[T3] gas mileage, voltage, etc.

[Daniel Nohejl]

At this point, I figure my options are as follows:

1—Try a different set of trigger points. I know Jim pretty recently handled the ones I’m running, but maybe some goblin or other got into the distributor and made a mess of things. I base this not on a scientific understanding of how the trigger points work, but on the observation that my plugs have either fouled or looked brand new in batch-fired pairs rather than in grounded pairs. 

William asked which trigger point connector I most recently tightened…..it was definitely wire 22 though the other day I tightened 21…..each of those is an outer wire on the plug. I don’t have a wiring diagram handy, but my guess is that each of those is related to a pair of injectors and the center wire is the ground.

I’ve tried tightening these connectors three times in the life of the harness and two times were in the last two days. I was as gentle as possible but maybe the connectors are fatigued and cracked anyway. I tested each wire yesterday on its individual pin and the fit was tight and not at all worrisome. 

This definitely has me scratching my head, especially because the motor was idling fine when I went into a store and not fine 30 minutes later after sitting. Either way, I don’t lose anything by trying another pair of trigger points. All of the ones I have were looked over and/or calibrated by Jim in the last few years.

2—Replace the connectors at the trigger points. To that end, I have a few of the correct connectors and a ratcheting crimper. I just don’t know if it’s set up to crimp those tiny connectors or not. 

Alternatively, I have a bunch of injector plug connectors with the wiring pigtails. I could remove 3 wires from the plugs, trim the wires so they’re not too long, cut off the existing connectors on my harness, and use a butt connector to temporarily install the 3 new connectors. This would be a temporary fix that wouldn’t mangle the harness and could hopefully get me the ~1k miles to Madison. I just don’t know if a butt connector here presents any issues. Perhaps another type of connector is called for?

I figure that it only involves removing small amounts of the original wiring and that it’s entirely reversible. 

3—But for the 5mm fuel line (which I can acquire) I have everything necessary to put on a pair of rebuilt Solexes. I figure if I can’t get the FI to run nicely by Friday, I can spend the weekend installing the carbs and getting used to them. Yes, I know carbs present their own issues from vac leaks to sticking chokes to clogged jets and whatnot else, but maybe I can at least get to Madison on them and then get a good look at the FI by dismantling as little of it as possible.

So if I try option 1 and there’s no change, is option 2 viable? 

Any reason not to try option 3? Heck, it might even get me all the way out to Oregon!!