Jump to content

very smokey exhaust


Recommended Posts

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 by andy taylor
added a tag
Link to post
Share on other sites

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

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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

Link to post
Share on other sites
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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Could also be that the diaphragm in the MU has split. Time to do the suck test.

Tim

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

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

Link to post
Share on other sites

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. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Please familiarise yourself with our Terms and Conditions. By using this site, you agree to the following: Terms of Use.