Reliant Rialto

[plasticvandan]

Reliant carb advice for dummies.warm up engine.raise tickover to say 1000rpm,you can use the end of your index finger on the screw head to turn it as trying to get a screwdriver down there is awkward.unscrew big mixture screw,is down towards engine,til it runs lumpy,then screw back up till fastest even speed is reached,lower Rickover speed to the lowest you can go with lights on and clutch pedal down,and the engine will still tickover. Drink tea.

[groovylee]

glad to see you're getting there mate.  mine went last night   i had a bet with the buyer that it wouldn't make it the 130 miles to his house (half kidding, but i put a tenner on it lol)

 

he won.  i am actually pleased to have lost a bet

 

Lee

[oldcars]

Reliant carb advice for dummies.warm up engine.raise tickover to say 1000rpm,you can use the end of your index finger on the screw head to turn it as trying to get a screwdriver down there is awkward.unscrew big mixture screw,is down towards engine,til it runs lumpy,then screw back up till fastest even speed is reached,lower Rickover speed to the lowest you can go with lights on and clutch pedal down,and the engine will still tickover. Drink tea.

Thanks Dan, this worked a treat  Problem i had was i had set choke gap first with cable attached rather than setting that after i had done the above and then clamp up the cable.

[oldcars]

glad to see you're getting there mate.  mine went last night   i had a bet with the buyer that it wouldn't make it the 130 miles to his house (half kidding, but i put a tenner on it lol)

 

he won.  i am actually pleased to have lost a bet

 

Lee

Glad he made it, thought he would yours was a good well looked after car. 

[oldcars]

Well collected the car from my mates garage last night. Not running at all well. Made it to the fuel station and steam pouring out from the front. The idle is way high but i don't think its due to incorrect set up, think its something to do with the accelerator cable. I took the airbox off and moved the spring on the carb and this helped a little. Got it home and dumped it in the drive where it can stay for a while. Can't be bothered with it to be fair.

 

The bike will do for the next few weeks.

 

Wish i had not even started this job, At least with omghgf it ran and i had ££ in my pocket   

[groovylee]

don't give up mate, chin up and all that.  most likely it will all be silly stuff that can be fixed.  maybe an airlock somewhere?

[oldcars]

Mate helped me out big time on this. We checked and double checked everything and decided it had to the the return spring on the carb. We made the spring stronger and bingo it ran  Not great but it ran. Took it for a longer run and made some fuel adjustments, still more to make i think as its a little lean.

 

On to this morning. Checked coolant level and what do i fine. Oily sludge on the cap again. Gutted. Spent £££ and hours on this. Could it be residual oil in the system from the head going before that's come up again after the run?

[plasticvandan]

almost certainly.after the headgasket went on my Fox,it took several hours blasting up and down a dual carriageway to burn off all the damp that was still in the engine.

unless you have repeatedly flushed and drained the system then it will still be full of crap.so long as the oil filler cap isnt full of mayo dont worry.

[oldcars]

                thanks Dan you have made my day. Should i just keep an eye on it then and will it stop and some point, then change coolant?

[Eddie Honda]

Oily sludge on the cap again. 

 

As Dan says don't shit yourself over a bit of condensation-type mayo. 

[oldcars]

Its on the radiator cap, so as dan says i will keep eye on it and fingers crossed it burns off.

[Eddie Honda]

Rad cap? We're talking oil filler cap.

 

Okay if it doesn't get worse. Probably remnants of stuff that wasn't cleaned out.

[plasticvandan]

oil in the water isnt much of an issue (tho i once had a kitten that literally filled the rad with neat,thick black oil!!)

if anything it will help lube the pump.water in the oil is the problem child.i would say its just residual gunk,and nothing to worry about.

[oldcars]

Rad cap? We're talking oil filler cap.

 

Okay if it doesn't get worse. Probably remnants of stuff that wasn't cleaned out.

Yes rad cap. I so hope its the remains of the previous oil leak. Will keep eye on it.

[oldcars]

Its in for its mot today 

[oldcars]

New front tyre and a pass 

 

Advisory for play in front wheel bearing too, so need to have a look at that. Happy all in all.

[oldcars]

Checked the levels yesterday, been meaning to do it since the mot but with the weather this has not been possible. Coolant had dropped 

 

Nor sure of the cause, can see any drops on the ground like the last time. Popping to mates next week to check the tappets so will check over all hoses again. Hope its something simple.

[Eddie Honda]

Coolant should be an inch from the top neck anyway.

[oldcars]

Normally is but it had dropped below the fins this time. No header tank on mine as early Rialto.

[plasticvandan]

If you havent checked it then its probably fine,should be checked weekly at a minimum.

[oldcars]

Thanks Dan, i normally do just with the weather. Got a look yesterday, think the bottom hose was letting a little out so nipped it up a little. Checking tappets tomorrow in mates garage so will get a better check over in the dry out of the wind.

[oldcars]

Popped to my mates last night, Checked tappets and all still ok. Fixed a small oil leak, must have nicked the cork gasket on the rocker cover when i put it on in October. Coolant seems fine, looks like bottom hose had a small leak so thats fixed. Replaced 2 spark plugs as i broke two  when i was building the head last time. The ones that came out looked good so mixture must be ok.

Have a pic of a Reliant engine through the square window/inspection hatch.

[plasticvandan]

Theres one rather dangerous thing i can see.The carb flame trap is mounted on the dizzy,not the carb.Generally that thing is full of fuel,so you might want to move it back to the carb.

[oldcars]

I have a flame trap on the carb, the plastic hose is not on in this pic i took it off to do the plugs, not sure what your meaning Dan.

[plasticvandan]

apologies,zoomed in and for some reason you have the condensor mounted externally on the dizzy.wierd (dizzy is out of a later mk2 robin btw,typical turpin.)

[oldcars]

No bother Dan, you know much more about Reliant that me so happy to learn. I take it there is no issue running a MK2 robin one as it runs fine? I did wonder what it was as i thought the condensor was inside the dizzy.

[plasticvandan]

correct,condensor should be inside it.I think theres slight differences in the the advance curve for unleaded on the 41908 mk2 dizzy,otherwise same as the standard Rialto one (theres a different one for the Rialto 2)

[oldcars]

Could a condensor be fitted inside the dizzy on mine? Wonder why its been set up like this. To be fare there were a few things iffy when i got into looking at it.

[plasticvandan]

its the wrong condensor,so prob been fitted like that to make it fit.yes of course,just get a reliant (or mini) condensor and it as per original,though the little screw might be missing that holds it.

[oldcars]

Cheers Dan might swap it out for the correct one come summer time.