[TR] was RE: 30 psi at 65 mph now white smoke

[Jeremiah Curry]

It appears maybe I should have been more concerned.  About 220 miles into
the trip coming up a steep hill in 90 degree weather the car overheated very
quickly.  I started losing power and when I depressed the clutch, the engine
totally stopped.  I pulled over and lost about a gallon of coolant.  Waited
a while and then filled the radiator again.  Car heated up a couple of more
times, but not as bad.  Then white smoke started coming out of the exhaust.


When I stopped I noticed that one of the dashpot plungers had come loose and
there was oil on the firewall behind it.  I am not sure what that would do.
I replaced and tightened it, but still white smoke.  It also occurred to me
that I dropped 2500 feet and that could impact the carb adjustments. I can't
remember if elevation loss leads to leaner or richer running.

The other thing I noticed was that there was a significant amount of smoke
coming from the oil cap vent.  What does that signify.  

I was running 10w40 and couldn't find 20w50 at any of the gas stations along
the way.

Car made it and still runs, but I am afraid I may have done permanent
damage. Rings?

Thanks,
Jeremiah

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Drews [mailto:tony at tonydrews.com] 
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 8:14 PM
To: Jeremiah Curry; triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: RE: [TR] 30 psi at 65 mph

Screwing it in (clockwise) can / should increase the pressure, 
screwing it out will decrease the pressure.  If it's screwed in all 
the way, that fight's been fought already.  As someone else said, you 
may have some debris in there preventing it from closing all the way.

Sounds like the pressure is maintaining - finish the trip and deal 
with it when you've got tiem.

Tony

At 02:47 PM 7/16/2011, Jeremiah Curry wrote:
>So I have driven another 120 miles without issue and the temp  has 
>stayed under 200.  I am trying to adjust the valve is clockwise for 
>more or less pressure, I can't get it to go in (clockwise) any more 
>than it was, but I can loosen it more.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tony Drews <tony at tonydrews.com>
>Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 12:32 PM
>To: Jeremiah Curry <jeremiah at curryclan.net>; triumphs at autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: [TR] 30 psi at 65 mph
>
>One of the rules of thumb is 10 psi per 1000 RPM - so 20 psi at 2000
>RPM, 30 psi at 3000 RPM, etc.  30 psi isn't great (I'd rather see 50)
>but it's not awful either.  If it starts dropping, THAT's a "shut it
>down now" deal.
>
>If you've got access to some tools, you may try screwing the oil
>relief screw in a bit.  This is a big screw / bolt with a locknut
>sticking out of the oil filter head.
>
>Tony Drews
>
>At 11:25 AM 7/16/2011, Jeremiah Curry wrote:
> >I am driving my TR3 from Salt Lake City to St. George UT about 300 
> miles, I am
> >60 miles into the trip. This is the farthest I've driven it since getting
it
> >running. I am seeing 30 psi at 65 mph (according to GPS) with no
overdrive