printjunky
12-03-2010, 12:06 PM
I know this has been addressed plenty before, and I went back to re-read some of the related posts ... But because "oil" and "gas" were removed from my search terms (words too short - does anyone else thinks this is kooky? Should just filter common "the" and "a" type words) ... anyway, I could not get good search results.
We're talking about: 74 SIII, 2.25 petrol, no mods, no overdrive, "fixed" Zenith carb, on 16s (7.5x16s or something).
I appear to be getting unexpectedly bad gas mileage (in the 7mpg range). My speedo's not hooked up, but I did a little fill/refill/google mapped about 30 miles of driving to get mileage, and did the calculation (about 4.4 gallons for that 30 miles (which was about 50/50 highway/town)). I understand there might be some flaws in google's mileage calculation and one fill/refill is probably not an adequate sample, but it still seems pretty low. (confirming a suspicion) It is probably relevant that I am getting carbon-fouled plugs after 10 or so hours of driving - and I'm still messing with the idle/idle mix adjustments, but if it's not running rich at idle, it means it's probably a non-adjustable jet problem or a more general vacuum or internal carb problem. I will be putting a vacuum gauge on it this weekend, see if I can find out more. But what does everyone get from their stock 2.25?
(Again, I know this is also a repetitive question - but stupid search fail ....)
And does anyone think something like 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil left wherever I stop is excessive? I haven't had the thing on the road for even a few weeks, so I haven't done any kind of long-range calculation, but if I had to guess I'd say half a quart a week. My previous SIII (a 73 2.25 I owned in the late 80s/early 90s) barely leaked anything (until the rear main blew on the way from Owl's Head back to Orono), so that's not any kind of normal frame of reference! A non-leaking Rover? Freaky.
We're talking about: 74 SIII, 2.25 petrol, no mods, no overdrive, "fixed" Zenith carb, on 16s (7.5x16s or something).
I appear to be getting unexpectedly bad gas mileage (in the 7mpg range). My speedo's not hooked up, but I did a little fill/refill/google mapped about 30 miles of driving to get mileage, and did the calculation (about 4.4 gallons for that 30 miles (which was about 50/50 highway/town)). I understand there might be some flaws in google's mileage calculation and one fill/refill is probably not an adequate sample, but it still seems pretty low. (confirming a suspicion) It is probably relevant that I am getting carbon-fouled plugs after 10 or so hours of driving - and I'm still messing with the idle/idle mix adjustments, but if it's not running rich at idle, it means it's probably a non-adjustable jet problem or a more general vacuum or internal carb problem. I will be putting a vacuum gauge on it this weekend, see if I can find out more. But what does everyone get from their stock 2.25?
(Again, I know this is also a repetitive question - but stupid search fail ....)
And does anyone think something like 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil left wherever I stop is excessive? I haven't had the thing on the road for even a few weeks, so I haven't done any kind of long-range calculation, but if I had to guess I'd say half a quart a week. My previous SIII (a 73 2.25 I owned in the late 80s/early 90s) barely leaked anything (until the rear main blew on the way from Owl's Head back to Orono), so that's not any kind of normal frame of reference! A non-leaking Rover? Freaky.