Keeping my car

I thought about selling my TR250, once.  Actually I was going to trade it for a Stag.  I figured I could never replace it so I wiped those thoughts out of my head.

Even after my motor went south, 2x.  I've had it since 1980. 

Ls is cool but a 540 swap might be pretty easy and it’s gonna have better resale value and a more german vibe. 

spandak said:

In reply to dculberson (Forum Supporter) :

These are wise words. I've wasted much energy and many hours chasing solutions to problems that didn't exist. 
One step at a time. 
Pressure test the cooling system. Pretty sure you can rent one of those. That should get you to the problem quickly. Also an oil change

I had it at 21ish. It dropped maybe 1 psi over 8 minutes. How does that sound?

Using this loaner kit:

Cylinders are next. 

Edit: I pumped it up to exactly 21 again and after 15 mins I’m down maybe half a psi. It’s gonna be a bit on the other test. 

Heres what the dipstick looks like

I can't imagine keeping a car forever. 

I bought this house les than 3 years ago, I'm already on my 4th car........and I'm already looking at what I'll be adding to the stable at the end of next year.

In reply to P3PPY :

You'll also need a farm, not too far from a rail line, a barn, and a fire pit.

Oil and pressure seem good to me. Seems like the PCV system is worth digging into.

Yeah, I'd be looking at CCV components. Also, That looks to me like accumulation from lots of short-ish drives where the engine isn't staying at full operating temp for long enough to evaporate and evacuate all the condensed moisture that winds up inside the engine due to humidity and as a combustion by-product.

Dipstick looks OK to me. Have you drained the oil? That will tell a better tale.

Part of having a "forever" car is being willing to spend whatever it takes, to fix whatever it needs along the way. Even if it doesn't make economic sense to others.

Just seeing this now. 98% it's the CCV. The system is poorly designed to say the least. If you want to test it get or make a slack-tube manometer and rig it to a spare oil filler cap. Spec for this thing is 4in H2O, which is virtually nothing. Once it starts clogging (usually at the valve cover connection and the stupid drain sleeve in the guide tube) it only gets worse.

Get the valve, all four hoses, new O-rings for the distribution piece, and - critically - replace the dipstick guide tube with the updated version and a new O-ring there too. Then do the 02Pilot Mod (I developed it, but I didn't name it) - a single new hose from the small spare port on the back of the intake manifold to the unused nipple on the CCV (somebody made a video if you want a visual, but it's pretty straightforward). This will radically increase crankcase vacuum, doing a much better job of evacuating the vapors, and may also help to reduce oil consumption (another fun M54 trait).

Note that the crankcase needs to be fully sealed for this to work properly, so if you've got a leaking OFHG or VCG, now's the time to do them. Let me know if you have questions.

02Pilot said:

Just seeing this now. 98% it's the CCV. The system is poorly designed to say the least. If you want to test it get or make a slack-tube manometer and rig it to a spare oil filler cap. Spec for this thing is 4in H2O, which is virtually nothing. Once it starts clogging (usually at the valve cover connection and the stupid drain sleeve in the guide tube) it only gets worse.

Get the valve, all four hoses, new O-rings for the distribution piece, and - critically - replace the dipstick guide tube with the updated version and a new O-ring there too. Then do the 02Pilot Mod (I developed it, but I didn't name it) - a single new hose from the small spare port on the back of the intake manifold to the unused nipple on the CCV (somebody made a video if you want a visual, but it's pretty straightforward). This will radically increase crankcase vacuum, doing a much better job of evacuating the vapors, and may also help to reduce oil consumption (another fun M54 trait).

Note that the crankcase needs to be fully sealed for this to work properly, so if you've got a leaking OFHG or VCG, now's the time to do them. Let me know if you have questions.

Well, I did have that issue this winter with it misfiring until things thawed out. Not having a garage I didn't perform your upgrade yet but I guess now I got scared enough that I will

I have a lot of looking up to do since I only know about 1/3 of what you're talking about here - and I've even read the directions!! :)

Thanks, guys