I've been slowly sorting through things that need doing to the TR-250 I
purchased recently. One of the things that bothers me most is that after
fully warming up, the oil pressure is only about 15 psi at idle. At normal
cruising speeds (> 2000 rpm or so) the pressure is in the 45-50 psi range.
I'd been thinking that the bottom end might need work (that is the usual
reason for loss of oil pressure when nothing is going out the tailpipe,
right?), as the car has nearly 160K miles on it. Then I saw a note in the
TRF catalogue this evening that said, "The original TR250 oil pump is
generally considered to be inadequate and it should be replaced with one of
the TR6 oil pumps listed below." Might the oil pump be a significant part
of the problem, assuming the (decidedly non-wanking) PO never replaced it? I
still have to get back in touch with him to find out what, if any, major
engine work he had done in the last few years.
The transmission will pretty consistently "fall" out of third gear when you
take your foot off the gas pedal. It doesn't really "jump" out of gear, it
just sort of quietly eases into neutral, like a teenager tip-toeing into the
house way past curfew. (Next thing you know the car isn't slowing down for
that curve the way to expected, and an extra-heavy dose of asbestos is
required to keep from kissing a tree.) The PO said there was an adjustment
of some kind that would help that situation. The Haynes TR-250/6 shop manual
talks briefly in the fault diagnosis section about removing a "side cover"
from the transmission and tightening a set screw, but never mentions "side
cover" in any other discussion or figures, nor could I find it in the TRF
catalog. Is "side cover" some mystic's term for something more mundane,
like "top cover" or "front cover"? Inquiring minds want to know.
As part of the purchase, I have a spare transmission (known to make horrible
bearing death noises in 3rd & 4th) on the floor of the garage. How feasible
is it to rebuild it myself, assuming I don't have nine thumbs? Are any
unusual tools or expertise required for the job?
Finally, has anyone got any words of wisdom about rebuilding the Zenith
carbs? I plan to get the Haynes Zenith carb manual and tackle them during
the winter when the car is garaged. From what I've seen on the list, they
are pretty simple beasts, and the "major rebuild kit" from TRF appears to
only have a dozen parts, so they shouldn't be too bad, right? :-) What other
tools are needed/useful, Unisyn, Colortune, ... ?
Thanks,
Skip (montanaro@crd.ge.com)
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