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Triumph TR6 - Carb questions

As a new TR6 owner, I have warned that I have a lot of stupid questions.
#1. The car was worked on by a british mechanic with whom I wasn't all that pleased. He did some work on the carbs. The exhaust smells too "rich" to me. It seems to be using a lot of fuel. It runs very cool and the oil pressure is real high. But, until it gets really warmed up, it sputters sometimes in first gear at the lower end. I suspect, but am too dumb to know, that the mixture is too rich and that the carbs aren't synchronized right. Although it has a strong exhaust smell, it doesn't seem to smoke visibly at idle in my garage, but I did have some exhaust smoke at a stop light yesterday. Does anyone have a guess on the diagnosis or how I should proceed?
#2I think I'll post a new question, this one was long enough.
JohnB

Did you consider any of the responses to "Exhaust Questions"? Have you bought a Haynes manual yet? How about a Unisyn or equivalent for balancing carbs, or the special mixture adjusting tool?
Brent B

Hi John,

A couple quick checks on whether your TR is running too rich is to check to color of the exhaust pipes and the spark plugs. If you're running rich the exhaust pipes will be black and oily, but if you're "just right" it will be a chocolatey brown. For the plug check, a light brown is good, a black/gunky is rich, and white is lean.

The cars are pretty easy to work on. This BBS is a great resource, but it really helps if you have a good manual. I have the TR workshop manual, and have borrowed my friends Haynes. The Bentley manual is also supposed to be good too (this may be the reference of choice), but I have been spending my car funds on funner things.

Ignatius
Ignatius

JohnB,

The only stupid question around is “the one not asked “!
Erik
PS: if I fail on my tech experience I can always turn to philosophy :)
E. Creyghton

Plugs are definitely black, gunky. I think I have a valve problem! Maybe I can lean the mixture up a bit and see, but it doesn't look good right now.
JohnB

John,
I may be barking up the wrong tree, but what plugs are you running? Too cold a plug can also cause problems....
Rod
Rod Nichols

This thread was discussed between 01/09/2003 and 07/09/2003

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