16 replies to this topic

[mikey405]

Hi Everyone.

I've just had a reconditioned engine and HS2 carb fitted to my parents' 1968 (MK3) Wolseley Hornet. The car is going really well but I've noticed that if you leave the car idling for more than about 10 seconds, it gets smokier and smokier. If you then rev the car, you get a big cloud of grey smoke and it all clears again - until the next time. The smoke doesn't look or smell oily so I'm guessing it may be a carb problem. Could the carb be flooding? Or is there something else I should look at first. Is it common for brand new carbs to have these teething problems?

I also have a bit of a problem with the car "lurching" at low throttle openings bit I'll post up another thread for that.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

[mikey405]

Hi Everyone (again).

I hope you will indulge me with another post about my parents' 1968 MK3 Wolseley Hornet. As you can tell I'm hardly even what you might call a fair-weather mechanic so please forgive me if I ask what might otherwise be called a stupid question...

Their beloved Hornet has recently had a reconditioned engine which has transformed the car from its status as a noisy, rattly and oily old banger to something which is almost enjoyable to drive. I say "almost" although it is huge fun to go zooming about in.

The problem I have is that in traffic jams or slow-moving traffic, trying to slow down or speed up at almost zero throttle opening causes the engine to lurch back and forth and is really quite unpleasant. The "remote" type gear selector also moves up and down at the same time and you can see the gear lever moving a fair bit.

The engine mountings and stabiliser bushes have all been replaced but the bush at the back of the remote control gear selector looks a little bit the worse for wear - Would this worn bush have such a big effect if it were a bit worn? They're cheap enough to buy so I'll get one anyway but I wondered whether there is anything else I could check.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

[Spider]

Hi Mike,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I hope you don't mind, I've merged your two topics together here as they appear to be interrelated.

[Carlos W]

Welcome to TMF.

I think the 2 problems are linked.

A proper set up is likely to be needed for optimum performance

[nicklouse]

I would also have a look at the stabilizer mounts and bush condition as the remote housing really does not move. and generally as long as that bush is in one piece it works very well.  as mentioned get the carb set up. but first do some checks on things like the float and the float chamber needle valve and seat. 

[Retroman]

Welcome to TMF

 

As above it needs setting up properly, both timing /ignition and the carb mixture.

 

I would suggest taking it back to whoever put the engine in...

[Homersimpson]

I would suggest that your issue with running might be the float chamber level is not set correctly or the float has failed and fuel is inside it causing it to sink a bit, if this is the case then fuel floods out of the jet into the carb (all internal so you can't see it), when moving you don't notice but when you stop and idle the car starts to bog down due to the massive overfueling.

 

To check this you need to remove the top off the float chamber (three screws) and then check the float to make sure its empty and then reset the float level, I can't recall how you do this on a mini or what you set it to but if you look in a Haynes manual it will tell you or i'm sure someone will be along soon who knows.

[62S]

Sounds as though you need to replace the rear remote mounting as a matter of urgency. The gearlever on a car with a remote gearchange should move very little when lifting off or accelerating.

[mikey405]

Many thanks for the replies everyone. I'll replace that rear mounting and check the float level. The carb was brand new from Minisport but I wonder whether it hasn't been set correctly or whether it was something I should have done before fitting. I'll reply back in a few weeks when I'm back down in Devon with the car.

Thanks all for the advice.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

[Bat]

Hi,

Another thing to check is that the correct needle is fitted in the carb and then set the mixture using the piston lifting pin.

If you've not got a Haynes manual grab an old mini one from eBay it should have all the info in there, that's where I learnt it from many years ago.

Cheers 

[mikey405]

Hi everyone.

A bit of a status update on the Hornet.

The remote gear lever stabilizer bush provided a complete for the "Lurching" issue (thank you Nicklouse). Apparently the old bush fell apart when removed.

The smoking problem still persists although when I checked the mixture today it was extremely rich so tomorrow I'll get it set up with my colour-tune (or the time-honoured way with the lifting pin). I still have the HS2 carb from the old (wrong) engine but it's for a MK1 mini. I guess it will prove a point though. I may even try swapping over the float lid (complete with float) and see what happens. The old carb looks in pretty good condition and the needle looks fine (to my eyes anyway) with no obvious lips on it and all the other moving parts move smoothly and freely.

I'll report back my findings.

Thanks everyone.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

[mikey405]

*complete cure

[mikey405]

*and thank you to 62S too. (Sorry for the extra posts but I can't seem to find a way of editing my original one.) I guess I should check my text more carefully before posting next time. :-(

[mikey405]

Hi all.

Well, although the "lurching" has stopped, the constant cloud of smoke remains - sometimes! It's all a bit of a sorry story with too many variables and "intermittents" - and it's making my head hurt.

Regarding whether the car is burning oil or the mixture is just too rich - I think the answer may be "Both". I removed all the plugs, cleaned them up to within an inch of their life and put them back. After 5 minutes of running the engine (already warmed up), the plugs were black, sooty and wet with petrol - which should prove to me that the carb is either flooding or running massively rich. At idle though, I can set the jet so that "lifting the pin" causes the revs to rise slightly and then drop back - like it tells you in the manual, but revving the car again still causes huge amounts of smoke. I've ordered a new needle and spring In case either of them were incorrectly supplied with the carb.

Unfortunately plug #3 (as well as getting sooty and wet) is also getting oily! So I think, whatever other problems I may have, I have an oil issue on that cylinder.

One thing I wonder if people might be able to help me with is that on one of the tappet-covers on the back of the engine (the one nearest the fan) is a simple pipe which points downwards and vents to the atmosphere - Is this supposed to have something connected to it? All the pictures of Minis of this era seem to have an upward-facing pipe with an oil-trap and a hose (although I'm not sure what it is supposed to be connected to). The rocker cover also has a metal pipe coming out of it on the right hand side, but that is connected to the air-filter box with a short pipe. I wonder whether the chap who put the engine together has used some of the external bits from the very early 850 engine, or whether the downward-facing pipe to atmosphere is correct. (And if it is supposed to have an oil-trap and upward-facing pipe, is this supposed to be connected to anything?)

The last thing is - The car has a non-vented oil filler cap - a vented-cap doesn't really fit properly (it just rattles about) but the (unleaded) cylinder head and rocker-cover are off the old early 850 engine so I'm not sure if this is affecting things. Like I say - too many variables.

Many thanks everyone, and apologies for the possibly daft questions.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

 

PS. I carried out a compression test using a gauge I bought from eBay and following the instructions to the letter I get (from 1-4 respectively) - 120, 125, 120, 120. I guess this is okay? Number three (the oily one) doesn't seem to have different compression to the rest so possibly a dud oil-ring(?)

Edited by mikey405, 29 July 2018 - 08:51 PM.

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

Did you try substituting the float lid as you said you were going to?

 

Have you checked the needle is the correct one as Bat suggested?

 

Do you need to top the engine up with oil very often?

 

The compression pressures are consistent which is good but seem low, how did you perform the test?

 

The breather system you describe with the downward facing pipe on the tappet chest cover and the metal pipe on the rocker cover which has a hose connected to the air filter casing was used on early A-series engines, it doesn't require a vented oil filler cap to operate correctly.  Later A-series engines had the tappet chest cover with a cylindrical oil separator which had a rubber hose coming out the top that connected the oil separator to a 5/16" diameter tube on the carburettor.  This later type does require the vented oil filler cap to operate correctly.  I'm not sure when they changed from one system to the other - I would guess it was sometime in the sixties - someone on here'll know.