[Public-List] A4 engine news

[Gordon Laco]

Hello friends,

We went racing last night as usual.... On the way back in, motoring against
a fairly stiff head wind because one of my crew members had to get ashore
sooner than later, SURPRISE¹s A4 was doing what it¹s been doing for some
time this summer; namely running smoothly but without the power to drive her
when the throttle was opened.

I was thinking about fuel flow, dirty air filter, loss of compression, all
the things expensive and not, that might cause a loss of power.

I gave the helm to one of the guys, dropped down into the cabin and opened
the engine¹s covers. Noticed the throttle lever didn¹t seem  to be much
advanced.  I pulled on it and found it very stiff.   I disconnected the
Teleflex cable at the throttle and instantly the engine picked up with a
roar.  

Presto ­ problem found.  The Teleflex cable is stiff.   I¹d noticed for some
time it seemed to be getting stiff up in the cockpit, but the change was so
gradual I hadn¹t understood that it had reached the point where it wasn¹t
moving the lever on the carb properly.

The same thing happened to the cable actuating the gear shift a few years
ago ­ lubricating the cable where it came out of the sheath with penetrating
oil resolved the issue.  I¹ll do the same with the throttle.

Phew.

Gord
#426 Surprise