The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

My old Dutton with the sprint engine and box has been very busy these past couple of very hot weeks. 2 in number 120 mile trips around Devon lanes did cause me some concerns. It seemed to suffer fuel evaporation in parking spots, causing the odd embarrassed moment cranking it up !. The temperature went pretty high at times, even with the kenlowe trying to help. Then dropping my old friend at Newton Abbott meant a very late run home to Plymouth down the A38. Here it ran to cool ! pulling 4000 rpm in overdrive forth for near on 30 miles the old engine behaved perfect. Running Asda finest two star with a bit of lead substitute added. Think the carbs need rebuild, the back axle has a bit of slap in it, but, it aint broke, so I aint fixing it..... yet.

Excellent.... I think a lot of us are having "temperature issues" right now!
I don't think the Sprint head needs lead additive though?

longboarder wrote: ↑Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:50 pm .............. Asda finest two star..................

No such thing as Asda finest when talking about their fuel. Try it on some decent juice from BP or Shell and see the difference.

Jod Clark wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:32 am

longboarder wrote: ↑Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:50 pm .............. Asda finest two star..................

No such thing as Asda finest when talking about their fuel. Try it on some decent juice from BP or Shell and see the difference.

I am doubtful of claims like that. It is like wine tasting, even professionals fail in blind tasting trials. Now if there is a blind study that shows supermarkets fuel is worse, fine, but if it is just best on subjective experience, I have my doubts..

Higher octane rated fuel is obviously needed for engines in a high state of tune, but for most road going engines any old petrol will do. I suspect the supermarket fuel comes from the same refineries as all other fuels. BP or Shell might put different additives in, but I think there is quite allot of woo around additives as well. Until I see a proper study showing they actually have any benefits.

Put it another way, I have never noticed any difference between any of the fuels I have used. Granted I have never owned a car with a high performance engine in a high state of tune, but for a normal road car any old fuel will do.

Fuel is fuel, it all has to adhere to british standards.

The only difference will be the ethanol blend and additives added.

Best to use a 98/99 octane 'super' unleaded, then you can have the timing set more advanced without fear of pinking and you should get a noticeable performance increase.

cleverusername wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:44 am

Jod Clark wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:32 am

longboarder wrote: ↑Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:50 pm .............. Asda finest two star..................

No such thing as Asda finest when talking about their fuel. Try it on some decent juice from BP or Shell and see the difference.

I am doubtful of claims like that. It is like wine tasting, even professionals fail in blind tasting trials. Now if there is a blind study that shows supermarkets fuel is worse, fine, but if it is just best on subjective experience, I have my doubts..

Higher octane rated fuel is obviously needed for engines in a high state of tune, but for most road going engines any old petrol will do. I suspect the supermarket fuel comes from the same refineries as all other fuels. BP or Shell might put different additives in, but I think there is quite allot of woo around additives as well. Until I see a proper study showing they actually have any benefits.

Put it another way, I have never noticed any difference between any of the fuels I have used. Granted I have never owned a car with a high performance engine in a high state of tune, but for a normal road car any old fuel will do.

My main catchment area for vehicles I maintain includes two Asda superstores, one near my home, the other near my place of work. Numerous times, and usually in clusters of several cars at a time over the space of a few days, I will receive calls from owners who are experiencing odd losses of power, misfires or rough-running on their vehicles, almost exclusively petrol-fueled. I always ask first where they last refueled their vehicles and they have ALWAYS refueled at one of these two supermarkets. Once I have found this I ask them to fill-up with branded fuel and - with only one exception where a coil pack was failing - filling up with BP, Shell , Esso or Texaco has fixed the problem and additionally it is usually repaorted that the car is now 'running better than it ever has'.

I used to firmly believe that 'fuel is fuel is fuel' and it all comes out of the same pot until my old Peugeot 306 (XUD9 non-turbo diesel) started to run less well, knock more and occasionally cut-out when cold. with 150,000 miles or so on the clock I put this down to perhaps needing the injectors overhauled. Then I tried some BP diesel in the tank and almost instantly the problems went away, much quieter and smoother running, less smoke, better acceleration and no more cutting-out. Oh, and an improvement of at least 100 miles from a tank of diesel, yielding approximately 700 miles per tank on BP as opposed to approximately 600 miles on supermarket diesel. The engine has no electronics to adjust or tune itself so it can't be that. Also worth noting that if I lend my car to someone and they put some supermarket fuel in the tank, I can tell that they have. At 50MPG and branded fuel at 3p / litre more at the pump that makes the branded fuel cheaper than the supermarket fuel.

Sadly I have ten years of fuel data to back up this claim, with graphs, that shows the step-change when the swap to branded fuel was made. You or your vehicle may see different results of course.

I used to have a battered old Astra diesel, and tried supermarket and branded fuel, I couldn't tell the difference and received the same mpg.
It was scrapped due to an engine management fault, all the electronics were replaced so I guess there really was an intermittent engine problem, sticking valves etc?????? Due to supermarket fuel?

However.....
My Dolly only ever receives Shell super unleaded, and only from a very large filling station in the hope they have regular turnover. For all the miles it does it would be stupid not to. I'm not leaving a couple of quid to chance after all the care I've taken and cash I've spent.

I've already suffered with supermarket fuels and never again.

Ran my previous 730d on supermarket diesel for over 2 years, and never realised the noise and power loss.

The tank was nearly empty and had to fill up at BP Milton Keynes, the moment the ign was switched on, there was a quietness about it, throttle response was like when i bought the car, and this was experienced whilst still on the forecourt.

No going back, and Sprint only gets Esso premium U/L, fed up changing hoses every 6 months, well I won't know until another 6 months pass by.

Every thing tickety boo. Sprint engine still gruff but pulling well. Got very hot yesterday in traffic, but survived PHEW! However, the clutch has started to slip under heavy load. So, recommends for a complete new Sprint clutch please.

is this the right kit?
Diameter: 215mm
Number of Splines: 10
Spline Inner Diameter: 20.6mm
Spline Outer Diameter: 25.6mm