[T3] third geat test

Jim Adney jadney at vwtype3.org
Sat Jan 15 18:41:07 PST 2011


On 12 Jan 2011 at 0:58, Fred Simmons wrote:

> i have seen occasional mention of a ''third gear test '' on the list.
> what is it and what's it testing.

I'm not sure what this might refer to, but it's possible that it's 
talking about a rather old technique for cleaning up fouled spark 
plugs. The method was to run up to the red line in each gear until 
the engine started missing and to just slowly push the speed higher 
as the miss slowly went away.

Do this up to the red line, then upshift and repeat. Eventually, 
you'll get to a gear where the engine runs well but just won't go any 
faster. In third, you should be able to hit the red line well before 
you hit your car's top speed.

If you have a miss that just won't go away with this process, then 
you have to start looking at other things.

IIRC, I first saw this mentioned in Road & Track many years ago, 
referred to as an "Italian Tuneup." If you're Italian, I hope you'll 
accept this as the humor in which it was intended.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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