Andy,
Stale fuel and poor electric continuity come to mind as possible
causes. How long have you had the same load of fuel in the tank?
Are the low-tension wires making good contact on distributor post and
coil connections?
That the rotor seat has rust may be a clue that there is high
humidity in the garage, leading to moisture issues in ignition equipment.
Are the sparkplug wires real wire, or carbon-core type? Recently in
our club we spent far too much time chasing wraiths when the problem was
good-looking but bad-acting spark plug wires on a TD engine.
Lower air temperatures this time of year might be causing misfires if
the carbs were set a tiny bit lean in warm weather. High operating temp
can sometimes be caused by lean mixture, as can the stumble and backfire
on accelleration. Insufficient oil in the dashpots can cause these
symptoms.
How does the engine oil look? Any whitish goo on the underside of
filler cap? I am thinking of the moisture issue and rust on the rotor.
Bob
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 08:18:38 -0800 "drmoyce" <drmoyce@ent-oakland.com>
writes:
> I couldn't find my carburetor tools, including the balancing gauge,
> so for the first time I took the TD to a trusted Brit car mechanic for
> adjustment a few weeks ago. The suspicion was that I was running
> rich.
> He adjusted, and things seemed fine. Then for a few weeks the car
> sat without use, and when we took it out there was misfiring and
> backfires.
> On the road I found that the rotor seat was covered with rust,
> cleaned it out and things seemed fine (I have Pertronix ignition.)
>
> A recent trip involved both freeway and back roads. There was some
> hesitation getting started, but things ran well on the freeway. I
> did note that the temperature was about 10 degrees above my normal
> running temp, even though outside temperature was in the upper 60s.
After
> getting off the freeway the car is very sluggish starting out, like
> it's firing on three cylinders, sometimes with a backfire or two. It
> seems to clear out until the next stop sign, then limps away, settling
> down to normal after a couple hundred yards. The idle is rough.
Sparkplug
> tips look picture perfect.
>
> I guess I need to take it back to the mechanic, but I was wondering
> what opinions the listers might have as to the nature of the problem.
>
> Andy Moyce
> 52 TD
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