The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and to triumphs. I recently purchased a 1977 1500 Triumph Dolomite.
I did all (what I thought) obvious bits to take the car for an MOT, well....... Less than a mile down the road the clutch seemed to stop working and my foot went to the floor, then both my back wheel drums started smoking, I managed to get the car home.
After a better look, I checked my clutch fluid, it was still full, but black.
I noticed spray like marks on the underside of the bonnet so I took the oil cap off, and noticed there seemed to be a milky white substance mixing with the oil, I also had a look under the car and there's loads of oil on the center of the rear axle. The car starts fine and the brakes work. I'm not really sure where to go from here or where to start, I've read a lot of conflicting advice about slave cylinders, condensation, head gaskets etc, was hoping someone here may have a better idea of what's going on.
Thanks, Gloria.

Welcome.
Where are you?

i'm in Basingstoke Hampshire

Not too far from me.

You will have a hydraulic problem with the clutch. Have a look and see if the master or slave is leaking.

If there is excess mayo in the engine the headgasket might have gone so perhaps get a compression test done and do the obvious checks I.e. is the coolant oily, is there a stream of bubbles in the coolant tank when running, is it using excess water?

As for the rear brakes, either they have been adjusted way too tight (whoever did it would have struggled like hell to get the drums on) or the rear flexi hose is knackered making itself a oneway valve.

hi thanks for your reply
the clutch seems to be working again ?
the clutch fluid is still full master cylinder looks dry but i cant see or get to the slave to check.not sure how to proceed with this
as for the oil the dip stick is just oil and the clear water bottle is clean just pure white muck on oil cap
no white smoke from exhaust but lots of rusty smelling water spitting from it
i have new brake shoes for the rear im hoping that will sort that out

You might have an intermittent non return valve in the clutch master. I'd fit a rebuild kit to it to be safe.

If your car has only done short journeys recently that would explain the mucky oil cap so don't worry. Just keep checking for other symptoms incase it is something more serious.

Welcome to the forum.

I second what's been said about the clutch and the engine oil. A full service would be a good idea before taking the car in for the MoT. It will help with the emissions.

_________________
Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
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"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: Do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle

Local Club Rep Carl Shakespeare lives in Basingstoke, they have a monthly meet at the Crooked Billet on the A30 in Hook, first Tuesday of the month; he'd be a good contact for you. I'll send you a contact number by PM...

can the white sludge in the rocker not also be caused by no thermostat or a thrmostat sticking open? as the engine never warms up enough to dry out the condensation.

Malc

hi all, quick update. I got repair kits for the slave and master cylinder, there was a lot of muck in them, its all cleaned out and working well now. The breaks just needed loosening off and are now working fine, I also did an oil and oil filter change while waiting for air filters. I took it for an mot and it failed on the emissions C.O max is 4.50% mine was 9.40% and the H.C max 1200 ppm mine was 2231 ppm, it also failed on the light switch he said hes not happy that he could not get light to work every time. I turned them on and they work but they're a bit temperamental, however once they're on, they stay on. I rang one garage about sorting out the carbs he said he didn't even know what a triumph dolomite was..... another one said he's not sure if he can help as hes never done it before but willing to have a go, needless to say the car is still sat on my drive while I find someone, just wanted to say thanks for all the advice, its really helped.

Might be an idea to put on where you live as most likely, they'll be a member who'll be able to help in your area.....

Yeah, I stupidly forgot to put that in the original post, but I did add that I'm in Basingstoke Hampshire further up in the thread. .

I do wear glasses and am clearly not that bright!

Apologies all for being retarded!

How embarrassing!

Did the tester test the emissions at idle, or did he, as he is permitted to with twin SU carbs, test it again at circa 2000 RPM?

What you need is a Classic car place that understand the S.U. carb set-up. It is very much like the M.G. Midget. There must be others nearer to you but as an example there is Beech Hill garage , Beech Hill south of Reading that are well versed in M.G's. And the Dolomites have very similar S.U. set-ups. And I would recommend them. Tell them that you need it set up for an MOT test.
With High CO and High HC there may be something else wrong but typically adjusting the S.U. jet adjuster nuts up by about 4 flats should be quite close to achieving a pass on CO. From my experience if there is high H.C. as well that usually means burning oil or a mis-fire on one or more cylinders. It may clear up when the CO is closer to 4.5% though.
I find a Colourtune and Gunson air flow meter quite useful for setting these up.
Tony.