1000 Kliks and still running

[AustHaflinger]

I put my Haflinger on the road in late April and yesterday I passed the 1,000km mark - in fact 1087km. Most trips have been around 20-30km but the longest was 150km up in the mountain (where the front wheel fell off on the way home ).

All the issues I have posted about in various threads still exist but do not seem to be getting worse and are not stoppers at the moment.

Issues include:

Poor fuel consumption - 18mpg
Low compression on one cylinder,
Tuning issues - originally rich, now popping from the exhaust at idle and hesitation at times (all after a tune-up)
Rust prevention
Clutch release bearing noise
Bearing noise in the drivetrain
Oil leaks from the swing arm fulcrums
Brakes momentarily staying on when applied.
Drafty cabin with doors on.
4th gear too low, resulting to have to hang onto 5th too long when going up steep hills.

Despite these minor issues she starts first go with a few hiccups when cold and will happily cruise on the freeway at 70kph and just over 4000rpm so not pushing it. I do not have a governor but the engine never gets to the redline when in 4th or 5th.

Hmmmm - it is a pleasure to drive? - to be honest no . The characteristics that make it good offroad are not so good on road with the track too narrow and c of g too high and it darts all over the place.

However it does have a certain charm and the kids at Maccas where I get my coffee know it well.

It will be good when the bearing noise issues really starts to show itself as it will mean pulling things apart and dropping the engine when I will then find the source of the low compression.

Anyway the first major 1000km milestone has been passed without major pain.

Garry

[heinkeljb]

Gary,

The brakes staying on after you release the pedal is usually down to flexible hose internal de-lamination. Problem is knowing which one! I gave up and just replaced all 5!
Rear ones can be done if you remove the spring with a couple of spring compressors. The original Haflinger ones use a turn buckle in the middle of the compressor which would make them easier to use than the sort which has the NUT / SOCKET at the end of the threaded bar. A long 1/2inch extension with a "wobble" end on it allows you to use a ratchet from under the brake hub.

The problem of low compression / poor fuel consumption / lean mixture are all interconnected and I don't think will resolve until you have fixed the low compression (valves, rings, head gasket?). Then it probably would make sense to rebuild the Carb. replacing jets and things. If you think about it, the grand canyon was made by running water, so moving fuel through metal holes will have the same problem after a while, the metal will wear unevenly and so allow a change in flow rates.

Oil leaks you know will require new parts to solve - at the very least "more mastic" Pity there is some much to have to undo in order to replace some "o"rings.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Hi John - normally I would agree with you on the brakes however all the rubber hoses in the brake system were replaced last September with brand new ones - so have only covered just over 1100km. I suspect I have a bit of crud (or corrosion) in a wheel cylinder that is causing it to stick a little.

I agree completely on the tuning - I need to sort the low compression then chase up the rest. My carby is new but of a different type and has no leaks and has the right jets etc. However speaking with Leo Castiglione in the US who builds Haffie engine he cannot see why the the original twin throat 32, Zenith would not work and be better suited. I have a worldwide search programmed into ebay but to date only Porsche and VW version have come up and according to Leo they have different choke and jet arrangements.

Fortunate the engine, gearbox and diffs themselves do not leak oil it is just that ridiculous swing arm fulcrum arrangement where lubrication is supplied from the differentials that leak. Why the bearings/bushes are not just grease lubricated is a bit beyond me.

Cheers

Garry

[heinkeljb]

Just a thought, how free is the master cylinder / pin / pedal system? Mine was virtually rock solid after the previous owner had obviously stood on the brake so hard they pushed the master cylinder piston down on to a section where it had never been before and it stuck there!
I had to take the old master cylinder out and then pour lots of releasing fluid and oil on the brake pedal pivot before it moved nicely again.
If you take a look at the thread relating to my Carb rebuild, Steve linked a very good document on rebuilding and setting up the Zenith - it actually the Porsche Carb being talked about and the pictures show the differences.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Yes - I agree the culprit could be the master cylinder - I might jack the car up and test whether all brakes are sticking or just one. At the moment I am not inclined to go searching for issue and would rather wait for things to really become obvious - there is a risk in this approach that more damage could be done though but does save pulling things apart unnecessarily.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of that rebuild link - looks pretty good. Leo has indicated I need a Haflinger Zenith or maybe a VW one - however the Porsche one as is, os not suitable for a Haflinger as it has a flat spot at low revs on the Haflinger, but it can be modified if necessary.

I have a Jag E-type that needs rebuilding and was supposed to happen this year but the Haffie took over. As it will at least run in a usable fashion the Haffie will stay as is for now and I will start pulling the running gear out of the e-type in preparation to get the body work done.

Garry