TR2/3/3A TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

[TR3AD]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

No, the car is still positive ground and no wiring changes have taken place since I've owned the car.

 

[TR3AD]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

Mystery solved. The guage finally did come down after burning through more fuel in the tank. However, the gauge did not move from "full" for almost the first 70 miles of a full tank. By 100 miles the guage read halfway. 160 miles, guage read 1/4 tank. Near empty at 180 miles, then I filled it with 11 gallons. So, the guage seems to now be working properly and I am getting around 16 mpg/city. Thanks for all the advice/suggestions.

 

[Deleted member 451]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] However, the gauge did not move from "full" for almost the first 70 miles of a full tank. By 100 miles the guage read halfway.[/QUOTE]
Mine does exactly the same thing.I get around 200 miles to a tank, about 19-20mpg around town, and about 24 on the highway.
I read something a while back about Triumph doing mpg tests and only got a little over 30 with wheel fairings a single Brookland screen and a hard tonneau cover.
I keep mine well tuned but do run heavy oil (20-60 Redline) due to the heat here, so I'm happy with 20.
I guess you could pump the tires up to 50psi, take the wind screen off, put flat hubcaps on steel wheels and run 5w30 oil. All of this might get you an extra 1-2 mpg around town or 3-4 on the highway.

 

[bmurphy7369]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

I guess I learned something I should have known.. All of these years I was under the impression that all TR3's were NEG ground cars, my first was I am sure. Was it a conversion? I thought the MGA was the only POS ground vehicle I have had! Or do I have it reversed?
On the fuel tank reading, I recall having to bend the sending unit to adjust the guage reading by hand, and I also believe this was the recommended procedure from the factory. As you can see, don't trust anything I say from memory on the TR3's however!

 

[Twosheds]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

I guess I learned something I should have known.. All of these years I was under the impression that all TR3's were NEG ground cars, my first was I am sure. Was it a conversion? I thought the MGA was the only POS ground vehicle I have had!

Even though this is a Triumph Forum, it's not nice to call an MGA a POS.

Anyway, TR3s are positive ground. Unless they have been converted.

 

[TR3driver]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

All of these years I was under the impression that all TR3's were NEG ground cars, my first was I am sure. Was it a conversion? I thought the MGA was the only POS ground vehicle I have had! Or do I have it reversed?

Both TR3 and MGA were originally positive ground. However, it's very common (and easy) to convert them to negative ground, with several advantages and only non-originality as a disadvantage.

Friend of mine with an MGA learned the hard way about the advantages. He installed a -gnd CB radio (obviously this was some time ago) by insulating the unit and connecting the wires with the right polarity. Worked fine at first, but somewhere between Indianapolis and Cocoa Beach, his rusty rear bumper finally made electrical contact with the rest of the car. Seems he didn't realize that the antenna clamped to the rear bumper was grounded through the set ! The resulting electrical fire almost caused a serious accident; and we finished the trip with jumper leads for the ignition and headlights. The wiring harness was a total loss.

For the TR's, the factory change to negative ground came between TR4 and TR4A. Which is kind of odd, since they didn't start fitting an alternator until the TR5/250.

Randall

 

[bmurphy7369]

Re: TR3A gas gauge stuck in "Full"

Mine were both converted then, the two 1959's that is. I haven't even got a wiring harness on the 1957 yet, or picked it up after a year of storage with the seller (may not even have the car at all now come to think of it....)
I know that the '57 MGA was POS earth, and when I bought the car it had already been converted to one 12-volt battery. I really was sure that all TR3's were NEG originally.. thanks for the lesson and clarification. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thirsty.gif

PS - I really need to get the flatbed out and haul the TR3 home... It is basically a rolling tub restoration project, but I decided I wanted to start ground-up and body-off on this one. By the way, I only mentioned the "A" for the sake of comparison, I always preferred the TR's, although the A's had beautiful lines. The TR's are by far the better driver's car, the power from the old Ferguson block and the dependability and simplicity of the build is impeccable!