andy taylor Posted March 29, 2019 Report Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) Help, took the car out for a quick spin ( the first of the year) and disaster. Started up and only firing on 5 cylinders but was clearing. Drove to garage to put in fuel and the misfiring had stopped. Drove to the local for one pint ( I had driven approx 2 miles). Came out half an hour later, car started okay but within a few hundred yard stated misfiring and backfiring and if I took my foot off the throttle it would stall, but started okay. i was only a few hundred yards from home so decided to get home. Light grey smoke stared emitting from the exhaust that did not smell good. Got home and put car in garage and nearly cried. Anybody any ideas where I should start. Initially I was going to get the head off, but as far as I know it has never been off, certainly in the 11 years I have had it. It is a 1974 TR6 pi and has covered 72000 miles. Edited March 29, 2019 by andy taylor added a tag Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harlequin Posted March 29, 2019 Report Share Posted March 29, 2019 Andy Silly question. You did put petrol in when you filled up? I ask because, well you can guess who has put diesel in a TR6 and it ran very rough and smoked George Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Triumph Posted March 29, 2019 Report Share Posted March 29, 2019 Sudden smoking and a misfire is unusual. Given your history with the car of low mileage, wouldn't expect it's serious. What changed?? Did you top up or change the oil? It's possible there's a problem worth the brake servo, with hydraulic fluid leaking and entering the engine. Before jumping to any conclusion and removing the head, try a compression test. That should show if there's a head gasket failure or cylinder bore/piston problem. Please let us know what you find and how it works out. They're are a lot of experienced TR owners here who can advise. Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andy taylor Posted March 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2019 Many thanks for the replies. The first thing I thought was did I put diesel in, but I remember spilling some on the boot lid and when I wiped it off it was petrol. I will do a compression test over the weekend and check for brake fluid leakage. Will let you know the results. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jah Posted March 30, 2019 Report Share Posted March 30, 2019 Andy If its an injection car check choke lever is not stuck on, the one at the back of the metering unit. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted March 30, 2019 Report Share Posted March 30, 2019 Bet it's something electrical. What do the plugs look like( that's an easy place to start the investigation) ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mk2 Chopper Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 Yes the plugs should be your first port of call, they'll show you where the problem lies by the condition you find them in. Gareth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 On 3/30/2019 at 11:18 AM, jah said: Andy If its an injection car check choke lever is not stuck on, the one at the back of the metering unit. John It definitely sounds fuel related. I had exactly this problem with mine. I hadn't had the car long and took ages to discover it. Put your finger down between the block and enrichment lever and push it home hard. If that doesn't fix it get a bit of fuel out and make sure it isn't a petrol/diesel mix. We had a TR3 half filled with diesel with similar symptoms. The pull the plugs but that will only indicate the problem. This does not sound ignition related. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tim D. Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 Could also be that the diaphragm in the MU has split. Time to do the suck test. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 Stale fuel destroyed the fuel diaphragm in my MU over winter a few years ago - in that case the exhaust went black and the plugs went wet due to gross over fuelling. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andy taylor Posted April 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Well, I have to first apologise for not replying sooner but afraid other things have happened which have had to take precedence. Okay well I checked the enrichment lever was stuck but that was not the cause of the problem. the plugs were filthy and looked very oily. Did not like the look of this so is it fuel related? decided to revisit my local garage. I use super unleaded in my car and when I checked the pump that I used it was super diesel. Well i felt a right pr**t. Back to the garage drained flushed the tank and the fuel lines, flushed the injectors. In goes the new fuel, to make sure I had not got it wrong again I used ordinary unleaded. Cleaned the plugs. Turned the key and it would not fire. took out the plugs and thoroughly cleaned them again. Still would not fire. Recharged the battery, and this time changed the plugs. Fired beautifully and running well again. My advice if using super unleaded check very carefully because in my experience the super diesel looks like petrol and does not have the distinctive diesel smell. Many thanks to all for the excellent advice. Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Hi Andy, excellent moral fibre for owning up. A number of plugs, typically, NGK, do not like getting wet. Even after drying they may still not work. Did your Super Diesel have a black handle? Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Triumph Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Hi Andy, Well done for fessing up! Glad to hear your TR6 is going well again. Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Alls well that ends well, and your confession may prevent another tr'er making the same mistake. cheers, John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drewmotty Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 I did exactly the same last year. My car just stopped because it was nearly empty when I filled up an i wised up before the smokescreen had cleared I was only a couple of miles from home and the recovery truck provided through the TR Register insurance had me back home less than an hour later and all was sorted in another hour The BP “super diesel” has the same logo on the nozzle as the petrol although it does have a green rather than black hose and when I fessed up in the group newsletter a couple of other members admitted that they had done the same also in BP garages. I made up a restrictor orifice to fit in the filler to prevent a re-occurrence. Hopefully this thread will make others more aware and prevent a few potential incidents. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Vincent Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 I also very nearly made this mistake at a BP station a couple of weeks ago and it was only at the last minute that I spotted that I was about to fill with super diesel. Rgds Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 (edited) Still a minor problem compared to anyone unfortunate enough to put petrol in the tank of a modern common rail diesel engined vehicle. Edited April 24, 2019 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted April 25, 2019 Report Share Posted April 25, 2019 Down here it is called BP Ultimate. They then introduced BP Ultimate diesel. Sounds like it could almost be deliberate by BP but I can't see a motive. We had two sidescreens fill up with diesel at our Nationals a couple of years ago and a TR3 did the same on a club run last year. All at BP. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted April 25, 2019 Report Share Posted April 25, 2019 I filled up at BP Euroa this afternoon and the Ultimate Unleaded pumps have now been positioned alongside the Ultimate Diesel pumps- there must be, no doubt, some marketing reason for this but you have to be careful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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