April 6th - Engine Maintenance

When we last took Jessie out in December, the engine wasn't quite running right. Over the early months in 2022, it was too cold in the garage to mess around with spanners, so I waited until April to take a look. The original NGK spark plugs have been in since 2010, when I fitted the electronic ignition. Those plugs have done a little over 6,500 miles. While the electrodes don't look severely worn, I decided to fit some new plugs. The new ones were gapped before fitting. 

The old plugs were very sooty, pointing to a mixture issue. The French Solex carburettor isn't adjustable like most carbs. I'm guessing this was to stop soldiers in the field from fiddling. The only adjustment is the idle mixture, so I turned this in a little and will see how I get on. The old plugs are soaking in thinners and will be cleaned up and kept in a locker for spares.

The other job was to strip and clean the Pressure Control Valve which was quite clogged up, but not fully blocked. It was removed, stripped, soaked in cellulose thinners for a while and then cleaned. Cellulose is a pretty potent solvent.