The fact that ALL the exhaust valve clearances are tight suggests that this
might just be normal wear on the valve seats - are they new, and have they
just "bedded in"? When was the last time you checked the clearances? Do
you typically set them tight?
Because the compression test results show extremely low compression, I would
suspect that the problem is a bad head gasket, relating to the lack of
coolant problem. Extremely low compression on two adjacent cylinders is
often indicative of a head gasket failure in the area between the two
cylinders. This will not necessarily result in water in the oil or vice
versa.
-----Original Message-----
From: DANMAS@aol.com <DANMAS@aol.com>
To: triumphs@autox.team.net <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 1998 7:29 PM
Subject: My car has been recovered, and is now at home
>
>Greetings, listers,
>
>I have retrieved my car, and it is now sitting in my garage. I was able to
get
>the hood open (after rather draconion measures - of which more later), and
I
>drove it home.
>
>First of all, a great big thanks to Tom and Linda Long for allowing Leon to
>drive their truck to my house, and storing the TR6 till I could retrieve
it.
>Also, a great big thanks to Fred Thomas, who freely offered to drive the
250
>miles to Blacksburg to help me if I needed it. Luckily, with Tom's help, I
was
>able to return the car to drivable condition, and Fred did not have to
drive
>that great distance. Mighty kind of him to offer, never-the-less, don't you
>think? I sure do.
>
>Evidently, my car did not like Leon, as he had more troubles with it in the
>two weeks he drove it than I've had in the 8 years I've owned it.
>
>In the previous 8 years, I've had five failures, 2 at home and 3 on the
road:
>
>1, alternator failure,
>2, split diaphram in the brake booster,
>3, melted wire,
>4, loose screw on the throttle linkage,
>5, leaky clutch M/C
>
>While Leon had the car, there were 6 failures:
>
>1, broken ws washer switch,
>2, broken tach cable (the replacment cable also broke),
>3, stuck hood latch cable,
>4, split in the radiater outlet pipe,
>5, alarm siren quite working,
>6, engine went sour
>
>1, 2, and 5 are self explainatory, so I'll just discuss items 3, 4, and 6.
>
>ITEM 6: when the car left here, each cylinder had between 150 and 170 psi
>compression. Now, the compression checks as follows:
>
>#1 = 155
>#2 = 50
>#3 = 25
>#4 = 145
>#5 = 170
>#6 = 35
>
>Putting oil in the cylinders raised the compression around 5 - 10 psi each.
A
>check of the valve clearances showed zero on the exhaust valves for the low
>cylinders, and very little or zero on most of the others as well. I haven't
>done a thorough check yet, but it appears that somehow the valve clearance
has
>decreased across the board. Any one have any ideas as to why this happened?
>How much damage do you think I am looking at? None of the adjusment screws
>seemed to be loose. I see no sign of water in the oil, nor oil in the
water,
>so I assume the head gasket is good, and neither the head nor the block is
>cracked. The car only used 1/2 - 3/4 quart of oil in the total 2800
miles -
>normal for that car - so I don't think I have any bottom end damage.
>
>Needless to say, the car runs like crap. It barely will idle, but once up
to
>speed, it runs fairly well.
>
>ITEM 4: A small split in the solder joint around the outlet pipe allowed a
>little water to leak out each time the engine was shut down, and only after
it
>was shut down. I ran the car for about 15 minutes in Tom's driveway, and no
>water leaked at all till I shut it off. The temperature gauge never got
above
>just a little over half scale during that time. Evidently, enough water
leaked
>each time the engine was shut off that the water level got low, and since
the
>hood couldn't be opened to add water, there finally wasn't enough water to
>cool the engine, and it overheated at the begining of the last leg of
Leon's
>journey. The steam that he saw in the driveway was the radiator cap
releasing
>the pressure. The overflow tube was blown off the radiator fitting, so the
>steam came out around the right headlamp area.
>
>ITEM 3: The hood latch itself was OK, only the cable was stuck somewhere
along
>its length. I haven't pulled it yet to see just where. I can't pull the
cable
>from under the dash, but I can easily push the cable in at the latch area.
The
>weak of heart, or the purist, should not read any further, because I took
>drastic action to get the hood open. As Leon mentioned, I bought a 3 inch
hole
>saw, chucked it in my Milwaukee right angle drill (there is not enough room
>for a normal drill), and drilled a 3 inch hole in the sloping sheet metal,
>just above the passenger's footwell and adjacent to the hood latch. I was
able
>to stick my hand in and release the catch (I brought along a piece of fuel
>hose, which I had split, to put around the hole as a grommet so as not to
>slice my arm off as I worked). As I said, the latch was OK - it only took
>minimal pressure to release it.
>
>Don't be too upset, though, as the final result looks quite professional,
>almost like it came from the factory that way. The drain holes in the floor
>boards are also 3 inches in diameter, so the rubber plug for them exactly
fits
>the hole I made. Rest assured, I will never have a problem getting the hood
>open again. There is enough room to get a wrench in there and completely
>remove the entire latch assembly, both pieces, if need be. A three inch
hole
>is probably not big enough for most of you, but I have small hands. On my
>TR6/302, I am going to make an even bigger hole. MGs have a rectangular
hole,
>about 3 X 5, on both sides of the firewall, with nice rubber plugs to fill
>them. I will make a hole like that, then even those with big hands can get
in
>there if needed.
>
>One thing did upset me quite a bit, though, about the hood episode: someone
>tried to use a screw driver to pry the hood open. In the process, they
scarred
>up the scuttle and the right fender, and the screwdriver slipped and carved
a
>4 inch gouge in the top of the hood, clear to bare metal. That's going to
cost
>me a quite bit to get repaired, hoping I can get the paint to match without
>having to do the entire front end.
>
>That's all for today, as I am quite tired. My son retrieved my grandson on
>Sunday, and I made the 8 hour round trip to Blacksburg and back, plus fixed
>the car, on Monday, so a good rest is in order.
>
>My grandson is as well behaved, and as sweet dispositioned, as any child
could
>be, but I'm a bit too old (I'll be 58 on Monday) to try to keep up with
him.
>Climbing on the playground equipment with him, crawling through the
obstacle
>course, sliding down the slides, and generally behaving like a small boy
>myself, has taken its toll on my poor old joints! Never-the-less, I can
hardly
>wait till he returns for another visit with us.
>
>I'll let every one know what I find as I dig deeper.
>
>Dan Masters,
>Alcoa, TN
>
>'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored, but a bit puny right
>now.
>'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion -
see:
> http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/index.html
>'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
>'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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