think of is are your carb dashpots topped up? If they are low or empty perhaps the sudden movement of the change of direction effects the level of the dampers. Sorry another long shot but worth checking! Regards Kevin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR5tar Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi Dave, Unfortunately, I've not been able to get the car out on the road over the last few weeks, so I don't know if I've fixed the issue or not with what I've done. My car runs fine when parked in the garage. I can rev it, or hold the revs at say 2000, and it's perfect. I've only noticed the problem when out on the road, so it does make me think it's a dodgy electrical connection that's the issue. Finding it and knowing that I've found it is the real problem. It might be that with what I've done already that it's fixed, but I won't know for sure until I take it out. Darren Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Another possibility. Have a close look in the carburettor float chamber bowls for the presence of water. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi Darren, next time you take it out and it stops, pop the tank filler cap and listen - does it make a sucking sound. It could be your tank is not vented. Leave cap undone and give it a run see what happens. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 My money is on an electrical issue. With engine running try moving all the wires around related to ignition (including under the dash), check inside distributer for loose condenser, or intermittant connection in condenser wire, & the internal earthing wire between the sliding plate, & the body. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Bobs suggestion about the dizzy capacitor (condensor) is a good one to check. Make sure it is screwed down tight. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 A friend of mine had a similar problem when we were touring in France. It was one of the plug leads shorting onto inside of bonnet. Easily cured by readjusting leads so they were away from inside of bonnet. Engine mountings may be allowing too much lateral movement when you turn. As you turn left engine will rock to the right moving plug leads nearer to bonnet. As you turn right engine will rock to left moving plug leads upwards as well. Leads could be shorting onto engine or fuel pipes. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) Assuming nothing around coil as already suggested (LT connectors and terminals), and dizzy internals (which you'd think any vibrations from the engine would outweigh centrifugal force during a turn ), I'd temporarily run a lead straight from battery to coil +ve. Don't forget to disconnect again to stop engine (!). Run up the road doing whatever it is that triggers it: if it STILL cuts, you know it's nothing upstream of coil, so not loom, ignition switch or power supply. If it HAS stopped the problem, you know it's not coil, distributer or king lead. It seems less likely to be spark plugs or HT leads in general, as all cylinders are cutting, so that just leaves king lead, coil and cap (or technically centre of dizzy cap or rotor arm, but as above, you'd think engine running conditions would outweigh car-turning forces). Has any work been done on the car recently? Also, if everything looks ok after above visual and temp wiring test, might be worth rigging a volt-meter where you can see it whilst driving. Be interesting if volts suddenly changed during the cut out, as per your problem from years ago. Also, I assume it's starting ok? Therefore battery connections and earths, and battery not moving around. You'd think if fuel supply issue the float chambers would (possibly?) see you through a bend. As you suggest, a fast, instantaneous cut suggests spark. I know on my old blue 4 that following a float needle failure in Tunbridge Wells, it ran perfectly well on one carb through the balance pipe at low to moderate throttle after I blocked the fuel pipe to offending carb. Therefore you'd need both carbs to have the same problem, to the same degree at the same time. Really interesting: oh yes, did it suddenly start doing it, or did it start with a tiny misfire and gradually develop into full cut-out? Edited February 1, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) Hi Darren, next time you take it out and it stops, pop the tank filler cap and listen - does it make a sucking sound. It could be your tank is not vented. Leave cap undone and give it a run see what happens. Roger Ah yes Roger: but why directional? As an aside though, I once had a Suzuki Cappuccino. One of those brilliant Kai class two seat, turbocharged micro-sports cars. It had air conditioning which was heavy 12kgs, and took a load of the 63hp engine's grunt. It gradually became inefficient, so I removed it. I looked forward to seeing my economy go up a bit, as not only had I removed the 12kgs, it was one less drivebelt running. Imagine my delight when my economy went from av 50 mpg to nearly 90! I was doing brim-to-brim tests, so knew I was being very accurate (always thinking you see). Out of the blue, I ran out of fuel. Odd, as I didn't think it was very long ago that I'd filled up. To cut to the chase, it turned out that the breather system had clogged, and the little fuel pump had utterly crushed the fuel tank: it's capacity ended up being a fraction of what it should have been. It had even bent the fuel sender, and ripped the (steel) tank. Being fuel injected, the pump was easily enough to generate lots of PSi, and therefore more than enough to subject the tank to a big % of atmospheric pressure. Rather than deal with the very complex (and unobtainable) breather system, I fitted a MX5 fuel cap (with vent), and of course another fuel tank. Problem solved. Edited January 31, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi Barry, Darren's problem isn't directional - just running up the road. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Sorry Roger, my eye was further up the thread on Dave's issue. My apologies! Edited February 1, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Just noticed who the OP is! Sucking eggs and all that! Edited February 1, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR5tar Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Hi Darren, next time you take it out and it stops, pop the tank filler cap and listen - does it make a sucking sound. It could be your tank is not vented. Leave cap undone and give it a run see what happens. Roger Thanks for that suggestion Roger. I'll give it a go when/if it happens again. Although, I have to confess that I don't really understand what you mean by a "vented" tank. Does it have anything to do with the fuel cap itself? I know that some have a vent in them, but mine doesn't. Is it worth changing to one that does? Also, with this thread and my one I've seen lots of talk about running a new wire here and there, which is something I feel I should try if what I've already done hasn't cured things, but being a novice about such things myself, I wonder if anyone can give me guidance on what rating of wire I should use for such exercises? Lastly, thanks Bob for the suggestion of moving wires around when the car's running. It's an obvious thing, but it hadn't occurred to me, so I'm off to play about with that now. Cheers, Darren Edited February 1, 2015 by TR5tar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Hi Darren, have you got a TR5 (from your avatar) - not sure how a TR5 tank is vented. What I mentioned works on a TR4A and a TR4 if the vent tube is missing or bunged up. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ctc77965o Posted February 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hi All, Thanks for the inputs, I'll try some electrical substitution and integrity checks when I get back home on Sunday Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Standard cap on a 5 is vented. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR5tar Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hi Darren, have you got a TR5 (from your avatar) - not sure how a TR5 tank is vented. What I mentioned works on a TR4A and a TR4 if the vent tube is missing or bunged up. Roger Hi Roger, Yes, mine's a 5. Standard cap on a 5 is vented. Stuart. Thanks Stuart. When I bought the car I was told that the cap wasn't standard, and following that I did a bit of research and noticed that some caps have the vent. Is it something you'd recommend changing sooner rather than later? Darren Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 You do need a vented cap whatever. So I would get a standard TR4/4a/5 one (they are all the same) ASAP Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Air will have nowt to do with it,my money would be something in the fuel tank,look for silicone Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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