Performance?

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demag
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Performance?

Post by demag »

Well the TXS is on the road at last. Still needs jobs doing but at least its mobile.

It's been a bit of a pig to start while its been stood on the drive. Ok when cold but not ok when warm but not hot. I've just done about ten miles and I noticed it appeared to be a bit sluggish through the gears. I realise it's 16 years old but with 55k would have expected a bit more go. I think the carb wants a good looking at as its a bit of a ritual to start and occasionally smells of petrol. I've got some new plugs and will see what the carb looks like. One good thing, it started a lot easier after the run. For a 1600 should performance be up with modern traffic?
Dave.

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Post by jeremy »

I think the 1.6 should be quite lively - I seem to recall 0 - 60 of about 10.5 seconds which will blow a Prius off!

Does the second choke open? Is the throttle properly adjusted so that both chokes are fully open when the pedal is on the floor? (If it was a diesel I'd ask if the pedal had dropped off - but I don't think petrols are afflicted due to the different driving style.)
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Post by mnde »

Glad it's up and running again :) The carb and in particular the autochoke setup/maintenance seems to be critical on the 16, as is the timing. Also, what octane fuel are you using?

Mine's not right, it's better than it was, but still feels down on power and will falter if I try and boot the throttle suddenly, e.g. to shoot into a gap at a roundabout. In comparison, my old dearly departed 16 had plenty of grunt. Also the autochoke needs tinkering with when I get time because the choke doesn't back off quickly enough from a cold start, resulting in a thrum-thrum-thrum noise and a strong petrol smell if the window's open. Also it's difficult to restart after a very short run from cold.

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demag
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Post by demag »

Ah! You sound like you have similar problems to me, Mark. We've just been shopping in the Xm and when we got back I noticed a big soot stain on the drive under the exhaust pipe on the BX. From that I deduce its running rich! :lol:

One other point I was driving it a bit like a diesel and had to make a conscious decision to let it rev out between gears :? That comes from years of driving with the smelly stuff.

Blimey Jeremy I didn't think they were that quick! I actually got it up to 60 on our local bypass but I was given a good run by a ten ton lorry, yes seriously! :lol:

It does feel very woolly and I'm fairly convinced its rich now. I'll see if I get time to check it tomorrow.
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Post by mnde »

demag wrote:Ah! You sound like you have similar problems to me, Mark. We've just been shopping in the Xm and when we got back I noticed a big soot stain on the drive under the exhaust pipe on the BX. From that I deduce its running rich! :lol:

One other point I was driving it a bit like a diesel and had to make a conscious decision to let it rev out between gears :? That comes from years of driving with the smelly stuff.

Blimey Jeremy I didn't think they were that quick! I actually got it up to 60 on our local bypass but I was given a good run by a ten ton lorry, yes seriously! :lol:

It does feel very woolly and I'm fairly convinced its rich now. I'll see if I get time to check it tomorrow.
Yep, woolly is the word, or asthmatic, and mine has always had a telltale ring of soot round the end of the tailpipe. At one point last year I drove a BX14 St Tropez and was convinced it was more free-revving and had more power! :shock: A quick getaway in 2nd gear is impossible in my 16 which sometimes feels to be a dangerous thing! More than once I've had to change down to 1st while still moving at slow speed to get more oomph to slot into a gap, because in 2nd the car will bog down! The GSA is so much better in that regard and that's a 1300!

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Post by demag »

Funny you should say that Mark but I remember my 1.4 Leader being quite nippy. That was why I thought this one was slow.
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Post by Tim Leech »

My 16TRS does go very well and pulls strongly in all gears, I think maybe the carb needs setting up if it feels lethargic. With over 90bhp per tonne the 1.6 is alot faster than the equivilent Cavalier or Sierra which normally had 75bhp and weighted more.
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Post by DavidRutherford »

Roverman wrote:My 16TRS does go very well and pulls strongly in all gears, I think maybe the carb needs setting up if it feels lethargic. With over 90bhp per tonne the 1.6 is alot faster than the equivilent Cavalier or Sierra which normally had 75bhp and weighted more.
Sierra? Yes. Cavalier? No. The Cav 8V ohc engine was something like 90-95hp (depending on tune level) and way way better than anything Ford had to offer.

Anyway...

For a petrol engine to be running so rich that the performance suffers, you'd be getting about 15mpg. What sort of economy are you getting at the moment? (or is it to soon to tell?)

First thing I'd check is that the ignition timing is correct and that the advance is working properly.
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demag
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Post by demag »

Sorry for the delay I've been waiting for the weather and it came today at long last!

Today before I did anything, I opened the bonnet and removed the plastic carb cover and also the air hose from the air filter. The choke flap was fully closed so I gently prodded it with a screwdriver to make sure it wasn't jammed. It wasn't.

Next I took the plastic cover off the choke mechanism and balanced it at the back of the carb. I've seen some complicated choke mechanisms in my time but this takes the biscuit, I just couldn't see how it worked!

Next I started the engine without any throttle. It started second go. I let it tickover and noticed the revs were on the low side but after a few minutes they started to pick up to just over 1000 revs, still slow but sounded better. I monitored the choke flap and eventually it opened right up and the revs settled to normal tickover around 800 revs or so.

So now I'm fairly confident the choke is going through the right motions but still needs slight adjustment somewhere to pick the start revs up.

I stopped the engine and opened the linkage fully to check secondary throttle operation which was ok. I've taken some pics to show a loose wire and an unconnected connector which is directly at the back of the carb and is arrowed in the picture. Sorry I'm not very good with "paint" :oops:
I assume these two should be connected but I don't know their purpose.
In the third picture I took a shot of the dizzy and noticed two black marks on the flanges which I would have thought should be lined up.

Image

Image

Image
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Post by demag »

This is looking better now. :D After verifying the carb didn't seem too bad and noticing the marks out of line on the dizzy I've just been out and lined the marks up. David you were spot on with your diagnosis! :D I started the engine and immediately noticed it had a bit of "kick" when it fired. Revs went up to about 2000 on choke and after a few minutes settled to about 1800 then dropped to about 1500. As the temperature rose the revs eventually dropped to normal tickover and blipping the throttle produced a sharp crisp pick up. I didn't take it for a run but will report back when I do.

As I said in another post I don't think this car's been looked after for a while but now it's starting and sounding a lot better I'm feeling a lot more hopeful for the future.
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Post by Kitch »

I think there might be some ground in this, both the 16's I had felt sluggish. One had done 190k, the other 90k. Although the manual was good one fuel, while the auto was a joke.

Never driven an SPFI model though. I'd overhaul the carb first.
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Post by Tim Leech »

demag wrote:This is looking better now. :D After verifying the carb didn't seem too bad and noticing the marks out of line on the dizzy I've just been out and lined the marks up. David you were spot on with your diagnosis! :D I started the engine and immediately noticed it had a bit of "kick" when it fired. Revs went up to about 2000 on choke and after a few minutes settled to about 1800 then dropped to about 1500. As the temperature rose the revs eventually dropped to normal tickover and blipping the throttle produced a sharp crisp pick up. I didn't take it for a run but will report back when I do.

As I said in another post I don't think this car's been looked after for a while but now it's starting and sounding a lot better I'm feeling a lot more hopeful for the future.
I must try that on mine as its still a bit of a pig to start when its warm.
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