What Fun !!!

[Giles]

Thought I would tune the carbs today so borrowed my fathers gunsons gas tester. Fired her up and there was a tinkling rattle from the front of the engine when I rev it up :shock:Got all worried about timing chains but it looks like it was the bottom hose where it goes onto the pipe that runs up the front of the engine touching the fan on the alternator when the engine rocked as you revved it up! Huge relief - well the noise seems to have stopped.

Anyway the rotten gas tester would not work at all and it is all in bits on the bench now - spent all afternoon fiddling with it so its now even more broken!:XNever used it before and he got it second hand.

Anyone got one of these - do they work ok? as I will have to get a new one. Was only doing it as Mot test said it was a bit rich and exhaust is sooty but it runs fine.

should have just gone out for a spin in the sun !!

[stustag]

imported post

Fix that bottom pipe before you go anywhere Giles, Kevin had that noise on his car last year and ignored it, later on down the road the engine boiled and he had to get the heads skimmed!!:shock:

Be warned ignoring anything a stag it fatal!!

Stuart

[Andrew S]

imported post

Hi Giles

Yes, I have got one of these gas testers and they are good. Mine has always read 0.5% under what the Motsays, so I know that I need to tune her thatmargin below whatI am aiming for.

The strongest adviceI can give you is todo this job outside of the garageand with a gentle breeze blowing. The tester is so sensitivethatif you do the job in the garage and the air blows in to thegarage, it will over statethe reader as when the machine is trying to recalibrateevery 10 seconds etc, all it can smell is petrol.

Very pleased withmine

Andrew

[Giles]

imported post

just donethe hose/pipe- a washer under the bracket moved it away from the alternator fan - glad i found it though as would have gone through the hose:shock:

[Giles]

imported post

Andrew S wrote:

Very pleased withmine

Andrew

thanks andrew - will have to get another one then

[Tdm]

imported post

Made enquiries about various gas analysers some time ago, and think the subject has been covered in an earlier thread on this Forum. If I recall there are mixed opinions on the reliability of these devices. The mechanic I use out here to take my car through it's MOT equivalent won't even rely on the indusrtial model he has in his Garage premises. He says that the only way to know if any of the cars he takes for an MOT to the official government testing station (private garages are not allowed to do MOT's) is to take it in for a Test, see what the results are, and if it fails bring it back & detune it & try again until it eventually passes.
You are allowed to have your car retested at no extra costs within a limited a timescale. Year before last mine failed 1st & 2nd times but finally passed at the 3rd attempt after weakening the mixture as far as he possibly could go.
My mechanic also said that removing the air filter just before taking it in for the Test can help provide they don't spot that you have done so. Left my Stag on a weak mixture setting once it had passed & it sailed through the following year (2008). Not touched again and hoping it passes again when retested May this year. The weak mixture setting means I always need full choke to start the car from cold, and it probably isn't quite as quick on pick up as it used to be, but once warm it runs just fine with the choke pushed all the way in after about a mile.

[alan230752]

imported post

good answer to the problem of alternator fan hitting bottom hose is to relocate alternator to left hand side of engine ,tony hart sells excellent kit and also stops alternator getting wet and dirty



alan

[Kevin Garrod]

imported post

stustag wrote:

Fix that bottom pipe before you go anywhere Giles, Kevin had that noise on his car last year and ignored it, later on down the road the engine boiled and he had to get the heads skimmed!!:shock:

Be warned ignoring anything a stag it fatal!!

Stuart

Thanks for reminding me! (year before last BTW!)