The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I took my car to have the engine looked at by Geoff Bloor in Nottingham.

He managed to set it up quite well but one of the things that he came up with was that there was play in the throttle spindles.
We got talking and he said that this wear was greater due to the lack of lead in petrol.

This got me thinking, we get our heads modified, if needed, to take unleaded but what about elsewhere? Should we use lead replacement anyway?

I'm going to replace the spindles (I hope that I don't need to do the bushes) and I wonder if it would be worth putting some thin grease on them.

Must admit i have never heard unleaded petrol causing throttle spindle wear before

That don't make sense to me. There is no petrol flowing through the spindle/body.

New spindles usually help a great deal. If the bodies are that worn it is easier to buy a decent set rather than try to get yours rebushed. Grease will get sucked out at some stage, but won't hurt.

Early carbs with sideways pulling return springs last about 40k miles before wear makes idel adjustment difficult.
The later type with concentric springs last well over 100k.


Jonners

I've got the spindles, is it worth soldering up the overrun valves?

Yes. And then chop the back bits off them too.

Or just buy plain discs and knife edge them.

Jonners

When I top up my carb dampers I normally drip some oil down on the carb spindles in the hope that this will help to lubricant the spindles and so reduce the wear. It can't do any harm so its worth doing.

When I top up my carb dampers I normally drip some oil down on the carb spindles

Good idea !

What is Knife edging Jon?

Filing the edge of the discs to a thin edge like a knife blade.

Jonners

Hi folks,I don't wish to appear to hijack this
thread but I to have problems with worn spindles,bushes and carbs in general on my 1500 hl.Should one be able to stall the engine by turning up the the two nuts on the jet's to the last, I did this and it still seems to be running rich and is rough on idle, about 800 revs,is the wear in spindles/bushes responsible for this,regards to all, Myles.

Check your float valves. Overflowing chambers is the biggest cause of rich running.
After that look at collapsed waxtstat pellets if you have waxstats.

Also check the choke linkage isnt causing the jet to stay down. Alos very common.

Try pushing up on the bottom of the jet. If it moves up the choke linkage is sticking.

Jonners

Hi Jonners,my carbs are non waxstat,the number on both floats is Fzx1258f, what does this denote to?.I am not very familiar with su's,the choke is disconnected and both sets of clamps are loose also,there is some play in the spindles.I will check float levels when I get a minute or three,I presume this means taking the lid off and a visual.Would centering the jet/needle help? thanks so much for your help.Regards, Myles.

Check the breather/overflow outlet on the top of the float bowls, if that is blocked the pressure will cause rich running.