The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hello all.

I bought the above car 5 years ago, it had already been standing in a garage for 15 years, it had been thoroughly wax-oiled and is surprisingly virtually rust free other than a small 2 pound coin sized hole under the fuel tank. Before I got carried away financially I thought I would see if the engine was seized, I turned the crank by hand and it moved freely, I put my jump pack on the battery, it wouldn't start obviously which I traced to the knackered fuel pump, I bought a new one fitted it and ran a short pipe into a petrol can and it started straight away and sounded great however it leaked fuel out the carbs like no tomorrow. I bought a full rebuild kit which my friend fitted as he has worked on strombergs many times which are ready to go back on but before that and reassembling all the other parts removed I have a couple of questions if someone could help, there is what looks like a shaped rubber washer fitted under the lower thermostat housing, the one on mine is perished badly so I can't tell if it was simply just an O-ring, I have looked in various sections of Rimmer Bros parts lists but couldn't track it down so what is it the proper name for it so I can order another one? Also before I fit the inlet manifold etc back on is there an easy way to check the water pump is working?

Any other tips and advice would be appreciated or failing that feel free to tell me how irresponsible I was starting an engine that has been standing 20 years without first doing XYZ.....

Might be an idea to look at the oil in the sump?

If yours is an early car with Strombergs I suspect you have a rubber covered tube with flared ends between the manifold and water pump cover.
This may well have been replaced with a later steel or alloy tube with 2 O rings. These are a readilly available size from plumbing shops but
you can also get them from Moss, Winns, Robsport or Fitchetts.

You will almost certainly need to repair the water pump. There is a lot on this subject in other threads. Have a look.

It makes sense to do it before you refit the manifold, which needs to come off to repair the water pump.

Jonners

This is what I would do if starting an engine of unkown condition (but that's just ME, others will have their own views and ideas):

Oil:
I would dump out any oil in it, and replace with 4.5 litres of new cheap oil, a can of engine flush and put in around 10cc of diesel or light penetrating oil into each cylinder via the spark-plug hole. Also take off the cam cover and pour oil over the cam and followers. Disconnect the coil so you have no stray sparks. Then turn the engine over with the spark plugs out for 2mins, then rest for 3mins and then repeating maybe 5 times. ( the resting is to allow the starter motor too cool off a bit in between turning). Then I would dump that oil, replace the filter and add new oil to the correct level.

Cooling:
Dump any coolant, flush the rad and engine with a hose pipe. Refill correctly via the thermostat housing with correct coolant.

Fuel:
Drain any fuel and dispose of it responsibly.
Replace all the fuel lines, metal and rubber from the tank to the carbs.
Fit an inline fuel filter prior to the entry of the fuel pump.
Wash out the carb float chambers and make sure the floats are not sticking. Fill the float chambers with fresh fuel.

Then I would try and start the engine.

Then go hunting for fuel, oil and coolant leaks. Check the fan belt condition and tension. Replace all the ignition system consumables - plugs, points, distrib cap, plug leads, rotor arm where necessary just to get it running.

Karlos wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:20 pm This is what I would do if starting an engine of unkown condition (but that's just ME, others will have their own views and ideas):

Oil:
I would dump out any oil in it, and replace with 4.5 litres of new cheap oil, a can of engine flush and put in around 10cc of diesel or light penetrating oil into each cylinder via the spark-plug hole. Also take off the cam cover and pour oil over the cam and followers. Disconnect the coil so you have no stray sparks. Then turn the engine over with the spark plugs out for 2mins, then rest for 3mins and then repeating maybe 5 times. ( the resting is to allow the starter motor too cool off a bit in between turning). Then I would dump that oil, replace the filter and add new oil to the correct level.

Cooling:
Dump any coolant, flush the rad and engine with a hose pipe. Refill correctly via the thermostat housing with correct coolant.

Fuel:
Drain any fuel and dispose of it responsibly.
Replace all the fuel lines, metal and rubber from the tank to the carbs.
Fit an inline fuel filter prior to the entry of the fuel pump.
Wash out the carb float chambers and make sure the floats are not sticking. Fill the float chambers with fresh fuel.

Then I would try and start the engine.

Then go hunting for fuel, oil and coolant leaks. Check the fan belt condition and tension. Replace all the ignition system consumables - plugs, points, distrib cap, plug leads, rotor arm where necessary just to get it running.

Isn't the first thing you should do with an unknown engine is crank it over by hand? To make sure that the the timing is OK and you're not going to smash any valves.

Yeah check the valve timing too, along with a compression test if it a tally does turn by hand. There's no point trying to start it if it's already knackered. I'm sure there's other stuff worth checking to.

As soon as you have it running get in and go for a hard fast drive.

Thanks for the advice all. As I said in my OP I did turn the crank by hand and it turned freely so the rest of the story is there too as to getting it running. Now I know it is a sweet runner I will be changing oil/filter and all the other consumables. I have a new full coolant hose kit to go on and want to investigate the water pump condition first, all I am short of now is time to get on with it sadly but I will pop back and post the results when it's up and running and fire in a few pics too